How Should Clients Make the Best Use of Interim Managers?

Interim Management is one of the latest forms of troubleshooting management techniques which has come into existence in recent years. In this article, we will try and understand what Interim Management exactly is. Then we will go onto the critical difference between an Interim Manager and a Management Consultant. Lastly, we shall take a look at the Interim Management industry today.

According to the Interim Management Association, “Interim Management is the rapid provision of senior executives to manage change or transition”.

In simpler terms, an interim manager is a highly experienced and specialized executive whom you can employ in your firm for a short period of time to solve a specific business problem. He is a master project manager and will not only act as a consultant and give you advice, but also solve the problem for you.

Let us take a hypothetical example to understand this better.

Company X has been performing badly from the past 5 years. It is a family run business and due to the internal politics amongst the family members, the company has lost its competitive edge in the market.

To make the situation worse, the Managing Director has suddenly resigned. Now, the Chairman of Company X realizes that the existing management team is inexperienced and incapable of running the company.

So, he has two alternatives. He can source and hire an existing senior level executive from another company and employ her on a permanent basis. But finding the right person uses valuable resources. The placement of a new senior staff member may cause further conflict between family members and insecurities in their roles, and they may seek work elsewhere. And worse, if the new executive turns out to be the wrong choice, removing her will be difficult.

The much better alternative is to employ an interim manager! Such an executive offers both past experience in short-term troubleshooting and company efficiency, and specialization in the particular field.