What would be the "normal" day as a business manager?

Hi Silvia!

I have found management to be a rewarding career. My specialty is software engineering management and I found this career after being a software engineer first. There are lots of different types of management, though, so you wouldn't necessarily have to work in software. You could work in retail, health care, banking, insurance, cinema... Basically, almost all businesses have some flavor of management.

A lot of my work is focused on building teams that can get project work done. This requires me to understand the needs of the projects and the skills of the team members. It's a lot like solving puzzles. What do you do if the team needs new skills? What do you do if the project is taking longer than you thought? (Projects almost always take longer than we think.) On a normal day, I attend meetings where we discuss the status of projects, I talk to my team members about how they are doing and I try to give them feedback that will help them be more successful. I answer emails on a broad variety of topics. I spend time thinking about the work my team is doing and if there is anything I can do to make that easier or go faster.

I think this is similar for all kinds of management. You are responsible for a team of people that can accomplish something greater than any of you can do alone. This should, of course, make your business better and more successful.

I encourage you to think about what types of business are interesting to you. Then you might think about what jobs could be a stepping stone to management. For instance, if you want to work in retail, consider getting a job at a store first. It's usually easier to manage people when you understand the work they are doing.

I hope this helps!

Rebecca

Silvia,

I am a manager in a business. My normal days are quite varied, meaning that no two days are really alike. The fresh challenges that I face every day are the favorite part of my job--I never get bored.

In addition to managing my team, I also think about how our long-term plans are coming to life on the daily operation of our business. Do we think that our strategy for the year is the right one? Are we working every day to meet those goals? Does our strategy help us be more profitable?

Above all, we work in a team of people. Businesses are fundamentally groups of people working toward a common purpose. For this reason, my normal days as a manager involve managing the health and happiness of my team. When my team is happy and engaged with their work, we are all more productive.

It really depends on the nature of your business. There are typically activities which are part of "running the business". For e.g. if you are a Development Manager, your business would include daily progress reports, defect backlog, customer escalations, etc. However, every once in a while you got to think about long term plans for your business. This will involve market projections, competitors, Differentiators etc.

Business Manager's jobs roles & responsibilities depends on the domain, maturity of company that you are working in. Typically, Business Manager's job is to meet company's financial goals with respect to bringing new business, maintaining existing business & to look out for new avenues of companies growth. Lot of time in a day of Business Manager is spent in analyzing financial data under his portfolio, setting new targets for quarter/financial year. Business Manager is a key stakeholder in driving the company to success & hence is accountable for Profit & Loss; this role would be directly reporting to senior management in a company and needs to have data handy all time. Hence it requires soft skills like excellent communications, presentation skills, convincing skills.

Business managers are responsible for overseeing the operations of the company. This may include quality control, inputs and outputs, project management and office management. Overseeing business operations will also include assigning tasks and setting deadlines for projects.