Step 9: Develop M&A Project Integration Plans

Evaluation criteria in this 3-page Word document includes feedback to the HR/OD Team on The Team Charter, Plan, Organization Comparative Analysis, Future State Recommendation, Day 1 Items, Risk Analysis, Early Wins, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Outstanding Issues & Decisions, and Communication Plan.

The biggest challenges with this planning team have been:

• Lack of clarity regarding what they own and what they don’t own within their charter (i.e., staffing, severance, retention, titling, compensation, org. design, etc.)
• Slow to develop things that they feel they need more time to work on (staffing, severance, retention, etc.)
• Figuring out if they could engage outside consultants 

Four-page HR Survey Tool

Region Name __________________________

1. Please describe the anticipated level of change from the merger in your region:

a. No change anticipated in our region
b. Minimal change anticipated in our region
c. Moderate change anticipated in our region
d. Significant change anticipated in our region 
e. Unable to anticipate level of change at this time

The 1-page Word template is used document additional questions, issues, or action items requiring follow up after a planning meeting. 

This form is not for questions, issues, or action items that were already discussed, recorded, or resolved.

A team may feel overwhelmed by the large number of identified initiatives. To assist on how to prioritize projects, we provide evaluation criteria on the Priority Initiatives Template.

Review each initiative against the following guidelines:

• Is it in line with our integration strategy?
• Will it help us achieve our corporate goals going forward?
• Will it help us to serve our internal/external customers?
• Will it help us to achieve the synergies or cost savings behind the merger/acquisition?
• How risky is this initiative ...

Acquirer’s 223 Data Requests from Acquired Company for the M&A Integration (categorized as Sensitive or Non-Sensitive Information)

Sensitive Information

• Top 20 customers by business sales
• Revenue for past 3 years by source,
• Sales:  Rebates & Discounts
• Top 100 suppliers and the AP spend month by month last 24 months. 

Non-Sensitive Information

• Financial systems for reporting and transactions...

For each synergy row in the Excel spreadsheet, there are the following columns: Status, BOD Commentary, Category, Detail, Description, Initiated Date, Likelihood, Impact, Dead Synergy, Start Date, Completion Date, Actual by Month, Cost to Achieve, Variance, and Annual Target EBIT.

Synergy types include Headcount, Operations, Sales Procurement , R&D Cost Savings, Pricing Rationalization, Procurement, and Cross Selling.

Two Excel templates to document and track scope changes

The impact on resources required and the timeline should be well understood before a scope change is approved. Each approval should be documented .

Scope creep is a common affliction of integrations. It's where scope changes happen slowly and unofficially, without changing due dates or otherwise making adjustments to the budget.

Two Excel templates to document predecessors and successors to dependencies

Dependencies mandate tasks be executed in a specific sequence. They should be rigorously tracked because they can help you:

• Determine the right order of activities in the M&A integration.
• Calculate the critical path of the integration
• Identify resource and scheduling issues 
• Identify opportunities to accelerate the schedule

Template used to update the status of workstreams and plan for the near term future.

Columns include:

• Accomplishments
• Milestones
• Issues/Decisions/Input/Collaboration Needs 
• Schedule
• Issues
• Risks
• Status
• Plans for the Next 2 Weeks

Example in Excel track the Sales work stream status including progress town Pre-Close, Day 1, Day 30, Day 90, and Day 180 milestones.

Milestones

Pre-Close Period

• Short-Term target list for short-term wins
• Establish opportunity input, tracking, and reporting in Salesforce
• Define marketing support
• Determine dedicated resources for support sales activity
• Define sales enablement activity / owners

DAY ONE (Close Phase)

• Key talking points for Sales
• Product introduction, product information resource center ...

Excel spreadsheet used to compare today’s operating model to the targeted operating model, and define the plan (Pre-Close, Day 1, 30,  90, 120) to close the gaps. Columns include:

Buyer As-Is Assessment
People, Processes, Systems & Tools, Assets & Infrastructure, Contracts

Seller As-Is Assessment
People, Processes, Systems & Tools, Assets & Infrastructure, Contracts

End-State Target Operating Model
Gaps and Transformation Steps