Industrial Safety Management >Chapter 1> Topic – Introduction > Subtopic- Span Of Management

 
Span of Management –

The span of management refers to no of subordinates a manager or a supervisor can supervise effectively because of his limitations of time, capacity , ability , nature of work , pressure of work. The span of control shows the number of subordinates reporting to a manager. This concept is also known as management ratio.For example, a 1:10 ratio shows that ten employees report to one manager. 

No single individual can effectively supervise unlimited number of subordinates.

Factor determining span of management are as follows –

1.   Nature of Work
2.   Type of technology
3.   Ability of manager
4.  Capacity of subordinates
5.  Degree of centralization
6.  Planning
7.  Staff assistance
8. Communication technique
9. Time available for supervisors
10. Geographical distance of subordinates

There are two types of Spans

1)        1) Narrow (Tall) Span

2)      2) Wide (Flat) Span

N 1) Narrow (Tall) Span – 

Here the management ratio is low. A few numbers of employees report to one manager. That is to say, 1:3 or 1:5. The manager can take a personal interest in the work done. He can closely monitor the growth & development of each. In this case, if reporting heads are very less, the manager may feel his skills are under-utilized.

2) 2) Wide (Flat) Span – When the ratio of a manager is to subordinates is high, say 1: 20 or 1: 15, and so on. A manager, handling such a long list of employees, gets motivation & a sense of a good position.

However, too many subordinates reporting to once a single manager may cause stress to the manager.

    Wide (Flat) span is preferred because –

1.      Trend of Decentralization
2.      Increasing size of organization
3.      Need of quick decision making
4.      Faster communication technique
5.      Growing acceptance of group process and new patterns of leadership.

      References  : 

1) Fundamentals of Industrial Safety and Health -By K.U. Mistry 

2) Industrial Safety ,Health and Environment Management System - By R.K. Jain , Sunil S. Rao 

3) WWW.Google.Com