An interim manager can be found quickly, provided the assignment is clearly defined before you start looking. Here is the process, step by step.
1. Define the assignment
- The objective: replacing someone who has left, turning a situation around, running a project?
- The scope and the deliverables expected at the end of the assignment.
- Duration and pace: full-time, part-time, on site or remote.
- The start date and the budget.
2. Know where to look
- Interim management firms, which put forward pre-selected profiles, often within a few days.
- Your network: chartered accountant (expert-comptable), lawyer, shareholders, investment funds, administrateurs judiciaires (court-appointed administrators).
- Platforms and networks of independents, useful for shorter or more targeted assignments.
3. Choose on the right criteria
- They have already held the role, not just advised someone who held it.
- They know your type of situation: crisis, growth, integration, project.
- They are available quickly and can commit for the duration.
- They know how to hand over: the assignment succeeds when the team can stand on its own.
- Their references can be checked, even when assignments remain confidential.
4. Questions to ask at interview
- In a situation similar to ours, what did you do in the first 30 days?
- Which indicators will you track each week?
- How do you prepare your departure and the handover?
- What share of the assignment can be done remotely?
5. Keep the contract simple
An interim manager is not an employee: a service agreement (contrat de prestation de services) is signed with the firm or with the manager's own company. It sets out the objectives, the duration, the day rate, the invoicing terms and confidentiality. Our guide on the cost of an interim manager gives price benchmarks.
6. Start on the right foot
The best assignments begin with an initial observations report (rapport d'étonnement) after two or three weeks, followed by a 100-day plan shared with senior management and reviewed every week. Matsu Conseil can put a manager in post within 2 weeks of a first conversation.