What are the disadvantages of span of control?

Answer 1

The larger the span of control the more difficult it can be to manage activities especially if there are junior staff or staff new to the project. Lines of communications get larger with larger span of controls often compounding problems. The larger the span of control the more time managers often spend on reactive tasks involved with staff within the span of control rather than strategic or proactive tasks storing up problems for the future. More direct reports often means more human resource issues and problems for the manager, and it can take a lot of effort off the project doing staff reviews, assessments or involved in staff performance improvement activities.