Agenda for the Mergers & Acquisitions Communications Team Kickoff Meeting

  • Chartering the Integration Communication Team
  • Communication Strategy
  • Team Roles and Responsibilities
  • Communication Deliverables
  • Integration Structure
  • Details About the Integration
  • Integration Communication Team
  • Communication Plan
  • Next Steps and Reflections

Chartering 

Purpose—To ensure we are all in agreement about the objectives of the team, we will document what we will deliver, how we will measure success, how we will communicate with other project teams, what our resource needs are, and possible barriers or constraints.

Communication Plan

  • Communication Goals
  • Communication Team Roles and Responsibilities
  • Team Members
  • Communication Design Elements
  • Communication Matrix
  • Discussion of Specific Vehicles
  • Communication Effectiveness Evaluation
  • Review of current Implementation Communication Plan

Communication Strategy

Define

  • Communication infrastructure
  • Communication Plan

Announce

  • Overview
  • Goals
  • Approach

Inform

  • Details
  • New terminology
  • How employees will be impacted

Update

  • Progress
  • Next steps

Review

  • Check for understanding
  • How are we doing?

Team Roles and Responsibilities

  • Provide communication coaching/guidance to Steering Team and Integration Teams
  • Identify key stakeholders
  • Develop integration communication plan
  • Draft and coordinate communication messages
  • Assist in the delivery of messages
  • Evaluate communication success

Communication Deliverables

  • Project Messages—kickoffs, updates, summaries of key meetings/events
  • Delivery vehicles—presentations, memos, letters, email, newsletters, intranet/Web sites
  • Open houses
  • Brown bags
  • Feedback mechanisms
  • Special events
  • Promotional materials
  • Communication Effectiveness Evaluation

Integration Structure

  • Senior Leadership Team
    • Integration Communication Team
      • Communication Liaisons
    • Steering Team
      • [Name] Team
      • [Name] Team

Customize for the number of teams and project structure 

Details About the Integration

  • [Provide information about integration]
  • [Critical issues]
  • [What the teams are focused on—goals/objectives]
  • [Timeline for the integration]
  • [What employee groups will be affected]
  • [Who is involved]
  • [Other project details]

Integration Communication Team

  • [Name], Integration Communication Team Lead
  • [Name], [job title/role in organization]
  • [Name], [job title/role in organization]
  • [Name], [job title/role in organization]
  • [Name], Communication Liaison, [team represented]
  • [Name], Communication Liaison, [team represented]

Communication Plan

An Integration Communication Plan includes the following:

  • Communication Goals
  • Communication Team Roles and Responsibilities
  • Team Members
  • Communication Design Elements
  • Communication Matrix
  • Discussion of Specific Vehicles
  • Communication Effectiveness Evaluation

Next Steps

  • Regular meeting time [set day/time or provide day/time]
  • [List immediate to-do’s for team or specific team members]
  • Kickoff Meeting reflections
    • What we will do differently in future kickoff meetings
    • What we want to do differently going forward in the next few [weeks/months]

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