Which Assignments Are Handed to an Interim Manager?

Organisations tend to think of interim management in terms of a vacant position. A manager leaves, and an external appointment steps in for the period until a permanent hire is made. That picture is accurate, yet it describes only part of what interim management covers.

In practice what is handed over is not a position but a defined assignment. What the assignment is determines the length of the period, the manager's area of authority, their counterpart inside the organisation and the output expected at the end. Two interim assignments that begin under the same job title do not resemble one another, because their content differs.

Defining the type of assignment at the outset answers two questions for the organisation: which profile to look for, and when the period will count as complete. Without that definition, the interim manager joins and spends the first weeks working out the boundaries of the role, and the time gained is lost there.

Below we set out the types of assignment organisations hand to interim management, the conditions on which an assignment can be handed over, and how this differs from a permanent appointment.

The Types of Assignment Organisations Hand Over

Across the projects we run, the assignments handed over fall under a handful of headings. These headings are independent of sector: the same type of assignment is constructed on the same logic in manufacturing as in a financial institution:

•     Running a critical role left vacant by an unexpected departure without interruption

•     Managing a one-off programme: system migration, certification, commissioning a new line

•     Running integration following an acquisition or merger

•     Establishing a function the organisation does not yet have

•     Managing the closure of a unit or site and the relocation that follows

•     Recovering a unit performing below target

•     Setting up the initial structure on entry to a new market or geography

What these headings share is that the work carries an urgency independent of the organisation's own calendar. Where the assignment can wait, the organisation waits for a permanent appointment. Where it cannot, interim management comes in.

The first heading is the best known. When a critical role falls vacant, the organisation's operations do not pause; reporting, customer relationships, supply and team management continue at the same pace. The interim manager runs the work during this period and creates room for the permanent search to be completed without haste. The output expected here is continuity rather than transformation.

Programme assignments sit within a different frame. A system migration, a certification process or the commissioning of a new line is handed over once it ceases to be a load the organisation's existing managers can carry on top of their daily work. Here the start and end of the assignment are clear, and so is the output. The organisation completes the programme without drawing its own managers away from their principal responsibilities.

Integration assignments call for neutral management inside the organisation. After a merger, the processes, reporting arrangements and teams of two structures come together. A manager independent of both sides makes it easier for decisions to be taken apart from internal balances.

Establishing a function from nothing requires experience. Setting up an export, quality or data management function the organisation has not had before moves faster with a manager who has built that function elsewhere. Once the structure is in place, the permanent manager of the function takes over. In this type of assignment the handover stage matters as much as the assignment itself; we examine how the handover is run in How Is Handover Carried Out When an Interim Assignment Ends?.

Closure and relocation assignments are a field of expertise in their own right. The process, the production calendar, legal obligations, team communication and the transfer of assets all run within the same period. Here it proves decisive that the interim manager has run a comparable period before.

In closure and relocation periods, team communication is a heading of its own within the assignment. Which information the team receives and from whom is defined and shared between the interim manager and their counterpart inside the organisation. The technical and the human side of the work run together in these assignments.

Recovery and growth assignments are tied to a measurable target. Which indicator the unit will reach, and where, is defined at the outset, and the period closes against that indicator. We set out the sectoral distribution of these assignments in In Which Sectors Is Interim Management Most Effective?.

The assignment's external counterparts are defined within the handover as well. Customer relationships, supplier discussions and audit processes continue through the period. Once it is settled whether the interim manager or senior management will handle those relationships, a single counterpart is visible from outside.

Some of the assignments handed over are work the organisation's own managers could carry out; the reason for handing them over is capacity rather than capability. When an existing manager is expected to take on a new programme while continuing their principal role, the pace of both falls. Interim management keeps the organisation's own team on its principal work.

The length of these assignment types differs. Running a critical role depends on how long the permanent search takes. Programme management is bounded by the programme's own calendar. Assignments that establish a function run until the structure is in place and are usually the longest. Closure assignments end with the completion of legal and administrative steps.

The type of assignment also determines the profile sought. Where continuity is expected, a profile that adapts quickly to the organisation's way of working and puts working with the team first comes to the fore. Where transformation is expected, the search is for someone who has run a comparable period before and does not hesitate to decide. The match is made according to what the assignment requires.

In some periods it is not a single type of assignment that is handed over but a combination of two. A critical role may fall vacant while a programme is running in the same period. Which of the two takes priority is then settled at the outset; where both are expected to carry equal weight, both are left half-finished at the end.

