January/February 2018

Communities: Private Practice
Preparing for a Big Shift

Steps to eliminating friction during an acquisition or transition

BY CARL ROBINSON, PH.D.

Whether your company is in the middle of a business acquisition, you’re shifting teams, or you’re moving to a new company, there is always friction in a new position. Learning new processes, meeting new employees, or switching industries all together can be quite the stir up. So, how can senior leaders and executives try to limit the friction that takeovers cause?

The nature of a takeover depends on your situation—whether you’re staying or leaving. If you’re staying, it falls on you to prepare your team or organization for the relative unknown. If you’re leaving, it’s your job to prepare your team for a new executive and evaluate your upcoming position.

But whether you’re staying or leaving, it’s important to evaluate any new situation that you’re entering for positive changes and potential landmines. This evaluation will never be a comprehensive layout of the new environment, but it will prepare you for any changes.

Acquisitions or Mergers

If your business is in the middle of an acquisition or merger, it could be a good time for you to do the following:

• Assess the corporate structure of the acquisition;
• Meet with or read files on executives or high-level employees;
• Prepare your team or company for the merge; and
• Ask your senior executives for information on products, revenue, etc.

You can also do your own research and plan to ask more questions and do more investigating once the takeover is complete. The idea here is to make sure that you can find as many similarities as possible between how your companies do business. This way, you can make it easier to shift to a mutually beneficial process.

New Teams, Same Company

If you are switching to a new team or department within your current organization, you might want to

• Get to know the other executives and high-level employees you’ll be interacting with;
• Research the new team’s products, processes, current revenue/role, etc.;
• Get to know your replacement and introduce him or her to your team; and
• Ask about the most important projects you’ll be taking over and prepare files on those projects.

This is also a great time to quietly investigate any problems that are in the new department or team, such as low-performing employees or budget restraints. This way, you’ll know the lay of the land and won’t be blindsided on your first day.

New Executive Position or Industry

Executives moving to a new company should

• Create a playbook with information about where to direct questions and how to access all previous files, documents, information, etc.;
• Get to know which projects are most important (open projects, looming deadlines, etc.);
• If possible, spend time with the current executives or leadership and employees they’ll be managing;
• Research the company’s public image, revenue, stock information, and any other information that could spell trouble; and
• Ask the current team about the daily fires that should be expected (e.g. project issues, employee concerns, or budget restraints).

Once you accept a position, it’s your job to prepare for day one. It’s highly important that you set yourself up for success as soon as possible so that your executive skills can make the most impact. Looking for anything that could get in your way will just show your new team that you came prepared.

Takeovers Don’t Have To Be Scary

Most people within a company or organization fear change, especially on larger scales. With new companies being absorbed, there comes the concern of team changes or revenue disruptions. When a good executive switches teams, both the old and new teams are going to experience shifts in how things are done. And when an executive leaves one company for another, the executive essentially must learn his or her job all over again.

If you’re in the middle of an impending shift in your executive career, take a deep breath and get a good look around. What do you see approaching? How can you prepare for the day it will be your situation to handle? It doesn’t have to be overwhelming; it is just a way to “see the future” and act accordingly. You’ll be amazed at how this level of preparation can make any takeover easier.

Carl Robinson, Ph.D., is a business psychologist and executive coach. He is the managing principal of Advanced Leadership in Consulting (www.leadershipconsulting.com) in Seattle.