How do you manage the post-integration issues and challenges that may arise after the deal is closed?

One of the biggest mistakes that occurs during the post-acquisition integration process is for staff members from the acquirer to undervalue the cumulative knowledge of acquired entity's staff. There is usually a "honeymoon" period before the acquisition closes and folks are trying to put their best foot forward during the evaluation phase. Once the acquisition closes everyone is preparing for the staff consolidation process. This is the most important part of the integration. It is critical for the staff members of the acquiring business to make certain they know and understand who has their "thumb on the business and customer relationships" and who does not.

The activities described are too late in the process - vision and goals are key to PMI success and therefore need to be well advanced once the post integration process starts - more commonly known as the 'first 100 days'. Alignment of vision and goals is an ongoing process throughout as might need to be amended due to factors arising or issues that could not have been foreseen. Flexibility is key.

Managing post-integration issues effectively involves clear communication, robust support systems, and ongoing assessments. First, establish a dedicated integration team to address specific challenges as they arise. Clear communication channels are essential to ensure that all stakeholders are informed and involved. Regularly monitor integration progress against predefined benchmarks to identify and address gaps timely. It's also crucial to maintain a flexible approach, ready to adapt strategies as necessary based on feedback from employees and changes in business conditions. This proactive and responsive approach is crucial for smoothing out transitional bumps and ensuring the long-term success of the integration.

After finishing my first contribution on this one, I realized that there could be a kind of exploratory approach towards transactions. Consider you have a larger organization willing to grow and evolve through acquisitions. If you have the capacities (people) to investigate upcoming transactions, you could enter the transaction phase and start the due diligence process without having clear objectives in mind. And explore in a more opportunistic way what comes across. Anyhow, even in this case you should have a to-the-point and stable company strategy to which the potential acquisition is aligned. Then we are back to: There is some kind of strategy before you enter the process.

Resources are key, often forgotten. I’m talking about people. Those who must do the work, prepare and provide the necessary and intended transformation. Realizing the vision and goals (see #1) takes additional effort, it doesn’t come for free. Furthermore, and that is usually not on the radar of those who come with limited M&A experience, any acquisition causes disturbance, friction and inefficiencies. For example, customers need extra care as they want to be informed about what’s going on. Customers might want to realize better prices as they do business with both companies. This is extra work for the sales team. This resource shortage is often overlooked, especially in the SME area. Leading to insufficiently integrated acquisitions.

Before starting any M&A activity, you should have done an assessment of your integration readiness. As part of your integration plan, the identification of the culture, values and practices of the acquired company is a vital part. As listed above, the alignment of your vision and goals is important to take the right priorities during this identification. Your integration plan has to differ a lot, depending on your aim for the M&A. Getting access to new technology, innovation or know-how, needs a different approach compared to getting access to new customers, untapped markets or different channels, or if you want to benefit from synergy and scaling or even want to acquire special talent.

One critical, but often forgotten component of integration readiness is mindset. In addition to values and culture, leaders need to consider what mindset their people are bringing to the #merger. For example, acquired employees often have a defensive mindset, seeing the acquiring company as is the enemy. On the other hand, employees on the purchaser side sometimes have a mindset of superiority. These two mindsets create an endless loop of 'attack and defence', eroding collaboration efforts and minimising the synergies of coming together as one organization. #Mindset leads to behavior. If we want to change people's behavior (i.e. towards more collaboration), we need to begin by assessing their mindset and helping them find a healthy one.

This is a critical step and the thorough assessment needs to be undertaken in advance of the PMI stage. There will be lots of moving parts in a very dynamic environment which needs to be managed based on severity and priority.

To elevate your integration readiness, consider implementing a "cultural quick wins" initiative. This involves identifying and promoting small, impactful practices that both organizations share, fostering a sense of unity and collaboration early on. Additionally, leverage predictive analytics to forecast potential integration bottlenecks and resource mismatches. This proactive approach not only prepares your team for smoother transitions but also minimizes disruptions by aligning expectations and resources efficiently from the start.

