What is the best way to approach a new interim assignment?

Everyone has their own approach to a new role but here are a few tips how to ensure you get off to a flying start.

10 Useful Tips and Suggestions

Ensure you receive clear, concise, tangible objectives

Ensure you fully understand the scope of the role and your responsibilities

Take time out to chat with your peers and subordinates alike to get an understanding of the main issues and who the movers and shapers are within the organisation

Use the Management by Wandering Round principle espoused by US business guru Tom Peters - go and see for yourself ‘where the action is’, don’t just rely and what you have been told, make your own judgements

Ensure you work the hours appropriate to the task in hand. Interim Management is rarely a 9-5 occupation

Formalise some useful KPIs and decide how they will be measured, keep them simple

Generate a plan of the activities that need to be carried out, formalise this and make it visible to the stakeholders

Ensure you write a one page weekly report summarising your activities, performance against KPIs and future tasks and actions. Your client needs to know they are getting value for money and you are making a difference

Ensure you get regular and critical feedback from the Stakeholders on their ‘perceptions’ of how the assignment is going

Finally, do not stretch out the assignment beyond the scope of the project boundaries unless requested to do so by the stakeholders