A growing number of organizations are flattening their structures, cutting out layers of middle management. The managers who survive those cuts often become “supermanagers,” responsible for more direct reports.
When done right, this strategy can reduce costs and accelerate decision-making. But when done wrong, it leads to burnout and disengagement.
Here’s a closer look at the trend, its benefits and potential downsides, and what organizations need to do to get organizational flattening right—including the vital roles of professional development training and corporate team building.
The Trend Towards Supermanagers
As companies continue to compress their org charts and axe layers of middle management, a new role is emerging: the ‘supermanager.’ Leaders are finding themselves responsible for significantly more direct reports and broader responsibilities. And in many industries, the trend shows no sign of slowing.1
The average number of direct reports per manager has increased over the past two years, and 13% of all managers now lead teams of 25 people or more.
The trend of reducing management layers and increasing span of control is being driven by several factors, among them:
- Leadership turnover: As managers leave, companies don’t replace them. In some cases, the decision is intentional; in others, a lack of succession planning means the business has no one ready to step into the role.
- Flattening the hierarchy: Some organizations are proactively laying off middle managers, both to save money and (in theory) improve agility and operational speed.
- AI implementation: AI is transforming middle management by automating routine tasks like scheduling, performance tracking, and report generation, allowing firms to flatten hierarchies.
- Bloated structures: In some cases, organizations legitimately find themselves with too many managers—especially if promotions have been used as performance rewards. When an enterprise has multiple managers in the same or similar departments or functions, each overseeing just a handful of people, some downsizing is called for.
In essence, “the supermanager is becoming commonplace across countless industries.”1
The (Potential) Benefits of Org Chart Flattening and Supermanagers
Companies typically anticipate three key benefits from culling their middle managers.
First, flattening management levels reduces costs. Managers are expensive employees. Reducing management headcount by even 10% can deliver significant cost savings.
Second, eliminating management roles reduces bureaucracy (in theory), speeding up decision-making and operational processes. The organization becomes faster and more nimble.
Finally, reducing the number of managers that senior executives oversee frees up a slice of their time for more strategic activities.
The Downside Risks of Flattening
If done without sufficient thought, planning, and preparation, eliminating middle management layers can backfire, leading to management burnout and employee disengagement.
When managers are simply asked to lead more employees without strategic guidance, role redefinition, or professional development to prepare them to take on a wider span of control, burnout is a serious risk.
“When people are reactive instead of proactive—putting out fires instead of preventing them—chaos follows…When one megamanager is burnt out, the entire department feels it.”1
Overstretched managers have less time to spend with each employee, leaving workers, especially younger employees still learning their professional roles—adrift without proper supervision and coaching. The result is often frustration and disengagement.
Unrealistic Expectations for AI
While AI can save supermanagers time on tasks like scheduling, research, and reporting, the technology alone won’t enable leaders to expand their scope of authority effectively.
“AI can help (with managing larger teams), but…the success of future managers and leaders lives at the intersection of deep human connection and AI—one without the other will no longer be enough. When a supermanager hasn’t been given the time and resources to develop those skills, burnout follows.”1
“There’s a limit to how much gen AI can help people perform tasks outside their area of expertise—researchers call it the ‘AI wall.’ It underscores the need for professionals to continue developing the human skills that truly matter, such as good judgment and curiosity. In today’s AI-driven workplace, leaders who ask better questions unlock better decisions, stronger teams, and more meaningful use of AI…The most effective leaders pause to decide how much focus a subject or task deserves, not just how fast it can be completed, and guide their teams accordingly…(they) treat AI outputs as conversation starters, not final answers.”2
While discussing the fear of AI in the workplace, we emphasized the importance of providing employees with training on AI tools from both practical and conceptual perspectives. It’s not just about teaching workers how to use the tools, but also about why mastering AI tools increases their value as employees (and makes their work more interesting and rewarding), and where applying AI technology will have the biggest impact.
Managers similarly need training on how to use AI to take repetitive tasks off their plates, as well as where not to use it: AI can’t replace their domain- and company-specific knowledge and experience, their judgment, their interpersonal coaching skills, or their accumulated wisdom.
How to Approach Management Layer Flattening Effectively and Strategically
Turning a regular manager into a supermanager isn’t simply a matter of asking them to do more of the same and using AI to make themselves more efficient. It really is transitioning to a new role and adopting a new approach to leadership that will enable them to lead a larger team effectively without burnout or disengagement.
