Project Failure Files: Too Many Direct Reports

In Episode 77 of the Project Failure Files weekly webcast, our focus was “When More Isn’t Merrier,” in which Sharon and I discussed why oversized teams are usually a warning sign, not a flex. The assumption that “more direct reports means you’re a stronger manager” sounds efficient on an org chart, but it often collapses in real life. The issue isn’t growth or scaling (we’re not anti-scale), but that there are very real limits of human attention, coaching capacity, and the constant tax of context switching when you’re trying to lead too many people at once.

When the span of control gets too wide, the symptoms show up fast: one-on-ones shrink or slide, meetings become status-only, and development conversations quietly disappear. People may technically “report” to you, but they stop feeling seen, supported, or guided — not because you don’t care, but because there aren’t enough hours in the day. Over time, performance issues surface late, strong contributors stall or disengage, burnout spreads on both sides of the relationship, and the organization becomes fragile because too much depends on a few overextended managers.

The fix isn’t heroic effort. Instead, it’s structural thinking. Healthy organizations rebalance workloads, protect one-on-ones as non-negotiable, and intentionally build layered leadership through delegation, team leads, and emerging manager development. The best measure of leadership isn’t how many people report to you, but what happens to those people: growth, engagement, retention, clarity, and outcomes. Because bigger teams don’t automatically create better leadership, but better leadership absolutely creates stronger teams.

Enjoy the episode!

Be sure to tune in next Monday, February 16th at 9am Pacific for the latest episode in our weekly series as we discuss how small ethical compromises can erode trust and morale. Hope you can join us on our NEW YouTube channel (please subscribe!), or find us on LinkedIn.