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Are managers getting more people and less time?
In the United States, the average number of people reporting to a manager rose from 10.9 in 2024 to 12.1 in 2025, according to Gallup’s January 13, 2026 analysis. But the median remained about five to six. The average is pulled upward by managers with larger teams; it is not a reliable description of a typical manager’s direct reports.
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Separate UK findings point to capacity pressures, but do not establish that managers have less time than they did previously. In the 2025 CIPD/YouGov UK Working Lives Survey, 59% of managers said they had enough time to manage staff well, and 60% said they had the training and information to do so. The eighth survey wave included 5,017 UK working adults surveyed online from January 8 to February 12, 2025, as described in the CIPD’s 2025 Good Work Index release.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThese are different measures from different countries: Gallup’s figures describe U.S. team size, while CIPD’s describe UK managers’ reported capacity. Neither says how much time a particular manager has for you.
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What does a manager’s span of control tell you?
Span of control means the number of direct reports a manager oversees. A larger span can be an organizational choice, but headcount alone cannot show whether employees are getting effective guidance. The demands of the work, a manager’s capability and responsibilities, and the way feedback is handled all matter.
Gallup identifies factors including team engagement, the manager’s fit for the role, how much time the manager spends on individual-contributor work, and whether employees receive meaningful, regular feedback. A manager who is expected to deliver substantial hands-on work as well as lead a team faces a different time constraint from someone whose primary job is managing people.
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There is no universal ideal number of direct reports established by these findings. Treat team size as one part of a broader assessment, not a stand-alone measure of efficiency or management quality. CIPD’s analysis of people-management responsibilities similarly points to a reasonable span of control, discretion, a manageable workload, and support for managers’ people-management duties.
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Not necessarily. In the same 2025 UK survey, 79% of workers said they had a supportive manager if they had a problem, up from 74% in 2023. And 69% said their line manager was open and approachable on mental-health issues, compared with 63% in 2023. These results are a counterweight to a simple “more reports means less support” assumption, though they do not predict an individual employee’s experience.
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Look at whether support is actually available in your team: can you get timely answers, useful feedback, and help resolving obstacles? A high direct-report count can coexist with supportive management, but it may make regular one-to-one coaching or rapid responses harder if the manager’s workload and routines do not accommodate them.
How can you get support from a busy manager?
Make it easier for your manager to understand what you need and decide what to do next. These approaches are practical ways to handle limited time, not guarantees that a manager will have more capacity.
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- Bring a focused agenda. Send the key question or decision in advance, and identify what needs attention first.
- Separate urgent blockers from development topics. Ask for a quick decision when work is stuck, and schedule a separate conversation for longer-term coaching.
- Propose a workable cadence. If regular check-ins are inconsistent, ask what frequency and format are realistic, then agree how urgent issues should be raised between meetings.
- Make feedback specific. Share a concrete example of work and ask what to keep, change, or prioritize next time.
- Raise capacity as a work-design issue. Describe the delay or missed decision, its effect on work, and the support needed. Ask what should be deprioritized if everything cannot be handled at once.
- Confirm important decisions in writing. A short recap can clarify ownership, deadlines, and next steps without requiring another meeting.
What should leaders consider before increasing team size?
A larger team may change more than the manager’s calendar. Before treating it as an efficiency improvement, consider whether the manager has enough time for people responsibilities alongside individual-contributor work, whether the team’s needs call for frequent coaching, and whether employees have a dependable way to get feedback and resolve problems. Also consider the manager’s discretion, workload, and support for managing people.
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