by George Purdy
Your business project may be thrown into disarray if it loses a project manager. This may lead to wasted money, lost time, and an increased number of employees leaving the firm. One way to avoid this is to hire a consultant in the field of interim management. While most companies don’t do this, an interim manager can help your company in several ways.
The interim management consultants are the ones with a great amount of experience, in-depth knowledge of project management and who have scaled the heights in their fields. This assures you that the best person is being hired for your business change projects. Hiring an interim management consultant certified by the Institute for Change Management (ICM), is a great way to ensure you are hiring the best fit for the job.
In addition, interim management consultants differ from many other consultants in that they have undertaken training specific to business change. If a project is in difficulty in the middle of its development phase, they understand how to get it back on the rails. Traditional project managers may be able to see a project through from beginning to end, but they may not to be able intervene in a project already underway.
Hiring interim managers is a proven strategy for business success. The Institute for Project Strategy in Business (IPSB) recently published a study suggesting that interim managers finish projects 25 percent more quickly than do traditional managers. Furthermore, this study showed a higher rate of on time project completion for interim managers: only 60 percent of projects led by traditional managers finished on time, versus 72 percent of projects led by interim managers.
Interim management can also lead to less employee turnover, which directly correlates with increased profits and happy shareholders. When an interim manager takes over a project, employees will know that it is in good hands and that they will receive the advice and leadership that they require, making them more likely to stay with the firm.
There are many reasons that companies may choose to hire interim managers. High-value projects may be in disarray after the previous manager’s departure, or a manager with a poor track record may have just been terminated. It makes good business sense to hire an interim manager to help complete projects, leading to improved profits and reduced employee turnover.
Businesses often suffer upheaval after losing a project manager. One way to limit the problems is to hire a consultant to serve as an interim manager. Interim management consultants have experience in project management, and they have specialized training in business change projects. They know exactly how to take on a floundering project and put it back on track. An interim manager can also improve the morale of employees working on an abandoned project. Employees working under an interim manager know that they will receive the advice and leadership they require. If you want to raise profits and lower turnover, hiring an interim manager makes good business sense.
About the Author:
George Purdy is an acknowledged expert on
interim management. He wrote many articles and is a well-known public speaker on this subject. Look for other coach related resources on the next site
executive coaches.