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What is the
difference between a consulting assignment and
an interim assignment?
To many in the world of interim management – providers and some interim managers – my response will seem controversial: there is very little difference in practice.
Ok, that’s not true all of the time. A few interim assignments are to cover for a well-planned absence (maternity leave would be one example) where the business simply wants to have a steady hand on the tiller. An interim manager will do that: a consultant won’t.
But increasingly interim assignments are not like that. In a vast number of instances the interim is going in “to change things”. Just like a consultant, the interim will be required to make a quick diagnosis, identify a range of solutions and set out a plan of action for testing and delivering those solutions. And then the interim will implement delivery. Again just like a consultant.
To many in the world of interim management – providers and some interim managers – my response will seem controversial: there is very little difference in practice.
Ok, that’s not true all of the time. A few interim assignments are to cover for a well-planned absence (maternity leave would be one example) where the business simply wants to have a steady hand on the tiller. An interim manager will do that: a consultant won’t.
But increasingly interim assignments are not like that. In a vast number of instances the interim is going in “to change things”. Just like a consultant, the interim will be required to make a quick diagnosis, identify a range of solutions and set out a plan of action for testing and delivering those solutions. And then the interim will implement delivery. Again just like a consultant.
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At this point,
traditionalist providers of interims will
protest that consultants don’t implement. Well
that may be broadly true of the big strategy
consultancies but for the most part consultants
who go in to change things most certainly do
implement.
Twenty years ago, when I first ran a consulting practice area for a “Big Four” accounting firm, we didn’t implement. But it soon became clear to me and to my colleagues that the true value to the client lay in implementation. So that’s the model we adopted – to ensure that nearly all client consulting projects went right through to successful implementation: “soup to nuts” as my US colleagues insisted on calling our approach.
Well, given that I am arguing that there is no real difference in practice, you might think that the consultant has an advantage over an interim because you can buy a consultant’s time in short bursts rather than a period of months. And indeed in the traditional model of interim management, you may need to buy an interim for a solid period of time. At Curzon Interim, we are not hide-bound by traditional models. Many of our registered interims are happy to work collaboratively on projects, dropping in for a few days as required. And we are happy to coordinate their involvement.
So let me now reposition the answer by just one small but very important point:
What is the difference between a consulting assignment and an interim assignment? There is very little difference in practice apart from the cost. Grey hair for grey hair, an interim costing the client £1,200 per day probably equates to a Big Four consultant costing from £5,000 per day.
This insight from Michael Kaltz appeared in Executive Grapevine of April 2010.
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Twenty years ago, when I first ran a consulting practice area for a “Big Four” accounting firm, we didn’t implement. But it soon became clear to me and to my colleagues that the true value to the client lay in implementation. So that’s the model we adopted – to ensure that nearly all client consulting projects went right through to successful implementation: “soup to nuts” as my US colleagues insisted on calling our approach.
Well, given that I am arguing that there is no real difference in practice, you might think that the consultant has an advantage over an interim because you can buy a consultant’s time in short bursts rather than a period of months. And indeed in the traditional model of interim management, you may need to buy an interim for a solid period of time. At Curzon Interim, we are not hide-bound by traditional models. Many of our registered interims are happy to work collaboratively on projects, dropping in for a few days as required. And we are happy to coordinate their involvement.
So let me now reposition the answer by just one small but very important point:
What is the difference between a consulting assignment and an interim assignment? There is very little difference in practice apart from the cost. Grey hair for grey hair, an interim costing the client £1,200 per day probably equates to a Big Four consultant costing from £5,000 per day.
This insight from Michael Kaltz appeared in Executive Grapevine of April 2010.
RETURN TO NEWS AND VIEWS PAGE
