If a supervisor’s span of control exceeds the typical range, what is the appropriate action?

• A. Add additional supervisors.
• B. Increase hours.
• C. Decrease staff.
• D. Ignore.

Answer: (C)

Span of control is the number of people directly supervised by one supervisor. When that number is higher than the typical range, the supervisor can’t provide effective oversight, guidance, or safety supervision for every direct report. The most direct fix is to bring the span back to a manageable level by decreasing the number of direct reports under that supervisor. This often means reassignment of some staff to other supervisors or redistributing duties so fewer people report to the same supervisor. While adding more supervisors could also address the issue, it requires additional resources; decreasing staff is the practical, immediate action to restore effective supervision. Increasing hours won’t change the number of direct reports, and ignoring the issue would continue to impair supervision and safety.