Mergers & Acquisitions Integration Handbook, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 10Effective Communication Planning

In this chapter, you will learn:

• Objectives and guiding principles for managing effective communication during the integration process
• How to create a communication matrix for your integration and manage communication deliverables
• Preparing employee FAQs
• Roles and responsibilities for communication planning within the IMO
• Communication after Day 1

Communication planning is one of the most written about subjects in integration-related books and articles because it’s one of the most important activities of integration. Often it is the subject IMO leaders struggle with the most. This is mainly due to the following:

• Information itself is closely guarded or unavailable, so meaningful “content” becomes hard to get in the first place or is dispersed sporadically.
• Senior executives often discount the importance of robust communication planning and execution, thus it lacks a “sponsor” to ensure it gets the right level of attention and support.
• Communication is great around Day 1 and the first few days after close, but it becomes inconsistent during the post-close execution phase of the integration.
• Communication is “insourced” to HR or investor relations personnel, who lack experience with M&A-centric communication requirements.

Because having a proper communication plan is key, this chapter addresses the steps you can take to ensure the communication portion of your plan is as robust as the rest of your integration plan.

COMMUNICATION PLANNING ...