cameron and green making-sense-of-change-management

Mergers and acquisitions• company presentations;• formal question and answer sessions;• newsletters;• team briefings;• noticeboards;• newsletters;• e-mail communication;• confidential helplines;• websites with questions and answer session;• conference calls.COMMUNICATE CONSTANTLYThe top team had been working on the acquisition plans for over fourmonths. Once the announcement was eventually made to all employeesI just wanted to get on with things. I had so much enthusiasm for the deal.There was just endless business potential.The difficulties came when I realized that not everyone shared myenthusiasm. My direct reports and their direct reports constantly askedme detailed questions about job roles and terms and conditions. It wasbeginning to really frustrate me that they couldn’t see the big picture.I found I had to talk about our visions for the future and our schedulefor sorting out the structure at least five times a day, if not more. Peopleneeded to hear and see me say it, and needed me to keep on saying it.I learnt to keep my cool when repeating myself for the fifth time that day.MD of acquiring companyDevine (1999) of Roffey Park says that managers with merger and acquisitionexperience tend to agree that it is impossible to over-communicateduring a merger. They advocate the use of specific opportunities for staff todiscuss company communications. They also advise managers to encouragetheir people to read e-mails and attend communication meetings, watching231