Vision.

The transaction is completed, the price finalized and now the process of integration has to be begin. The first step is to articulate the reasons behind the merger and the expected benefits in a clear and concise document to all staff. The management team need to go through a communication process to explain this statement to all staff.

Integration Team.

The team leader backed by the board has to invite members from the acquired company onto the integration team. The first meeting will bring the new members up to speed and allow them to understand the plan and share any positive or negative thoughts with the team.

People.

The company story or it’s DNA may have to be amended to take into the account the acquisition. The Pre Merger team hopefully will have compared salary levels, grades, expenses, performance evaluation methodology and incentive schemes of both companies!

Now it is time to either restate the company story as the new way or adjust it to allow the new people to reshape the story in some way for everybody. It is all about communicating with the entire team in both companies. 

As with all change the communication will create the awareness of the change, followed by acceptance of the change and ultimately the adoption of the new way.  

Plan.

Start with the low hanging fruit to get some early traction and success. The team has to have access to in house company experts who will ensure that any suggested change is practical and possible before implementing any change.

The board have to look for monthly updates on the milestones identified in the merger plan. The team need to focus on reporting the results versus the plan. Usually you have a 6 month window when people will willingly accept change before they draw back and resist change!