Interim Manager: The Conditions on Which an Assignment Can Be Handed Over

Not every assignment is suited to interim management. The first condition is that the output can be defined. If what will have been completed by the end of the period can be set down in writing, the assignment can be handed over. If it cannot, the organisation needs to clarify its requirement first.

Setting the output down in writing also aligns expectations inside the organisation. Where the scope of the assignment is understood differently in different units, the interim manager meets requests that do not match one another. Agreeing on a single definition settles that at the outset.

The second condition is authority. Where the interim manager will take decisions, use budget and manage a team, the boundary of that area is set at the outset. When it is clear which decisions rest with them and which remain with senior management, the period moves faster. In assignments where the area of authority stays vague, the manager waits for approval at every step.

The third condition is the counterpart inside the organisation. Who the interim manager reports to, which team they work with and who they meet regularly during the period are all defined. Without that relationship the manager cannot reach the organisation's knowledge and finds no ground on which to apply their experience.

The fourth condition is access to information. A manager who cannot reach the data, the systems and the background to past decisions spends the first part of the period gathering information. Preparing that access before the handover has a direct bearing on the time gained.

The fifth condition is informing the team. When why the interim manager has joined, which assignment they will run and how long the period will last are conveyed plainly, the work begins on the first day. Without that, the team completes the picture with its own interpretation.

Where all the conditions are prepared, the handover can be completed in a single meeting. When the current position, the open items and the objective for the period are conveyed in a written summary, the interim manager starts work by the end of the first week.

Where these five conditions are met, the period works regardless of the type of assignment. Where some are missing, the difficulty appears not in the manager's experience but in how the assignment was constructed. This is why we begin with the definition of the assignment before profile matching.

A sixth condition is the resource attached to the assignment. If the budget and the team the interim manager will use are not defined, the assignment stays on paper. Whose approval the resource depends on, and up to what limit it may be used, sit within the definition of the assignment.

The definition of the output changes with the type of assignment. In continuity assignments the output is that operations are not interrupted during the period. In programme assignments it is the stages completed. In assignments that establish a function it is the structure built, the processes defined and a team ready to take over. In closure assignments it is the administrative steps completed and the assets transferred.

How the assignment is announced inside the organisation is part of the preparation too. Who the interim manager reports to, which subjects they decide on and the scope of the period are conveyed to the team and the relevant units with the same content. With that done, the manager's first week is spent on the work rather than on introductions.

How This Differs From a Permanent Appointment

For some requirements a permanent appointment is the sounder decision. Where the role carries a long-term agenda, where the team is expected to build a relationship with the same manager over years, and where the nature of the work calls for deep settlement into the culture, the search turns towards a permanent hire.

Interim management comes in where time needs to be gained without delaying the decision itself. While the organisation searches for its permanent manager, the work continues, the programme stays on the calendar and the new structure gets built. The two routes are not alternatives but two stages of the same decision; in many projects the interim assignment also clarifies the profile for the permanent appointment.

An internal arrangement arises as a third option, with an existing manager taking on additional responsibility. That works for short periods. As the period lengthens, however, the balance between their principal role and the additional one is disturbed. The length and intensity of the assignment largely determine the choice between these three options.

Putting the type of assignment in writing is enough for the decision to be taken. Once the expected output, the length of the period and where authority begins and ends are defined, the suitable route becomes visible on its own. Within our interim management service we establish that definition with organisations first and build the profile match on top of it.

How the decision is positioned inside the organisation also affects the outcome. Where interim management is presented not as the expression of a shortcoming but as the management of a defined period, the team supports the work.

What remains with the organisation at the end is not only the completed assignment. The processes established, the workflows set down in writing and the working order the team has adopted all stay. This is why the handover stage sits within the definition of the assignment from the outset.

The choice between the two routes also differs on timing. A permanent appointment can extend over months, since the right profile has to be found and the candidate has to leave their current organisation. An interim assignment starts sooner; the match is made from an existing pool of profiles and the manager begins within a short period.

Another feature of an interim assignment is that the decision is reversible. The assignment is set up for a defined period, and at the end of it the organisation decides whether to continue the structure with a permanent appointment or to run the function in a different arrangement. That flexibility proves decisive in units whose structure is not yet settled.

Where more than one assignment is run with the same organisation, the handover takes less time. Its reporting arrangements, decision flow and team structure are already defined, so the interim manager can focus on the assignment itself.

Some organisations run both routes in the same period: the interim manager begins while the permanent search is opened. In that arrangement the interim manager also prepares the structure the permanent manager will inherit.

As the Valtus Turkey partner, E&E Group meets the interim management requirements of organisations in Turkey to global standards and with local expertise, putting the right leadership in place at the right time. To define the assignment in your organisation together, you may get in touch.