Government Manager: A Day in the Life

You're a manager in your state government's department of environmental monitoring. You spend the morning at the computer putting the finishing touches on proposed carbon reduction regulations that corporations would need to comply with. Tomorrow, you'll present a summary at a meeting with your boss, some coworkers, and representatives from other state agencies, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, environmental groups, and corporations.

After lunch, you spend an hour reviewing your staff members' 30-day spending reports and notice that one person has exceeded his budget—again. That employee also routinely produces shoddy work and turns it in late. Because it's almost impossible to dismiss him, your plan is yet another measured discussion. "I'm concerned about this. Is there something I'm not understanding about why the work isn't getting done, yet your expenses are beyond your budget?" If you don't like his answers, you'll put him on an official "improvement plan."

You end your day with a meeting with your boss, requesting more money for your group's efforts to monitor corporations' compliance with the ever thicker thicket of environmental regulations.