Adam Nanda - Branch manager

Adam is a manager at the West Bridgford branch, running the team and also ensuring the branch hits its service targets. 

My job as a branch manager is challenging especially in today’s climate but very rewarding. It is very fast paced and two days are never the same. Managing a team to enhance our company’s business and support our members’ needs is very rewarding. 

I have worked for The Nottingham for four years now and I have worked my way up, becoming a manager two and a half years ago. What I enjoy the most is supporting my team to deliver excellent services to help our members through each stage of their life. 

My day starts with an alarm to make sure I am on time and presentable to face the world. Being punctual and leading by example is a key skill as a manager but equally important at the start of your career. When I get to work, I always start the day with a morning focus ‘huddle’ (an informal face to face meeting normally taken standing up) with my team to discuss the previous day’s activities and what good looks like for us today. As a team we also focus on what has gone well, this allows me to share praise but also best practice from which to learn. We can also share any news that we need to look out for such any IT changes that may affect our ability to service our members or any rate or product changes. 

From there I check my email to make sure anything required from me for that day is done – I sometimes make a note to come back to some things later. I then look at my diary to see what I and the team have planned in. We do lots of appointments in branch - this could be anything from a first time buyer enquiring about a mortgage to someone who wants to make some savings work that bit harder – and appointments are shared around the team depending on their specialism (some products or services require a qualified adviser) through a shared diary. I always make sure I am organised and prepared for any meetings with customers, other branch managers or the sales management team or individual meetings with my team. I regularly catch up with everyone at least weekly in a ‘one to one’ meeting to discuss priorities and performance. My days go very quickly! 

My typical day finishes with a check to ensure that all the customer-related tasks are complete then I end my day with a team summary and also look at my diary for the next day to make sure I know what to expect and prepare any work in advance. 

Offering a great service is something which I am really proud of and learning to be organised is a really important skill. My advice would be to learn how to use ‘to do’ lists, diaries to help manage time and, also work with other people well to get a job done.