Step 11: Capture Lessons Learned
If a post-mortem merger examination is poorly executed or skipped, hard-won wisdom will likely be lost. Mistakes should be identified and documented so they are not repeated in the future.
Many of the errors that derail integrations are predictable. Yet, acquirers make them anyway. They don’t do their homework, or they believe their businesses will be somehow immune to issues that plague other merging companies.
Acquirers can help protect their future deals by learning lessons not only from their mergers, but from others as well.
In this section, the videos and PowerPoint presentations from our Merger Integration Certification Workshop highlight common integration mistakes and what can be learned from them. Plus, our Word templates help teams log lessons learned and track best practices.
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Document the lessons learned.
21 questions to ask Acquirer and Acquired Company employees to capture insights.
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Videos
Length: 1 minute 24 seconds
Presentation
Tools
The two-page document is an example on the data collected by The Steering Committee, Integration Team, and Task Forces about what went well during a merger and what should be changed for the next Integration.
The two-page Lessons Learned Word template is also provided.
The Steering Committee, Integration Team, and Task Forces collect information about what went well and what should be changed during the next Integration. This meeting should be conducted before the Integration teams have disbanded. Lessons Learned should be fed back to the next Steering Committee and Integration Team for the next Integration Planning effort.
Two-page example and two-page PDF template.Article
Poor integration in this area can doom a deal.