Bring biscuits... lessons from an interim role

My blog has been silent in recent weeks because I've been busy with an unexpected interim role.

After months of working on different projects for a range of clients I have been thrust back into the corporate world, taking on the challenges of an interim communications role. So what have I learnt from the last few weeks?

1. I prefer the flexibility of working for myself

Over the last few months I thought I missed leading a team and days full of office interactions with different people. And that part of the interim role is great - but it definitely doesn't out weigh the flexibility of being able to work when and where I choose - and I certainly won't miss the daily commute when the interim role ends.

2. I do not miss a full-time corporate role

Until I launched Sentry PR last year I had worked for 20 years in a variety of senior communications roles. Towards the end of that time I was increasingly spending my days in meetings that seemed pointless and I was rarely using the skills I had been appointed for. I had become disillusioned with the corporate world, however it was a huge part of my life so walking away from it seemed like a big risk - but not any more.

I am enjoying the interim role but I know it isn't something I want to do permanently, because there is definitely life outside of working in a big organisation.

3. An interim roles truly means you have one foot inside and one foot outside an organisation

Throughout my career I have always advocated that good communications people need to have one foot outside the organisation, listening to what people say about it, and one foot in the organisation making sure leaders hear those messages.

It's very easy in a permanent role to get sucked into the organisation's culture and, perhaps dangerously, begin to believe that organisation's publicity. In an interim role you truly have one foot inside and one foot outside the organisation. You can ride above the politics, and as someone said to me recently: "It's good to talk to you because you have no axe to grind here and you can genuinely see the wood for the trees."

4. You have to hit the ground running

In an interim role you don't have time to ease yourself into the organisation. You have to prove your worth from day one - demonstrating the value you bring for the day rate you charge. You also have to quickly build trust, something that's not always easy to do, but I've found that being open, honest, calm, professional and effective helps to get leaders to trust your judgement - after all that's what they are paying for.

5. Experience and personality counts

As an interim you're brought in largely because the organisation has a problem to manage or a gap to quickly fill. That's where you past experience in other organisations really counts. Being able to offer solutions that may have worked in other places, presenting a calm exterior in a crisis, and sharing knowledge that permanent staff can learn from, all help to put your name on the "organisational" map while you're in an interim role.

But above all people want to work with nice people. So being friendly, approachable, helpful and fun to be around goes a long way in helping to settle quickly into an interim role.

And if all else fails, bring biscuits...it seems to be working for me.

If you'd like to find out more about how Sentry PR can help solve your communication problems, either on an interim or consultancy basis, contact Caroline Parnell on 0780 7671728, email carpar@live.co.uk or check out our website www.sentrypr.co.uk