PLANNING FOR A MERGER: FILLING IN THE BLANKS
Check out this creative approach to the merger process.
Planning is like making a jigsaw puzzle. You have to look carefully at the picture you want to create, spread out and sort the pieces, make the border, and finally fill in the blanks.
In strategic planning the finished picture portrays the vision and mission. The border, which determines the shape and size of the puzzle, delineates the available resources - budget, staff capability, leadership commitment, marketplace, competition, and so on. The pieces represent the people in your organization and the functions they perform.
One crucial aspect that people often forget in describing the puzzle assembly process is the need to find a flat, stable surface on which to build. In the planning process, this surface or foundation stands for the organizational values - the first and most important step. You can't build a puzzle on your lap, and you can't build your organization on a weak foundation.
Now imagine that there are two puzzles and that each is being put together by a different team of players. Let's say you dumped both puzzles onto one table and asked everyone to work together to build one new picture out of all the pieces, but some players have important pieces tucked in their pockets. What will be the result? It's gonna be a mess.
That's what can happen when two agencies merge. Each organization has its own plans, hopes, strengths, and expectations. Each may try to position itself to recreate the picture it's accustomed to seeing. Individuals in each agency often cling tightly to their individual 'piece,' because they're unsure of how they'll fit into the new picture.
The first step in creating a comprehensible new design must be a clear articulation of the new company's values - its foundation for the future. The vision and mission must also be carefully defined and explained. These factors become the new finished picture. It's then possible to take pieces (people and functions) from both organizations and start filling in the blanks.
It'll be necessary to find some new pieces, reshape others, and possibly even discard a few that no longer fit. Most people can quickly identify where and how they fit, others will leave because they don't fit (or feel they won't), and still others will realize the need to reshape themselves for the future. This kind of process is the fairest to employees - it provides full disclosure and full opportunity.
Plan your the new system before the merger, not after. If you wait, it'll be like building your puzzle on a roller coaster. You'll be riding in a two-headed car that's out of control!
Don't try to build the organization of the future from the center out, one piece at a time. Instead, start with the finished picture and the border, then fill in the blanks.