Interim management isn’t the career for you if you don’t like challenge and change. But for those of us who love both, it brings a rich variety of enhancing and intensive experiences: exposure to different industries, products and processes, and a variety of organisational structures, and cultural styles and the opportunity to establish an outstanding “track record for delivery”, added to which interim managers love not having to go through rounds of appraisals only to be told that: “unfortunately budgets for salary increases are limited”.

Show Me The Money
In fact, performance can probably never be more directly linked to pay. Even new interim managers can raise their fees for the next assignment as much as they like – providing the market thinks they’re worth it. Enough said you might think, but operating through a limited company also reduces tax costs if more remuneration is taken through shareholder dividends. And don’t forget that the cost of IT, office furniture, consumables, some utilities, vehicle running costs, and indeed VAT, can be borne by the business.

No Such Thing As Job Security Even in a “Permanent” Role Whilst even the best executive interim managers can be hit hard by an economic downturn, arguably there’s no such thing as a “permanent” line management role any more. Anyway, even in downturns can’t interim managers just drop their fees to become more saleable? Well the truth is, it doesn’t always work that way. Nevertheless, many interims feel more (not less) secure, in the knowledge that their career has more longevity than the corporate alternative.

Interim Management Lifestyle – More Choice
It’s true that an interim management lifestyle means greater choice: flexibility between part-time or full-time work, working at home or on site, the frequency and duration of holidays. It also means that because of the objectivity that comes with not being a permanent employee, during assignments organisational politics are less of a grind.

Interim management also means that a great career doesn’t have to come at the expense of unsettling the family by relocating every three years or so. But it sometimes means working away from home perhaps for four or five nights over a long period, which isn’t easy for young families. And don’t forget to start pulling your weight around the home and talking to your spouse over dinner after spending nine months on your own in a hotel!

Yes executive interim managers have more flexibility to spend quality time and extended holidays with the family between assignments, but realistically it isn’t always spent on a beach somewhere. Between interim management assignments the role morphs into “Sales Director” and interims become relentless networkers. So if you’re not good at self-promotion or not keen to become good at it fast – give it some thought. And then there’s the tedious administration: paying bills, filling in VAT returns.

Any project can only be successful if the people behind the project implements proper project management skills or hire a reputable and dependable project management group.

Project management may sound like a complicated term and it really is as it involves the process of organizing the different factors involved in creating and completing a project.

All projects should start out with a good plan so that the project creator would know the things required for the project to proceed as well as the necessary timeframe within which these requirements must be accomplished. The project plan should identify the scope of the project and the people accountable for the various aspects of the project.

The plan should include the costs involved in managing the project including the costs involved in hiring human resources and materials for the project. A good and realistic plan will enable the project manager to fulfill the project requirements on time and in an efficient manner.

Like every other project, a project management plan should include a good plan for human resources as they will be the best resources the project manager can have. Another important aspect is the communications plan not only between and among the project manager and the employees or workers. It should also include a good communication system with the outside world.

The project manager should be more wary of a good communication plan especially if the project has a very great impact in a certain community. If this is the case, the project manager should also make sure to include a public relations plan as well as a communications plan in cases of emergency or negative reaction from the public.

Risk management should be one of the most important aspects of the project plan. The project manager should avoid being reactionary whenever emergencies or negative publicity comes up. To avoid this and to become proactive he should establish a contingency plan for possible situations.

One of the most challenging projects to handle or to manage is a software project because of the technical emergencies that may happen, the sudden changes in costs and the sudden changes in technical people involved in the software project.

However, a project manager should always be prepared for any eventuality for any type of project he is handling. The best thing to do is to prepare a very efficient project management plan so that he is not caught unaware of very important aspects of the project.

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