For the purposes of this exercise, and since you are still learning to identify who is a manager, it is a good idea to stick with someone with a higher profile rather than looking at someone in your day-to-day life. As you think about this manager, list out all the tasks they do which you think are managerial. Once you have done this, try and match the tasks you have listed to the four roles of management (Planning, Organizing, Directing, Controlling).

• Do all your listed tasks fit into the four roles?
• What was left over?

Share any questions, interesting tasks you identified or any tasks you could not assign to the four roles using the WEnotes comment option below.

For example:

• Is participating in the company sports day a role of management?
• I didn’t realise that <insert task> was a role of management.
• I couldn’t assign <insert task> to any of the roles.