It wasn’t long ago that I was working for a company that employed over 400 people. I worked on the documentation team which, among other tasks, was primarily responsible for managing and updating Users’ Guides for each of the software products the company developed. Every day required nine hours from each employee—eight of those working, with an hour for lunch. Some days were more productive than others, and often I wondered if what I did contributed at all to the overall success of the company, especially since I was contributing to an admittedly secondary concern. First and foremost it was a software development company.

When I moved over to [io]development, which is also a software company but with fewer employees (10), things were … different. My official title was account manager, but I often found myself doing non-account manager tasks. Finally, one day one of the owners sat down with me. “What’s your job title here?” he asked. “Account manager,” I replied. “Well,” said the owner, “account manager is fine for your title, but your job should really be HR Specialist/Accountant/Marketing Manager/Project Manager/Account Manager.”

“OK…”

He went on to explain that the best way to contribute was to find ways to make it so that the software developers could do what they were hired to do—develop software. That meant that some days I would, go figure, be an account manager and work with clients. But that also meant some days I would be working in Human Resources, filling out insurance forms to get new employees enrolled or information updated; or working as a marketer, including running social media campaigns; or working as a project manager and defining the scope of our latest web design project; or working as an accountant, making sure that bills are paid and clients are invoiced. And most days I would be doing a combination of those responsibilities.

While it can feel overwhelming sometimes, I’m also able to see direct results from my efforts. I always feel like part of the team, and I always feel like what I do affects the overall success of the company, which is equal parts scary and exhilarating. And who isn’t looking for those two emotions when they go into work each morning?

– See more at: http://www.io-dev.com/blog/september-2012/working-for-a-small-business#sthash.D0cV3AX8.dpuf