Spans and Layers

Spans and Layers

A diagnostic and optimization tool for management structure.

Companies grow bloated and bureaucratic over time: too many management layers, spans of control too narrow to justify the overhead. Spans and Layers analyzes an organization's structure division by division, compares it against benchmarks, and models what a flatter, leaner version would look like, along with the personnel savings that redesign would produce.

One company's results from an optimization run.

Spans and Layers results view: average span, maximum layer, and headcount before and after optimization, with estimated annual savings

The original Spans & Layers Handbook: a short, single-sitting explanation of the diagnostic and redesign approach, first published in 2013 and updated in 2020.

Read the Handbook →