Recently I was struggling to find a way to describe to a colleague my role as Interim Manager to law firms and how it differs from being a consultant. I recalled an article from September 20, 2010 in Canadian HR Reporter written by Sarah Dobson, entitled: “Use of Interim Managers an escalating trend” which accurately reflects my experiences. Ms. Dobson compares the benefits of engaging an Interim Manager over a Consultant when an organization needs help to maintain daily operations, get through change or when they have a gap in resources.
So what’s the difference between an Interim Manager and a Consultant?
Interim Managers:
- Typically like to share and help develop people
- Attend on a regular basis and become a familiar face
- Contribute towards routine operational management of firm allowing partners and business owners to focus on client work
- Are hired to execute and implement
- Become part of the management team and firm culture, often leading the initiatives
- Provide a stabilizing effect – keep the peace
- Bring fresh ideas and approaches to solutions and move things forward
- Share their knowledge and experience of other firms
- Able to remain candid and avoid the constraints of office politics
- Encourage and facilitate confronting issues within firm and hold people accountable
- Provide experienced, senior management expertise on a flexible part-time basis to handle the needs of small to mid-sized firms that lack the budget for in-house staff
Consultants:
- Generally only hired to make an assessment and report on it
- Don’t typically implement and are not hands-on
- Are not generally strong operational people, more of an advisory role
- Often charge 2-3 times more than interim talent who are paid part or full time
- Don’t typically reside in your environment to appreciate the culture and daily pulse
Keeping up with today’s fast business pace is difficult. Often in-house resources are already over-stretched just attending to client business. This results in the day-to-day operations, such as facilities maintenance, human resources issues and administrative processes, getting put aside until it either escalates into a critical problem or until the manpower and financial resources become available to address them.
Incorporating an Interim Manager into your firm can be a cost effective way of managing these ongoing operational issues, enabling lawyers and their staff to get on with practicing law.