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Attitude is Everything in Post-Merger Integration

Your initial steps and approach will have a major impact on your Post-Merger Integration projects.

The success of any post-merger integration project is heavily reliant on your joint technology teams – but it’s not just their skills that are important, it’s also their attitude.

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, there are many people and multiple systems to take into consideration, and there’s always a lot of pressure involved. After all, who wants to be the one to tell the board that there’s going to be a delay and could they extend the project deadlines?

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Here are a few key points to help you cultivate the right attitude across your post-merger integration teams.

Don’t overburden your staff

A common mistake made in post-merger integration projects is to overload already busy teams. It’s unreasonable to expect project managers to work long hours and not take any holiday for extended periods of time. This is a sure-fire way to lower morale and create unproductive negativity around the project.

To avoid overburdening your employees, you need to ensure you set realistic integration deadlines. That means developing full design and implementation plans before you agree on an integration date.

Secondly, bring in temporary additional expert resources to help resolve major business and technical issues. IT project managers can become overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of the work involved. They’re the ones feeling anxious over potential delays or system failures, yet they may have never previously handled an M&A integration project.

Engage with your teams

Reassure your teams by engaging with them right from the start and let them know what’s in it for them. Are you expecting them to work long hours in stressful conditions when they’re concerned about the security of their jobs? That’s a recipe for disaster.

Your staff should be clear about what’s going to happen post-merger when teams from different companies begin to work together. Not only do they need to know that they’ll still have a job, they should also be clear about what their future responsibilities will be.

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Your IT teams know they face a significant period of change followed by a further transitional phase when they’ll be required to adopt new IT policies and procedures. For them to enter into your post-merger integration plans in the right frame of mind, it’s vital to let them know where they stand and what support they’ll be given.

Put people first

By putting people first, you’ll achieve a much smoother integration and at the same time have nurtured a much better performing team.

Our approach to promoting the right mindset in team members begins with coaching. Spending time with staff and talking about project planning and tech design will help them to engage with the project from the start.

Next, make sure they know that this coaching is not just there for the initial phases. By putting post-implementation support and Day Two remediation in place, your teams will be more confident and assured as they progress through their M&A journey.

If you’d like to know how to prepare your teams for post-merger integration success, contact us for a friendly discussion regarding your particular business needs on 0800 622 6719.

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Hutton Henry
Hutton Henry
Hutton has worked with Private Equity Portfolio firms and Private Equity funds since 2015. Having previously worked in post-merger integration for large firms such as Ford and HP, Hutton understands the value of finding issues prior to M&A deals. He is currently the founder of Beyond M&A and provides technology due diligence for VC, PE and corporate investors, so they understand their technology risks before entering into a deal.

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