Preparing the integration plan should be one of the first things to be done for a planned M&A integration. The right moment is before the M&A contract is signed, in very close conjunction with the Due Diligence. Timing is everything here. With the early timing, you can gain advantages: Foreseeing Challenges: We become visionaries, able to anticipate integration roadblocks and craft ingenious solutions long before they surface. Strategic Harmony: We want for our new construction, adding 1 and 1 to result in more than 2. Resource Symphony: Through this strategic inception, we wield the power to allocate resources with precision, and judiciously distribute resources among various threads.

Absolutely need to have a robust plan that can accommodate a change of thinking, priority and capability. Benchmarking and recognizing success is as important as finding solutions to issues that arise and not originally envisaged. Success breeds success.

When executing your integration plan, emphasize transparent communication channels that not only convey progress but also empower employees to voice concerns and suggestions. Utilize digital dashboards that provide real-time insights into integration milestones and team performance. This method not only keeps the momentum visible but also encourages a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, vital for capturing the intended value of the acquisition swiftly and effectively.

Planning is important, and execution is even more so. Sometimes it is difficult to predict the exact people-related challenges that might arise after the detail is closed. This is why it is important to continually observe and sense the climate of the new organization. Doing so allows leads to pick up on integration issues right away. Having planned ahead means leaders know where to turn for support with these challenges as soon as they arise. For example, having trusted coaching and consulting partners who can support the team through the now real challenges.

Considering agile and scrum methods. The Review. The second method we used for years and found out that is also part of scrum is the PMI Review Meeting. Here team leads but also other stakeholders from the PMI teams or the rest of the organization come together to share their recent findings, results and deliverables. During the early integration phase we schedule it on a weekly basis. This helps to get to know each other and fosters the frequent exchange. Later down the integration road we switch to a bi-weekly schedule and after 100 days also a monthly schedule can work. The length of a PMI Review Meeting varies depending on the size of the group as well as the number of special topics which go beyond housekeeping.

A critical activity that its importance can never be underestimated. Engagement and collaboration are fundamental to successful PMI phases that are sometimes overlooked and forgotten. The communication needs to be 2 ways with insight complimented and to make all feel engaged and part of a team dynamic.

Considering agile and scrum methods. The Daily. In the last days before closing and especially in the first days after closing we organize Daily PMI Team Meetings. The team leads come together for some 15 – 20 minutes and share key priorities for the day. This allows to identify dependencies between the modules or tasks. They can ask for support where needed and offer support. Last but not least topics can pe re-prioritized if necessary. This is not the stage for lengthy content discussions or presentation of results. In case someone sees the need for extended interaction, this is the time and place to schedule an individual meeting. Needless to say, in person Daily PMI Team Meeting is preferred, but virtual and hybrid works also.

A post-merger integration is a change management project. As in all change management projects, engaging your employees and stakeholders is of utmost importance for the success of your change management / post-merger integration project. Well-prepared, regular and transparent communication is your most effective tool to achieve this. Very often overlooked by management - communication is not a one-directional activity. Asking, and listening about concerns, expectations and feedback is at least as important as the story you want to get to your team. Doing this right, you will adopt and steer your communication, based on the information you were able to collect.

The management and mitigation of risk is core to PMI success. Having foresight and accepting 'things' can go wrong create an open mind set that promotes lateral thinking to issue resolution and in many instances decreases possible risk.

The management and mitigation of risk is a core activity for any manager. For your post-merger integration process, it is the same. I know I am repeating myself, but preparation will be a key factor for your success. Managing and mitigating risks should be an important part of your integration plan. This allows you to foresee potential challenges and risks and plan in advance for their mitigation. Staying aware of the development and open 2-way communication will allow you to get early notice if the development does not run as planned and corrections are needed to ensure the mitigation will show positive results.

Elevate your risk management by integrating a scenario-planning approach, which involves creating detailed response strategies for various potential future states. This method not only prepares your organization for multiple outcomes but also allows for swift pivoting as circumstances evolve. Additionally, incorporating a real-time risk assessment tool that leverages AI can pinpoint emerging risks at an operational level, facilitating immediate mitigation strategies and maintaining the integrity of the integration process.

