Aleksander GroszWhat working together can look like
Depending on whether you need someone for a defined piece of work, want to prepare a decision, or are filling a position.
Photo: MChe Lee / UnsplashWays of working together
Interim mandate
A role is vacant, a build is coming up, or an area needs stabilising. I take the line with budget and headcount.
- Building a unit, including from nothing
- Leadership and budget in hand
- Handover to a successor planned from the start
- Typically several months, partly on site
Advice on a decision
A tender is coming up, a contract is up for renewal, a piece of software needs choosing. Narrow brief, clear result.
- Criteria, evaluation, preparation for negotiation
- Setting up a governance model both sides can verify
- A second opinion on something already under way
- Typically weeks, not months
A permanent role
Most of my career has been in permanent responsibility. If a position fits my profile, we talk about it like any other way of working together.
- Leading service and contact center operations
- Responsibility for vendor management
- Building outbound and telesales units
How a first conversation works
Thirty minutes, free of charge, no documents needed. You describe the situation, I ask questions. At the end I tell you what I would look at first in your position, and whether I am the right person for it. If I am not, I usually know someone who fits better.
What I need to know beforehand
- What it is about, in three sentences
- How large the operation is, in seats or staff
- Whether providers are involved, and how many
- By when something should have happened
How I work
In the operation, with budget and headcount in hand. I report things as they stand, including when that is uncomfortable, and I hold to the figures we agreed beforehand. After the first few weeks something should be visibly different in the operation, rather than a report arriving at the end. And if a brief ought to be cut differently from how it was written, I say so early.