Summary
The current economic situation combined with the operating policies of many companies have created a highly unusual operating environment that makes it difficult for many managers to perform effectively. Specialized interim management skills are needed to minimize, mitigate, and resolve these problems.
Analysis
Interim
and Temporary Management Situations
Turnaround
Management, Interim Management and Crisis Management
Turnaround
Management, Interim Management, and Crisis Management situations are often the
most challenging management jobs in the entire realm of business. By their very
nature, they deal with problems that have confounded previous managers.
Turnaround
Management situations arise due to problems that have already been encountered
within an organization, and an experienced professional manager is required in
order to manage the company through the problems and return it to a more normal
operating mode. Providing effective management in the face of serious problems
is quite different than a normal management job. The presence of problems
impacts every aspect of management, and a typical manager who may perform well
in a normal management environment is not equipped to deal with this situation.
Interim
Management situations may or may not involve extant problems but definitely
involve being thrown into a management situation on short notice and for a
short or indefinite tenure. The presence of an Interim Manager always creates
apprehension on the part of most, if not all, employees which makes the
management job even more difficult.
The
goal of an interim management assignment may be to guide the organization toward
a specific goal, or it may be to actually determine the goals that need to be
achieved and then start working toward their achievement.
Crisis
Management is interim management but usually for a shorter term and for the
purpose of dealing with a specific unexpected event, often catastrophic. Quite
often, a corporation’s response to a true crisis is driven by public relations
personnel who are ill equipped for such a task and lawyers. What is missing is
a clear and unbiased view from a knowledgeable and experienced professional
outside the corporation who understands what must be done to address the
situation so that the bleeding is stopped and the healing can begin. In these
situations, a Crisis Manager can either take over management or else provide valuable
assistance and advice to existing management.
There
is no formula for establishing a successful Turnaround, Interim, or Crisis
Management program since each one is very different. All that can be said about
the Turnaround, Interim, or Crisis Management process in general is that in the
macro sense, it follows the pattern that applies to virtually all management
situations:
1.
You begin with an idea of the desirable acceptable goals.
2.
You make an assessment of where you are.
3.
You formulate a plan for reaching your goals.
4.
You implement and execute your plan.
In
that simplistic regard, Turnaround, Interim, or Crisis Management sound like
regular old everyday management, but they indeed are not. They involve a whole
set of problems about which managers in normal situations only have nightmares.
For
example, consider each of the four steps just listed:
*
What are acceptable goals if you have a corporation that is in such bad
financial shape mathematically that it could not possibly pull out of the hole
it has worked itself into?
*
How can you accurately assess where you are if your reports and employees think
that you are interested in slashing their jobs?
*
Given the failure of the company in general and the employees and officers to
achieve acceptable results in the past, how can their skills be relied upon to
reach a new set of goals?
*
Similarly to the previous problem, even if the employees and officers do
possess some skills, how can you expect to effectively implement and execute a plan
for recovery if the organization and its officers and employees have a past
record of failing to use their job skills to achieve positive results?
These
are but a few of the unique and complex problems that make a Turnaround,
Interim, or Crisis Management situation one that calls for special management
talents.
Think
about the incredible set of skills that a Turnaround Manager, Interim Manager,
or Crisis Manager must possess in order to be successful:
1.
Solid management skills that include not just routine management experience but
also proven abilities to plan, manage and lead successfully in a turbulent
situation.
2.
Vision that encompasses the various interests of stockholders, management,
employees, creditors, and possibly regulators.
3.
Analytical skills and deep experience to quickly size-up problems, face them,
and extinguish them.
4.
Analytical skills to quickly determine what changes need to be made in the
organization.
5.
Diplomatic skills to obtain the cooperation of management, employees,
creditors, stockholders, and possibly regulators and others needed to implement
change strategies.
6.
Personal character, ethics, integrity, discipline, charisma, initiative, and
courage to act as “an army of one” when necessary to implement needed changes.
7.
Availability to begin the job on extremely short notice, provide the management
services onsite, and serve for a flexible but possibly an usually short period
of time.
