5. Increasing external communications
Consistent and clear communication with customers, regulators and suppliers throughout the integration, and at close, can help generate a positive experience and engagement. External communications may include an executive touch point planned right after close, particularly for the most important customers and stakeholders. Offering a change management process with Q&A for customers in a recent deal was helpful right after close to address items that had changed.
6. Prioritizing Day One on-site must-haves
Tasks that require in-person work (such as IT) can be identified early. The IMO may need to assess the risks and trade-offs to prioritize what can be done on or before Day One vs. waiting until after close. Organizations with clear work-from-home policies during the COVID-19 crisis may need to evaluate the possibility of bringing specific teams back to the workplace to streamline activities that require in-person collaboration. While some organizations may delay such activities, the financial impact of delaying synergies and savings from consolidation may need to be considered, as well as the potential health impact on team members.
7. Adapting culture and employee experience
Driving toward a new, cohesive culture is challenging in a remote environment. To engage employees on Day One, even in a remote setting, companies can set out a view of how the culture should look on Day One vs. Day 100 vs. the future state. In this engagement, we recommended a pulse survey before and after close to identify priority areas related to culture and employee experience.
Within the integration team, we profiled the value of engaging and developing employees by scheduling regular one-on-one check-ins for team members regarding their personal well-being. We also understood personal constraints that could occur during this unprecedented time. For example, we understood that several of our practitioners were parents navigating the challenges of working from home. With the blurred lines of work and home life, for both the EY and client teams, team members developed an understanding that there would be occasional interruption or technology issues. In fact, we believe this cultivated a culture of empathy and mutual understanding that further solidified teaming and trust.
8. Establishing a clear governance structure and cadence
The need to make sure that an integration is moving in the right direction can be even more urgent in a virtual environment. Without consistent, in-person collaboration at the client site, things can go off track without noticing until it is too late.
As with most integrations, we helped the client to establish a clearly defined governance structure. We assisted management in their creating an executive steering committee to help drive accountability and direction throughout both organizations. From there, we helped the client to quickly establish an IMO, and integration leads from both companies drove accountability, tracked progress, and helped keep momentum and motivation within the broader integration team.
Weekly integration meetings with functional work stream leads, as well as a weekly executive team and steering committee meeting, helped establish strong working relationships; provided important program updates; and addressed the relevant risks, issues and decisions.
In addition, more frequent one-on-one meetings with each functional work stream helped the teams to touch base on the functional area’s specific workplans, as well as to outline expectations and track progress. Since there was no opportunity to meet in person and see each other in the office, these one-on-ones allowed teams to more closely monitor delayed activities and course correct, when necessary.
Further, in order to work remotely on a tightened time frame, detailed workplans were created. Day One priorities had to be monitored and kept top of mind through regular conversations and meetings. Without regular, informal conversations, frequent touch points through regular meeting cadence are necessary to clarify questions and to understand that all team members are aligned.