After a merger/consolidation - resources?

[Amanda Fenton]

From the email list January 2013...

Dear Colleagues,

You people on this list are one of my main resources for inspiration and learning, every day. My heart is filled with gratefulness, that I have such a great community to turn to for support.

I would like to ask for any resources or experiences you might want to share about designing an organisation according to the chaordic path and with participatory methods.

My organisation is now going through a consolidation/merger with another regional organisation from Africa (we are based in Europe). That means that we will loose significant staff (heartbreak!!) and so will the other organisation. Also, people will move from the African offices to the European one.
This is part of a larger change in strategy, which means that everything will change: the organisation, the people, the work.

While this is a difficult moment, it is also a great opportunity to create a new, better organisation, and I am tasked with coming up with the process that will lead to this. The leadership of the organisation hopes that this process will take about 6 months, but I am aware that his might be too short.

Please share with me any resources that you found useful in this direction, any experiences, processes…
Also, I am committed to document this experience and what we learn and bring it back to you!

With lots of love,
and thanks,

Nora

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Hello Nora,

I don't have experience with designing or facilitating a merger, but I do have some knowledge about it through the systemic constellation work. My trainer always said: mergers don't work. Bold statement, but with a lot of truth in it. He had noticed in his experience that mergers only work when both parties are allowed to keep their 'identity'. Employees are always loyal to their own organisation, even on a subconscious level. If they have to merge too much with the other party(s), and they loose their own culture too much, it can turn to a misalignment or even hostility or just leaving the (new) company.
Appreciative Inquiry would be a good starting point to figure out what the strengths are of each party; share it with one another and then bringing them together and to see what is possible when these points can go into synergy and create something new.
Also important I think to state very clearly what are the non-negotiables upfront.

And I am with you in thinking that it will be a longer process...

With love,
Ria

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Ho!

I appreciate this sharing Ria.

It points to an essential aspect of freedom that creates the unity desired.

Glad to see you reflecting it here.

Tenneson

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I had the chance to hold space in the merger between two consulting firms in Canada who I have to say was a huge challenge why:

- Different perceptions and different selling in: acquisition or merger?

- Feeling of dominant and dominated

- Imposing instead of taking the best

What we did was making understand to all that they are moving toward a new organization and how do this organization want to be. 

We also focused on empathy excercise and healing before moving forward. 

Cheers,

Lotfi  

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Dear Colleagues,

 

thank you for all these thoughts, they open doors for me!

Thank you for bringing my attention to the ending / healing part and what does intails.. and also inspiring me with ideas about how to proceed for the new beginning. I am inspired to work with the Appreciative Inquiry in this process.

 

All the sites and books you suggested to me are great help, I am deep in joyful study :)

 

Thank you thank you thank you!

 

Lots of love,

 

Nora

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Hi Nora.

Great idea from Ria to integrate appreciative inquiry.

And you might also want to explore organization models that really honour the knowledge and expertise that each worker brings and also gives them responsibility. One that I have been exploring is Holacracy. www.holacracyone.org

You are in the perfect moment to bring in a new model that is alive and responsive instead of command and control .  Organizations are living systems and human beings are the sensors, if the structure honors that it can be continually evolving starting from a common purpose.

 

The first step is to do some deep thinking work around what the purpose is. I think you will have success if everyone is on the same page about the purpose of the work and continually coming back to that.

Good luck! 

Corina Crawley

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HA! Cool, Corina!

i was wondering whether to bring up Holacracy as an approach. The challenge is that, in practical terms, it's not something you can just try without substantial training (which means substantial investment).

The plus about Holacracy is that it is THE missing piece to complement AoH when it comes to actual and effective implementation of anything in an organization. Very often, the organization breaks whatever is brought to it through participatory processes - something to do with the diametrical opposition between the two paradigms: participation and hierarchy.

helen

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Thanks Corina and Helen,

 

I was thinking of Holcaracy... and recognising that we don't have the know-how in the organisation to implement that.

What do you think it would take to get that resource to do that? Money is an issue and so is time... but I don't think it should stop us from exploring what would be best.

 

Can you reccomend any case studies, or experience reports that could help me explain and make a case to the leadership for thsi kind of investment?

 

thanks a lot,

 

Nora

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Hi! There are some case studies on the website, but there is definitely a cost associated with training. Check out the free online videos and webinars for starters. Just integrating these principles is a great start.

Corina

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