Post-integration, change management becomes an ongoing process. Continuously assess the impact of changes on employees and operations. Mitigate risks through proactive identification and resolution. Develop strategies to manage resistance to change, ensuring a smooth transition and minimizing any negative effects on productivity.

Considering agile and scrum methods. The Retrospective. The scrum method brings the teams together at the end of each sprint to discuss process and organization rather than content and results. Great idea. In our Post Merger Integration setup we plan for such kind of sessions at the end of the 100 day period. In more experienced organizations – those handling acquisitions on a yearly basis, e.g., buy-&-build projects – we sometimes plan for a retrospective after 30 days. Especially if you face multiple acquisitions, it is a great way to train your organization’s PMI muscle.

To optimize the learning phase, introduce a dynamic feedback system that continuously collects insights from across all departments involved in the integration. This can be structured as a series of after-action reviews that are conducted at different stages of the integration process. By embedding a culture of iterative improvement, you ensure that each integration cycle is more refined than the last. Moreover, formalize the documentation of these learnings into an accessible knowledge base that serves as a resource for future acquisitions, promoting a legacy of integration excellence.

Considering the outside-in view. When integrations projects run off-track or in case you want to ensure that they stay on track, make use of the outside-in view. Bring external experts in Post Merger Integration for a Retrospective Day and let them sit together with the PMI team. This doesn’t need to be consultants, you could also invite corporate PMI experts, e.g. from another portfolio company of your investor. When not scheduled on demand – of-track situation – I prefer to hold this Retrospective Day after 3 months / 100 days. Besides the (overall) process and organization including what went well and what needs to be improved, we also review content and tasks to ensure that everything is taken care of.

🔍 Holistic Customer Insight: Post-integration, deeply understand your new customer base to unveil opportunities and guide innovation. 🌐 Global Market Positioning: Use the merger to explore new markets and strengthen existing ones, capitalizing on combined capabilities. 📊 Data-Driven Strategies: Leverage merged data assets for insightful decision-making, identifying growth and efficiency areas. 👥 Cultural Synergy: Embrace diverse team dynamics; this fosters innovation and problem-solving. 🚀 Agile Prototyping: Test ideas quickly in the new structure, adapting swiftly to market and internal feedback. 🔗 Sustainability Alignment: Integrate and enhance sustainable practices, a key differentiator in today's market.

In this space, it's crucial to highlight the importance of maintaining an innovation mindset throughout the integration process. Encourage teams from both organizations to engage in joint innovation labs where they can brainstorm and prototype solutions that leverage the strengths of both entities. This not only catalyzes creative problem-solving but also fosters a sense of ownership and excitement about the future of the merged company.

Culture – it can take two I often hear and read about cultural integration and need to accept that it is often a bit misunderstood. A German engineering company that wanted to extend its sales to Asia, e.g., China. For sure, they set up a local sales organization with Chinese people. They need locals, they need a different culture in order to be able to acquire business. It is not only possible to have different cultures in a single company, it is sometimes also necessary to have them. What you need to do instead of adjusting a culture to fit to the acquirer, you need to be aware of the differences and to manage these differences. This is the Diversity Dimension in Post Merger Integration. And again, this is a leadership task.

1. **Form a Team:** Assemble a dedicated issue-resolution team. 2. **Monitor Continuously:** Keep a close watch on systems and processes. 3. **Enable Feedback:** Allow easy reporting of employee concerns. 4. **Communicate Clearly:** Ensure transparent, regular communication. 5. **Provide Support:** Offer training for new systems and processes. 6. **Adjust Strategies:** Be flexible to modify plans as needed. 7. **Track Performance:** Use KPIs to assess integration progress. 8. **Merge Cultures:** Continue blending corporate cultures. 9. **Inform Stakeholders:** Update customers and partners on changes. 10. **Plan for Risks:** Have contingencies for unforeseen challenges. Effective handling and adaptability are key.

Best practice from one of my coaching clients: they installed a happiness meter at the entrance of the office. As they walked in, employees pressed one of the 5 buttons to express how happy they felt that day. They also had a digital version of this. It took 1 second, it was done instinctively and provided a valuable measure of the organization's heartbeat, trackable over time.