Organisation · Structure · Component
Span and layer record
How many people each manager leads directly, and how many layers separate the top of the organisation from the front line.
The deliverable
What it is
Spans and layers are two views of the same thing. For a given headcount, narrower spans produce more layers, and each layer adds distance between a decision and the people it affects.
There is no correct span. Similar, independent work supports wide spans; varied and interdependent work needs narrower ones. The record exists so that the actual pattern can be compared with the work, not with a benchmark.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Spans
The number of direct reports each manager has, set beside the kind of work those reports do.
3 attributes: Manager · Direct reports · Work type
LearnLayers
How many management layers sit between the head of each unit and the people doing its front-line work.
3 attributes: Unit · Layer count · Counted on
Learn
Compare each span with the work, not with a benchmark. The same number is sound in one team and a bottleneck in the next.
The other components in structure
Unit map
The units the organisation is divided into, what each is for, the basis on which they are grouped, and whom each reports into.
LearnCoordination register
The dependencies between units, the mechanism assigned to coordinate each one, and the points where coordination is known to fail.
Learn