Service desk managers and supervisors frequently ask about the proper ratio of analysts to supervisors. Should it be 5 to 1? 10 to 1? 20 to 1? To answer this question, we must first understand how to the tradeoffs involved with analyst to supervisor ratio. If the ratio is too high, the management span of control is too broad, and analysts can be working without the proper level of oversight and supervision. This, in turn, can lead to a multitude of issues ranging from low morale to inadequate training, coaching, and feedback. By contrast, a ratio that is too low is an indication that a service desk is “top heavy;” it has too many supervisors for the number of analysts. This, in turn, leads to higher costs and specifically higher cost per ticket. So how do we calculate it? The analyst to supervisor ratio is simply the number of front-line analysts divided by the number of supervisors for a service desk. It is a measure of management span of control and managerial efficiency. Learn more in the HDI Metric of the Month!
