How to Prepare and Succeed in Your First 100 Days as an SBL

Thinking of becoming a school business manager? Val Andrew shares how to prepare for the role -and the strategy to succeed in your first 100 days

In this last article I am going to examine how to prepare for your new SBM role, how to combat imposter syndrome and what a good plan looks like for your first 100 days in post.

Preparation

You’ve already undertaken lots of research about the new school through applying and being interviewed for the role. It’s useful to revisit aspects of this, paying particular attention to elements of the school’s current strategic plan, which should tie in with the latest challenges facing the school.

Familiarise yourself with the school’s financial position, so knowing either the Academy Trust Handbook or the guidance in the Schools Financial Value Standard inside out (depending on the setting you are entering) and potentially revisiting the concepts of integrated curriculum financial planning methods. If possible, try and arrange a visit before your official start date, to get to know your new workplace and the people. This can take some of the stress out of the first day and provides an opportunity to discuss their proposed induction process. Another useful piece of early research would be to understand what further CPD you need to be undertaking to support you in your new role.

Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a psychological phenomenon that occurs at various points during our professional lives – starting a new role, being anxious to make an impression is a classic opportunity for these feelings to emerge. Being prepared for this will help you manage and control it. There tend to be three key stages to handling this feeling of insecurity and lack of confidence.

Firstly, acknowledge it. It’s important to remember – they chose you! You worked hard to impress this school both in your application and the way you performed during the interview process, and compared with the other candidates, you were their preferred choice. Knowing you will feel this helps to prepare for it, so having a plan and being proactive and enthusiastic will help you to combat feelings of inadequacy.

Second – preparing a strategy for your first 100 days in post (see below) which will help you establish a more positive mindset and provide some key targets for you to achieve. It’s important to be realistic when setting targets for yourself so that you can factor in quick wins and reasonable expectations.

Finally, talk to someone. I would always advocate for finding a mentor to support you through the transition into a new professional role. You might also join a local SBM networking group if you’ve not done so already, but having a personal mentor is proven to have real benefits in combatting imposter syndrome, especially when starting a new position.

Your First 100 Days

I’d be inclined to split my plan into two – combining both personal and professional aspirations.

In terms of personal, this can be focused on your own professional development to support you in the challenges presented in this new role (as applicable). Being proactive in seeking out opportunities to develop necessary skills and competencies will help you to make a positive impact and first impression. Also develop an understanding of how the school intends to support you through induction and transition to your new role.

Your professional plan will be structured around the scope of the role and what the professional requirements are in those early days, but might also include aspects such as:

Practising Active Listening – perhaps adopt to 90/10 rule which advocates you should be listening for 90% of the time and asking questions for the remaining 10% of the time to gain understanding.

Relationship Building – hosting a series of “getting to know you” meetings with key staff can work well. Bonding with immediate colleagues, finding out what their challenges are and what their expectations of you are, will all help you to feel more settled and can help to combat feelings of imposter syndrome too.

Behaviour – an interesting concept but bearing in mind you will want to make a good impression in your early days in the role, it’s worth thinking about how you want to achieve this. My advice would be to avoid the temptation to create unsustainable habits – the classic is an “open door” policy. There are going to be times when you need to concentrate and mitigating unnecessary interruptions is key to achieving this! I also advocate not trying to be the first into the car park every morning and the last one to leave – again it’s not sustainable and could ultimately lead to burn out, so be aware of some of these pitfalls in terms of how you conduct yourself in the first 100 days.

To summarise, try not to be overly critical of either yourself or others, be clear in your own mind what success looks like and try and achieve some quick wins to help establish your own credibility and build momentum.

Good Luck!