Building a strategic plan for a newly combined organization introduces additional challenges and opportunities to the process. The newly merged organization is in the midst of integrating two distinct sets of operations into a single entity. Often, even more daunting is addressing and advancing the change management required to bring together two groups of managers and employees with distinct ways of doing things, distinct organizational cultures and relationships, and widely varied understanding and ownership of the organizational changes. This is also true for the newly combined Board of Directors.
The challenges of processing and accepting change, and of being ready to move forward, can be exacerbated if some or all of the staff of either legacy organization feel they “lost out” in the merger—on a leadership or power basis, in how new teams and operations are established, or in their individual roles.
When built into a carefully facilitated in a strategic planning process, we believe the following principles and actions can help a newly merged organization make a successful transition.
1. Leadership’s intentional focus on change management is an important and ongoing task to help staff process organizational and individual change and move forward.
Progressing operational aspects of the merger (e.g., new team structures, operations and processes) often does not directly address the emotional dislocation that employees (and board members) experience, and a new strategic plan by itself likely won’t either.
Suggested Actions:
- A dedicated effort to engage employees around change management and teambuilding, running in parallel to the operational merger activities and strategic planning process.
- A focus by the Board of Directors on board culture, with a facilitated process to begin building a new board culture and operating approach that leverages the legacy of both organizations. This effort can start with a board retreat to kick off the strategic planning process that incorporates teambuilding exercises.
2. Ensuring employees feel heard during the strategic planning process is especially important following a merger.
Having the opportunity to give input into the merged organization’s strategic direction can make employees feel valued and empowered.
Suggested Actions:
- Engage all employees in a kickoff meeting for the strategic plan process and in additional check-in meetings during the process.
- Seek strategic plan input from all employees through interviews and surveys.
3. Shared learning and planning create a shared reality and path forward.
Fio Partners believes strongly that sharing objective information across the planning team sets the foundation for creating shared aspirations, mindsets, and organizational culture. By learning together and selecting the organization's future direction, the planning process creates a path for the new organization to move forward as one.
Suggested Actions:
- Intentionally use the strategic planning process, including planning committee meetings and the board retreat, to build common ground and teamwork across senior staff and board members.
- Incorporate ongoing organizational development in the resulting strategic plan and focus on building a common mission, culture, and values in the new organization.
