Integration on the regulator's clock

What I sign up to hit

100%

of integration milestones with a named owner

Weekly

decision log both legacy sides can see

The Challenge

The dates came with the clearance

1
A merger cleared subject to conditions, with integration and divestiture dates the combined board does not get to move
2
Two organizations with different operating models, each certain the other should adopt theirs
3
Decisions made in silos, with no record of who made them or when, which is the thing the agency will ask for
4
Key talent leaving during the exact window when the commitments have to be evidenced

My Approach

Work backwards from the committed dates

The commitments, listed

First I write down what was actually committed to and by when, separately from what the integration plan says. Those two documents are rarely the same, and the gap between them is the program.

One decision record

Every cross-organization decision goes in one log, with who made it and when. This is unglamorous and it is the artifact the agency asks for, so it gets built on day one rather than reconstructed later.

A named owner per milestone

If a committed milestone has no name against it, it does not go on the plan. An unowned date on a regulator's clock is a slip that has not been noticed yet.

Weekly, quantified risk

I run the risk review against the committed dates rather than the internal ones, with impact stated in days against a specific commitment, not in colours.

Evidence of closure

Each condition closes against something a reviewer can read. Both legacy organizations have to produce it the same way, which is the part that takes longer than anyone plans for.

What survives me leaving

The decision log and the operating rhythm belong to your team by the end. The conditions outlast the integration program, and so does the reporting on them.

The Targets

100%

of integration milestones with a named owner

Weekly

decision log both legacy sides can see

Agreed with you before the work starts, and reported against weekly. These are commitments, not results from a past client.

My commitment

I embed with both legacy organizations and share accountability for the milestone dates, rather than reporting on them from the outside.

Services Applied