We asked SBMs what it takes to be an SBM. This is what they said
The role of School Business Manager is one of the most difficult and yet underappreciated roles in a school. It takes a certain type of character to excel in the role, a mix of various personality traits that allow you to take it all in your stride and make your school a better place; but what are those characteristics?
To find out, we asked you – the School Business Manager. In our recent survey, we asked you what characteristics are most important to excelling as an SBM. Here’s what you said.
Top 10 characteristics of an SBM
1. Kindness
No one has a place in a school without a bit of kindness. Moulding a happy, fruitful learning environment is what we’re all here to do. Sprinkling a little kindness in can go a long way to achieving that.
2. A good listener
No matter how hard everyone works to get things right, every school has its problems, stresses and strains. SBMs have identified how important it is to take a step back and just listen. You’ll learn plenty from tapping into the pressure points of your colleagues.
3. Flexibility
Compare the job spec of an SBM with the reality of their role on the ground, and the difference couldn’t be starker. We’ve heard plenty of examples of SBMs getting involved in cleaning, maintenance and other areas that weren’t mentioned in the job interview. To tackle that, you’ll need plenty of flexibility.
4. Approachability
Before you can be a good listener you have to be open and willing to have those conversations. In a stressful and face-paced environment like schools, an ability to stop and take a few minutes for someone is a valuable trait to possess.
5. Calmness
As the chaos ensues, calm heads are what’s best. When you’re spinning a thousand different plates and dealing with a thousand more problems, a calmness under pressure is seen by SBMs as one of the most important characteristics.
6. Perfectionist
Across many other industries, you might find a “good enough” attitude to tasks. In schools, that’s far from the case. SBMs and teachers alike are known to be perfectionists. When you’re dealing with an issue as important as children’s education – is there any other way you can be?
7. Patience
No doubt over the last 12 months or so, you’ve needed plenty of this! With everything that’s been thrown at you, from the shift to remote learning to COVID regulations and testing regimes, patience has been the ultimate virtue.
8. Good humour
Sometimes, all you can do is laugh. In high-stress situations, a bit of light relief goes a long way. If you don’t have good humour, all pressure of the SBM might quickly get to you.
9. Resilience
Be under no illusions, setbacks will be aplenty in the role of SBM. It can be hard toil at times, but with a little resilience, you can work through the tough times and enjoy the rewarding experience the job can be.
10. Tenacity
Lots of these characteristics overlap and weave together to form the ultimate SBM personality. The final, crucial trait our surveyed SBMs identified was tenacity – a willingness and determination to keep going and get the most out of your school.
Honourable mentions
They weren’t the only ten characteristics mentioned by our surveyed SBMs. It takes a myriad of excellent qualities to excel in the world of the School Business Manager. A logical mind, an ability to think problems through rationally and find solutions, was also mentioned as essential to role.
As was humility. SBMs often slip under the radar in schools, their roles not appreciated as much as others. Approaching the role with a modest mindset seems to help some SBMs comes to terms with that.
Finally, as an SBM you’ll need plenty of this – determination. The education industry, and society in general, has thrown plenty at you over the last 12 months (and plenty before that too). You’ll need lots of hunger to succeed.
SBM Superpowers: Your top 3
Having the right personality traits is great, but what if you could back that up with your own work-related superpower? We also asked our SBM respondents what their ideal perk would be.
1. A built-in forcefield that blocks interruptions – 38%
Sure, being a good listener and approachable is all well and good, but a built-in forcefield blocking interruptions would be great – even just for five minutes?
2. Doppelganger to work twice as fast – 23%
No matter how hard and long you work, often it just isn’t possible to keep up with the demands of the job. Not unless you had another you, picking up the slack and taking on all the tasks you don’t fancy.
3. Automatically delete useless emails – 19%
I think this is one that’s shared by people up and down the country. Sifting through pointless emails takes up countless hours of frustration. When are they going to invent the perfect pointless email filter?
