When change needs someone to take responsibility.

Interim management means an experienced manager joins the organization for a set period, takes on agreed responsibility, and helps implement necessary changes. It's worth considering, for example, when a key leader has left unexpectedly, an important change has been left without a clear driver, or the owner and CEO are overloaded with operational matters. An interim manager doesn't just come to fill an empty seat, they help restore clarity, a leadership rhythm, and the organization's ability to keep moving forward on its own.

An interim manager can temporarily fill a vacated leadership role or take responsibility for a specific change, business direction, or development stage. My strongest experience is in sales and commercial management, customer experience development, team leadership, and implementing change. I don't take on a task purely based on a job title. Before starting, we honestly review whether my experience and way of working match what the organization actually needs.

The point of interim management is to bring the needed leadership capability into the organization faster than a normal recruitment process allows. We can usually hold the introductory conversation and an initial mapping of the situation quickly. The actual start date depends on the scope of the task, my current availability, and how quickly we can agree on a clear mandate. Speed matters, but I don't start before the goal, responsibility, and expectations are clear to both sides.

At the start of the collaboration, we agree with the owner or leadership team on the outcome the interim manager is responsible for, which decisions they can make independently, and which decisions stay at the owner's or leadership team's level. We also define the scope of the work, priorities, reporting, the rhythm of collaboration, and situations that call for quick consultation. An interim manager isn't given unlimited decision-making authority, but they need a sufficient mandate to carry the agreed responsibility. Clarity on this point protects the organization, the team, and the interim manager alike.

No, it doesn't have to be full-time. Interim management can happen full-time or part-time, depending on how urgent the situation is, the scope of the task, and the organization's existing capacity. A part-time format, for example 2-3 days a week, fits when the organization can carry part of the day-to-day work itself but needs an experienced leader to guide key decisions, the team, and change. Part-time doesn't mean vague responsibility. Working days, availability, and the boundaries of responsibility are agreed clearly before starting.

An interim mandate usually lasts from a few months up to about half a year, but the exact timeframe depends on the situation and the desired outcome. At the start of the collaboration, we agree on concrete goals and signs by which to assess progress. These may relate to stabilizing leadership, decisions moving forward, sales results, team collaboration, clarity of responsibility, or implementing a specific change. Throughout the mandate, we regularly review what has been achieved, what needs adjusting, and when the organization is ready to take back full responsibility.

An interim manager doesn't arrive with a ready-made truth or a plan built alone. First I listen, map the situation, and create clarity on what needs attention most urgently. The owner or leadership team remains an important partner in the collaboration, but in day-to-day leadership the interim manager needs room to make the agreed decisions. I bring the team into making sense of and carrying out the changes, since a lasting result doesn't come from the leader's decisions alone. It has to take hold in people's everyday work.

A consultant analyzes the situation and gives recommendations, but responsibility for decisions and their implementation stays with the organization. An interim manager takes on agreed leadership responsibility for a set period, makes necessary decisions, and leads their implementation together with the team. An organizational development partner supports a leader or leadership team as a longer-term thinking partner, but formal leadership responsibility stays inside the organization. These approaches can sometimes overlap in part, but the role and boundaries of responsibility must always be agreed clearly.

A good interim mandate doesn't simply end on the day the interim manager leaves. In the final stage of the collaboration, we gather together the important decisions, agreements, leadership rhythms, ongoing activities, and possible risks, and hand over responsibility to the existing or new permanent leader. Where needed, I help clarify the future leader's role and prepare their smooth onboarding. Recruiting a permanent leader isn't automatically part of the interim mandate, but I can support the organization in making sure the handover is substantive and nothing important falls between the two leaders.

The cost of interim management depends on the responsibility of the task, the workload, the length of the mandate, and the complexity of the situation. A full-time leadership role, part-time involvement, and leading a specific change differ in structure and price. After an introductory conversation and an initial mapping of the situation, I put together a clear proposal covering the goal, responsibility, workload, timeline, and investment. The collaboration can be priced as a monthly fee or on a stage basis, but the principle is always the same: before starting, it must be clear what the organization is paying for and what result we're creating together.