Teach Basic Leadership Skills Widely
Leadership training is important for every employee. Leadership is more than just a title; it’s about how you act and react to people and situations. It’s about improving ‘people skills’ as opposed to technical skills, answering questions such as: How do I communicate more effectively? How do I resolve unproductive conflict? How do I build relationships to help get things done?
In short, leadership training can benefit every employee and your organization by:
- Building “bench strength” for future leadership roles;
- Increasing employee engagement and loyalty by investing in developing their skills;
- Preparing leaders at all levels to move into their next role, whether they are a first-time manager or preparing for the C-suite.
- Helping non-managers improve their cross-functional communication and collaboration skills.
Vital workshops and training programs for teaching the basics of leadership include:
Essential Supervisory Skills: Through guided discussion and practical exercises, participants learn to diagnose employee needs, strike the right balance between instruction and support, and implement continuous performance improvement practices. For new managers, the program provides a structured framework for transitioning from individual contributor to leader, helping them build communication, coaching, and decision-making skills.
Emotional Intelligence Training: This workshop helps participants understand the principles of emotional intelligence and how to apply them in the workplace to improve communication, trust, and collaboration. Through case studies, discussion, and guided exercises, participants explore the key components of emotional intelligence and learn how to recognize, manage, and channel emotions effectively in professional situations.
Conflict Resolution Training: Through guided discussion and tools such as the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Handling Inventory, participants learn how conflicts develop, how people respond to them, and which strategies are most effective for resolving conflicts professionally. This program provides a structured framework for addressing conflict early and confidently, helping them maintain productive relationships, prevent small issues from escalating, and build a healthier team culture.
Prepare Your Current Leaders to Become Supermanagers
“If you’re going to have a flat organization and a lot of direct reports, you better be thinking about what the skills are that that leader needs and equipping them with those skills. The supermanager era can work—but most organizations are skipping that step. The benefits aren’t automatic. To make it work, supermanagers should spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on ‘the two C’s’: clarity and compassion. That means prioritizing fewer, clearer goals and using systems to replace constant supervision and micromanagement…Most organizations don’t invest in their leaders enough, period.”1
The degree to which AI lifts performance, particularly for managers, “comes down to metacognition—the ability to plan, evaluate, and refine one’s thinking. Employees with stronger metacognitive skills stand to gain more from AI…This means thinking about your thinking as you work: identifying knowledge gaps, incorporating new information into existing mental models, and adjusting your approach along the way. It’s the difference between passively skimming a story and truly comprehending it…Practicing critical thinking enables leaders to fully leverage AI’s benefits while helping junior employees develop the judgment to overcome its limitations.”2
That’s what makes our Igniting Team Performance® program so valuable in developing supermanagers. Participants are led through a series of progressively difficult challenges. After each, they discuss what they learned, then immediately apply those lessons to the next activity. This fits Tank’s recommendation perfectly.
Other programs that are vital for building supermanager skills include our Delegation Styles course (which directly helps them learn to manage larger teams effectively) and our Time Management Workshop.
Finally, engaging in team building programs, especially charity corporate social responsibility (CSR) team building activities, helps larger teams and their leaders bond over a shared emotional experience.
Options include our Bike Build Donation® to benefit disadvantaged kids; Build-a-Wheelchair® to help seniors and others with mobility issues; and our Mini-Golf Build and Food Donation to stock food banks and similar organizations—plus many more activities to help veterans, people experiencing homelessness, cancer patients, foster kids, animal shelters, and other worthy causes.
Final Thoughts on How to Flatten Your Org Chart and Develop Supermanagers Effectively
A growing number of enterprises are flattening their management structures, eliminating middle-management roles and creating supermanagers who oversee larger and larger groups of employees.
Done right, this process can reduce costs while enabling greater agility and faster decision-making. But without proper planning and preparation, it can lead to burnout and disengagement.
These supermanagers don’t simply lead larger teams; they also use (or at least are expected to use) AI to improve their own efficiency while also guiding employee AI use. It’s a fundamentally different role than supervisors leading teams of five to 10 people are accustomed to.
To make the transition effectively, organizations need to rethink these roles and provide practical professional development training to enable these supermanagers to lead larger teams, integrate AI into their operations, and manage their time effectively—without losing the vital human touch.
If your organization is facing this or other business challenges, contact Best Corporate Events to discuss how we can help.
Sources:
- “How to thrive in the era of the ‘supermanager’,” Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/91492747/how-to-thrive-in-the-era-of-the-supermanager
- “Here’s the leadership skill AI can’t replace,” Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/91500902/heres-the-leadership-skill-ai-cant-replace
