In a minimum 200 word response explain some of the reasons why, in the context of span of control, it is more beneficial to limit the number of officers reporting to one supervisor. What factors can affect how many employees are supervised at one time?

During the last century, an organization structure was considered to have a major role in determining the organization performance. Management scholars established a set core of management principle thought to achieve organizational optimum performance, which included division of labor, unity command and span control. Police management studies in the late 1950 -1980 featured the span control concept. Span control which is the ability to effectively manage a large number of officers effectively. Most police management expert says the chain of command should be one supervisor for every 6 to 10 officers of a lower rank. A supervisor can only pay attention to and monitor limited number of officers at once. Supervisor must make sure these officers have the proper training, and need to handling scheduling shifts. Additionally if officers are showing signs of aggressive behavior or if they are struggling with depression or other problems, the supervisor need to be able to spot in order to help the officer. This cannot be done if there are too many officers to monitor

Factors which can affect how many employees are supervised are the simplicity of the work. The simpler the task the less need for supervision and more diverse complex task require more supervision. Efficient use of information technology, with rapid available technologies can obtain needed to do the job as well as receive direction from supervisor. The quality, skills and capability of subordinates. The recruiting of quality employees having the necessary education, training and experience to be able to learn and do the assigned work required