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Top tips for taking on an interim manager

Interim managers are increasingly popular as a short to medium term solution for organisations which need to shore up their staff during change or the absence of existing managers.  Here’s fe3’s top ten tips for organisations to help them get the most out of an interim assignment.

  1. Be very clear what the brief is.  An interim assignment to cover for maternity leave can be very different from parachuting in someone to restructure a department.  One may require “steady state” management, working to a plan already devised and the other wholesale change, perhaps needing a fresh pair of eyes.

  2. Once the brief is clear, be completely honest with the interim what it is.  If they’re going to be cast as the “baddie” in a redundancy programme and then replaced with someone free from association with the blood-letting, be open with them.  More inexperienced interim managers can then adopt psychological armour suited to the task from day one.

  3. Help them find their way about.  Because of the roles they take, interim managers are much more expensive than regular employees and as a result, they are expected to, and need to, hit the ground running.  This will be more difficult if they don’t know, for example, how the filing system works on their PC, where to find documents, how the security system of the building works – even where the loos are.  And you should be paying them for their skills and expertise – not their time trying to figure out how the photocopier works or how to get a letter franked.

  4. Prepare your staff.  It’s not helpful for either the interim or your existing employees if your interim manager arrives on their first day to be asked “Who are you?”.  Key stakeholders need to be involved in the development of the brief, so they know what the role is.  If appropriate, telling your employees what the interim is there to achieve will also help the “settling in” process. 

  5. Involve the interim as you would any senior manager.  Being an interim is an isolated position, so try not to make the position any more isolated by simply leaving the individual to “get on with it”.  Apart from the skills the interim might have, an external viewpoint on lots of issues within the company can be refreshing and thought-provoking.  So include the interim in management meetings and get their views on the business as a whole, not just their project.

  6. Evaluate progress regularly.  You’re paying a lot of money for an interim manager, so while you shouldn’t need to micro-manage, progress meetings give opportunities to spot and solve problems which may be slowing things up.  In addition, the interim is unlikely to have the all-round understanding of the organisation and this extra knowledge again may expedite issues.

  7. Get their views after the assignment has ended.  Interims are by their profession, people who need to size up situations quickly.  Put some time aside at the end of their assignment to get their views on how they view the organisation, its processes, people and culture.  As part of the discussion, ensure you know what worked for them – and what would have made their life easier, and what they’d change for other interims.

  8. Consider the legacy. When your interim has left, what lasting changes will there be?  Part of the brief for your interim should be not only to execute the immediate task, but to ensure that the organisation is better placed for the future through changes in processes, attitudes, relationships.  Build this expectation into your relationship and it will make the assignment better value for the organisation and more fulfilling for the interim.

  9. Don’t complain about the price. Unless, of course, the interim isn’t completing their brief, in which case you might consider termination.  Interims are expensive not only for their skills, but their flexibility, an external view and the ability to make things happen quickly.  They often take the flak for unpopular decisions, being seen as “the bad guy”.  These things command a premium.

  10. Don’t plan on keeping them on permanently.  It can and does happen, but most people who work as interims do so because they don’t want to be in a long-term job.  If you have a permanent vacancy, it will be worth your while in the long run going through the recruitment process.  At least that way, if you use an agency to help find the right person, you’ll only have to pay one set of fees!

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