Here's exactly how many direct reports each manager should have for peak productivity — and it likely involves smaller teams

• A Namely report surveying roughly 1,200 companies finds that managers with eight to 10 direct reports have the lowest turnover rates.
• The study also finds that the number one reason why employees leave is due to the lack of role clarity with their bosses.
• Having too many direct reports can do more harm than good, as managers have less time to focus on individual employees and compromise their attention across the team.
• Having identified five "managerial archetypes," a McKinsey & Company report suggests the recommended number for direct reports is personalized and dependent on your leadership style.
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In the past 20 years, Harvard associate professor Julie Wulf and Booz & Company senior vice president Gary L. Neilson have identified a key managerial trend in the workplace — c-suite senior executives are taking on a broader range of responsibilities. They're becoming much more hands-on with their employees' individual growth. Any hire within a company is expected to take on multiple projects at once, and bosses want to do the same with direct reports, overseeing various aspects of the company. 

With that mindset also means that leaders are being pulled in different directions — constantly having to decide what project or person most deserves your time and attention.

But just how many people and projects should you be responsible for?

Human resources software company Namely set out to answer that question (among others) in a recent report. According to its findings surveying roughly 1,200 companies, managers with eight to 10 direct reports have the lowest turnover rates. Moreover, fewer direct reports result in higher turnovers — regardless of company size. 

Why fewer direct reports are better 

In an interview with Business Insider, Eric Knudsen, former people analytics manager at Namely, said Namely used employee turnover as a proxy for a productive work environment, and acknowledged that the optimal number of direct reports depends on a particular boss' management style. Knudsen now works as the people science innovation lead at LinkedIn. 

The company's report suggests one of the main reasons why employees leave is due to a lack of role clarity. A leader's success is highly dependent on soliciting feedback from direct reports, but putting too much on your plate can compromise the attention you give across the team. The organizations that are doing things right have employees in managerial positions taking up an average number of nine reports.

Indeed, McKinsey & Company outlined five "managerial archetypes" and the optimal number of direct reports for each one. The "supervisor" archetype has some individual responsibility and has their own bosses; an example is an accounting manager or a senior vice president of finance. According to McKinsey, a supervisor typically has eight to ten direct reports.

A "player/coach," on the other hand, has a lot of individual responsibility and it takes years for people in their field to develop self-sufficiency; an example is a functional vice president. A player/coach typically has just three to five direct reports.

Experts and execs disagree

Management experts and executives have different opinions on the ideal number of direct reports. For example, Hal Gregersen, the executive director of the MIT Leadership Center, previously told Business Insider the optimal number of direct reports was somewhere between six and 12, whether you're the CEO or a lower-level manager.

It's a question of how many people a leader can have a constructive conversation with when everyone is in the same room, Gregersen said.

Meanwhile, the management guru beyond gurus Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric and author of "The Real Life MBA," said in a 1989 interview with the Harvard Business Review that a manager should have between 10 and 15 direct reports. "This way you have no choice but to let people flex their muscles, let them grow and mature. With 10 or 15 reports, a leader can focus only on the big important issues, not on minutiae."

McKinsey suggests a number of questions to consider when determining how many reports a manager can reasonably handle, including "How much actual time is the manager spending on her or his own work versus time spent managing others?" and "How much experience and training do team members' jobs require?" Answering these questions can allow bosses to come up with a rightsized, managing strategy that's catered to specific teams. 

At the end of the day, there's a balance between keeping tabs on your employees and micromanaging. Maintaining a bird's eye view and not getting involved with the nitty-gritty details give your team the opportunity to learn and fix mistakes on their own. 

When it comes to the perfect number for direct reports for your team,it all depends. On you, that is.

SEE ALSO: 26 signs you're a great boss, even if it doesn't feel like it

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