High-Stakes Growth: Interim Leadership Roles in Higher Education - Part 4: Negotiating Your Offer
Negotiating Your Offer
Once you decide you want the role, negotiation helps you weigh your why (see What is Your Why?). Preparation is important so before you negotiate:
Understand the needs and issues. Conduct informational interviews with people who can give you helpful insight on the role, the area you will be responsible for, and the work. Research by reviewing annual reports, program reviews, prior consultant reports, etc. Create a list of questions that help you understand the priorities and what you will be expected to get done.
Make your own assessment of what the needs are that will shape your work. Once you review the existing research and get everyone else’s perspective, what is your own assessment of the needs? Your familiarity with the issues should be factored into what you’re hearing. Is there consistency or are the narratives wildly different?
Develop clear deliverables and mile markers. Once you get a good handle on what’s needed, the phases of work, how long it is going to take to get the work done, and what resources you are going to need ahead of time provides a baseline for what you can negotiate.
Once you have at least these thought-through ahead of time, you can have a discussion with the manager who is offering you the role.
Identify what is being prioritized and what is being moved off your plate so you can be successful in this interim role. You will not be able to handle two jobs in their entirety, so get clear on the expectations for what is most important. Communicating your priorities to your teams helps them know why you are focused on certain issues.
Understand the outcomes and deliverables. Deliverables are different from priorities because they are more specific. For example, your priority might be to continue signature programs but your deliverable is to reduce overall budget by 5% (which might necessitate reduction of signature programs while maintaining the most effective ones).
Co-create the mile markers, phases of work, timelines, etc. Agree on check-in and build expectations around this working chronology. Build in the agreement to make minor adjustments without adding any new responsibilities or if you know you will be open to more, keep that door open on your terms.
Share what you need to be properly resourced to meet the deliverables. This might be hiring temporary support, getting training to get up to speed for technical knowledge, or professional development opportunities.
Identify a start and transition period to the end. Having clear start dates gives you runway time to prepare yourself and others. A transition period moves everyone towards closure and an end to this phase of leadership. An end date enables you to mentally wrap up. Agreeing on an option to negotiate for extension or a related role if the work you started is not completed also gives you both the opportunity to check in and determine if more time is needed.
Develop a communication plan. An announcement should be co-signed and properly presented by executive leadership. Your role must be given appropriate authority and support so you don’t have to make a case for yourself at your start date. Communicating that there will be phased onboarding meetings with stakeholders and partners help them anticipate and understand their critical role to the prioritized work.
Putting all these agreements into a memo of understanding will keep everyone on track, prevent scope creep, help focus check ins, and determine if any course correction is needed. Revise accordingly but be mindful of the changing priorities and what you will need to be successful.
