Interim Management
Often, it is not the lack of a good plan or strategy that impedes success, but the absence of its execution.
Interim management can incorporate the roles of consultancy and project management, planning and implementation, facilitating that a good plan is not only made but pursued.
Furthermore, there are as many opportunities to benefit from interim management as there are reasons for limited management resources:
> A temporary vacancy due to promotion, restructure, resignation, peaks of activity, maternity leave or health related, that jeopardises progress of a strategic or tactical project.
> Urgency (or opportunity) that does not allow waiting until a new hire is completed.
> The scope and relevance of a task and the subsequent implications for staffing are still to be defined.
> Reorganisation will fill the management gap but is not ready for carrying out.
> A project has a specific and limited scope or time horizon that does not require or justify employing someone on a permanent basis.
> The need for a strategic or tactical project is identified but the organisation requires support for its initiation.
> A management function is needed but budgeting and / or employment processes are on hold.
Interim management allows accelerating or maintaining momentum without impacting on permanent headcount, leadership and organisational structure.
A core feature of interim management is its flexibility and adjustability to explicit needs. Assignment periods can last from a view days to months, with a full time, part time or hourly engagement.
The initiation of an interim assignment has much in common with consultancy as it consists of a thorough need analysis and a mutual definition of the operational requirements.
Depending on the scope and complexity of the assignment, objectives and tasks are already agreed at this stage, or the development of a more detailed understanding of the challenges and how to address them is in itself part of the interim role, probably in concurrence with the handling of immediate issues.
The main phase of the interim assignment is closer to project management, at best with defined milestones, progress tracking and periodic feedback reviews with the client.
Approaching project end, a smooth transition can ensure that results and know-how are fully integrated by the organisation and followed up, potentially supported by occasional consultancy.
Ray Harald Puth offers interim management for regional and international marketing, alliance management and healthcare compliance.
