Who Does What? | Manager Duties Explained

Thinking about becoming a manager? Or maybe you’re creating a managerial position in your business. Both demand that you know what the manager duties will be. In this article, the experts at Sling tell you everything you need to know about being a manager in a business large or small.

Primary Manager Duties

Every business is different, but these main manager duties are pretty much consistent across industries.

1) Staffing

Managers are responsible for all the jobs associated with staffing. This includes:

• Attracting the right employees
• Interviewing
• Hiring
• Firing

This applies if you’re managing a restaurant, a coffee house, a call center, or some other type of business entirely.

2) Scheduling

A big part of any manager’s responsibility is scheduling when employees work. Without the right tools, this job can take up a significant amount of time. That’s where tools like Sling come in. They give you everything you need to streamline the scheduling process so you can devote more time to what really matters: improving your business.

3) Goal Setting

Managers make note of what needs to be done in the business and then set the appropriate goals for the team members to work on. Setting goals helps keep your team focused and engaged and makes hitting the necessary milestones that much easier.

4) Daily Operations

There’s a lot that goes into running a business, and the manager is responsible for a large portion of that daily activity. From opening the doors in the morning to keeping everyone busy throughout the day and closing the doors at night, a manager’s job is really never done.

Thankfully there are tools that can help you in this regard. Software like Sling can make it easier to get employees clocked in, keep them on task, and make sure everything runs smoothly.

5) Administration

Administration is a catch-all term that usually refers to all the paperwork necessary to keep the business running. This includes but is not limited to:

• Paying bills
• Payroll
• Taxes
• Maintaining employee files
• Setting policy
• Creating an employee handbook

If you, as the manager, don’t have a good handle on the administrative side of your business, it can take up a big portion of your day.

6) Communication

A manager acts as a means of communication between employees and upper management. He or she will often translate the wishes of the executives into actionable items that team members work on. Similarly, the manager will communicate any ideas from the employees in the trenches to the owners who run the business.

7) Advertising & Marketing

No business would be successful without advertising and marketing. And the bulk of that responsibility lies with the manager. Whether it’s putting up flyers on telephone poles, designing a menu, or redecorating the business, the manager is largely responsible for the direction these activities take.

8) Motivation

Keeping your team members motivated is an essential part of their success. The manager is responsible for inspiring each and every member or team to reach for — and exceed — their potential. When your team is successful, you and your business will be successful as well. That all comes from encouraging your employees to be productive.

9) Delegation

Managers have so much to do that sometimes it’s imperative to delegate. They can pass on some of their manager duties to trusted employees or assistant managers. Tasks like paperwork, ordering supplies, keeping track of inventory, and onboarding new employees are jobs that you can delegate to others in order to free up your time for other key duties.

10) Training

Training new employees is a big part of what makes a business successful. When a manager takes the time to provide the best training from the start, he or she ensures that employees know what it takes to do well in their jobs. Taking an active role in training team members also guarantees that they recognize the standards you’ve established for their positions.

11) Coaching

While training applies to new employees, coaching serves to improve the way long-time team members work. Each employee is different, so no two coaching plans will be the same. Some team members may be reaching out for more diverse experiences, while other employees just want to get better at the job they’re in right now.

As a manager, you need to know how to keep each and every member of your team working at their highest potential.

12) Evaluation

When you conduct periodic employee evaluations, you encourage your team to always be on the lookout for ways to improve. Employee evaluations should be done at least once a year, if not more, to ensure that every team member knows what they need to do to continue improving in the job.

13) Decision Making

Managers make so many decisions during the course of a day that we don’t have room to list them all here. You should be comfortable making choices with plenty of information or with little to no information. Decisions can range from mundane things like which type of soap to buy for the bathrooms to vital things like who to hire and fire.

14) Policy Enforcement

It’s the manager’s responsibility to create an environment where your employees hold one another accountable for their actions. This is done by setting policy and then enforcing it when conflicts arise (which they will).

Sometimes it’s as simple as setting ethical behaviors for the workplace, while, at other times, it’s more complicated (like when there’s friction between employees). Either way, the manager should monitor and enforce all the policies that the business deems necessary.

Being A Manager Is All About The Team

Being a manager is not about your performance. It’s about your team’s performance. When you understand the role you play in your team’s success, you can leverage your skills in planning, leading, organizing, and controlling to make their jobs easier. That’s what the manager duties on this list are for: to give your team — and your business — every chance to excel.

For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling.com today.

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