Management Consultancy vs Interim Management Part 1

Welcome to my first blog, I decided to make this a small series which looks that the Management Consultancy vs Interim Management conundrum.

In todays rapidly changing and unpredictable world needs of SME business owners and Management Teams are changing. There is an increasing need to rely upon specialist help.  Having access to experts who can deploy within your business at short notice can be invaluable

Many, me included, had the belief that Management Consultancy and Interim Management were the same thing.  However over the years I have learned that there are some very subtle, but significant differences.

In this series of 4 short blogs I’ll discuss the key differences between the two disciplines. And as a result how they can help your business overcome everyday problems and issues.

Management Consultancy vs Interim Management – Who Employs Who?

In this blog, the first in my series of Management Consultancy vs Interim Management. I’ll start with the first major difference, which is who employs who?

The difference between the two types of employment are simple, but the difference it makes to you and your business (especially of you are an SME) is considerable.  In a nutshell an Interim Manager will be employed directly by you, or your management team.  I do the vast majority of my work directly with business owners, they set out the landscape. They set out what they want to achieve and the goals and aspirations of the project.

By contrast a Management Consultant is employed by an agency, who is employed by either the business owner or management team.  As a result the agency is responsible for placing the Management Consultant within your business. The consequence of this is that who you get working for you is largely out of your control.

What difference does that make?

This simple difference also creates a very different working environment. As an Interim Manager being employed by you means that I am reporting to you.  By contrast a Management Consultant is going to report to the agency, they will then report back to you and vice versa.

These lines of communication simply slow processes and decision making down. With more people involved your costs will increase. As we all know, the more complex processes and communications become, the harder it is to simply focus on the job at hand.  Which is exactly what an Interim Manager will do.

There are additional complexities that come in to play when you are employed by a third party rather than directly.  There are often pressures within a Management Consultancy for their consultants to stretch out a project. They may also be targeted to use additional skills available within the agency rather than your business.

As an Interim Manager I don’t have those pressures, I work with your employees. I’ll work with your supply chain and your well chosen specialists. I’m not going to re-invent a wheel, my job is to improve its efficiency and make it work for you, with your team and workforce.  Therefore, you are in control, not the agency nor the Management Consultant.

In Conclusion

In conclusion using a Management Consultant will remove some of the control that you or your management team have. Alternatively, with an Interim Manager you retain that control pretty much in the same way you control an employee.

There are a number of ways in which this impacts your business and the long lasting effect that this initial decision can have, these are discussed in the three following blogs.

Part 2 can be found here