Post Merger Integration: Getting to Business-as-Usual

07 Sep 2012
Posted by Chris Martin

The deal is done.  The press release yesterday’s news and ‘wrapping for fish and chips’?  And maybe colleagues are whispering, “The merger was a great strategic move, but it’s harder to get things done now”?

I’m guessing that the joint Information Technology teams are going well? 

They’ve probably been strongly engaged for a while.  Relishing solving the technical / systems issues required to make the IT of two organisations talk to each other and act as one post-merger.  Those professionals have proven methodologies for getting networks, servers etc to interface and share information effectively.  The leaders of human teams formed by the merger may be finding it a little harder though?

Getting past the ‘teething problems’ so that colleagues and leaders become effective in the new organisation is paramount to achieving your strategic objectives. 

Perhaps the place to start, like the IT guys, is the system interfaces; who needs to talk to who and what information should they share?  In loose IT terms, what’s the interface protocol going to be?

In the ‘old model’ people didn’t worry too much about meeting formalities and structure like team charters, roles and responsibilities, meeting purpose and decision rights.  The team knew how to function, to share information, to get things done.  Now the team is bigger or different, and has different interfaces. 

It needs new protocols. 

I would offer that time spent on ‘basic’ meeting management and communication ‘protocols’ will pay dividends through rapidly integrating the human systems.

And this is where the metaphor breaks down, but in a good way - The IT systems will always need specific, written protocols to interface.  Human teams however, will adapt and find the most effective way to communicate. 

Your efforts on the human system integration now will enable it to become self-sustaining, leading to the strategic benefits required of a successful merger.