The other two spans—the span of accountability (hard) and the span of influence (soft)—determine the team’s demand for organizational resources. The level of a project team’s accountability, as defined by the organization, directly affects the level of pressure on team members to make trade-offs; that pressure in turn drives the team’s need for organizational resources. The team’s level of influence, as determined by the structure of the team and the broader system in which the team is embedded, also reflects the extent to which team members need resources. We typically have substantial control (internal locus of control) with regard to two of the four elements (Control and Influence) but have very little direct control (external locus of control) with regard to the other two elements (Accountability and Support).
Sources of Supply
The first two spans concern how we fuel the teams that are addressing a specific issue. As human forests how do we transmit nutrients?
Span of Control: [Internal Locus of Control] [Supply Element]: This first span defines the range of resources—not only people as resources but also assets and infrastructure—for which an employee or team is given decision rights. The team is held accountable for performance resulting from deployment of these resources. To narrow the Span a leader reduces the resources allocated to specific positions or units, while to widen the Span, the leader allocates more people, assets, and infrastructure. Interdependence is increased when this span is narrowed.
Span of Accountability: [External Locus of Control] [Demand Element]: This second span concerns the range of trade-offs affecting the measures used to evaluate a team’s achievements. The setting of this span is determined by the kind of behavior the team’s supervisor wants to see. As Simons noted, the span of control and span of accountability are not independent. They must be considered together. The first defines the resources available to a team; the second defines the goals the team is expected to achieve.
By explicitly setting the span of accountability wider than the span of control, leaders can force an employee or members of a team to become more entrepreneurial. In order to narrow the Span, a leader standardizes work by using measures (either financial, such as time-item budget expenses, or non-financial, such as head count) that allow few trade-offs. To widen the Span, a leader typically uses non-financial measures (such as customer satisfaction) or broad financial measures (such as profits) that allow many trade-offs—and encourage interdependence.
Sources of Demand
The third and fourth span concern how information is being conveyed via the networks of the human forest. Specifically, these two spans convey information about what is needed and what support can be expected among the various elements of this human forest.
Span of Influence: [Internal Locus of Control] [Demand Element]: The span of influence, according to Simons, corresponds to the width of the net that a team needs to cast in collecting data, probing for new information, and attempting to influence the work of others. Leaders can widen the span when they want to stimulate their employees and teams to think outside the box to develop new ways of serving customers, increasing internal efficiencies, or adapting to changes in external markets. Leaders can widen a team’s span of influence by redesigning the task assigned to this employee or project team. For instance, the team can be encouraged to enter into a cross-functional relationship with another team, In this way, interdependence is increased.
