Integration Manager Job Description

The Integration Manager in a Multi-Agent Organisation

There is no clear team sometimes. The team members may not be aware of who they are reporting to until the organisation's structures are clear. The integration manager needs to involve people through existing channels of authority.

The manager needs to make the process exciting. It is almost impossible to connect or detach from the start. The integration can't be tied to project management waterfall style tools and processes.

The integration manager has to adapt and re- calibrate their plans as the situation changes. There will be plenty of political lobbying when businesses are combined. The integration manager needs to be able to handle emotional and cultural issues in a constructive way.

The Role of Integration Managers in Merging Organizational Change

The integration manager is a process-leadership position that a company might create to drive large systems- improvement or performance- improvement initiatives. Project management is a part of the role. The integration manager helps create the integration teams that combine the various parts of the two organizations, consolidate operations and transfer critical skills across them, launch new products, and struggle to meet targets such as head count reductions, share-of-market goals, and

A small integration office is usually made up of three to eight full-time analysts and junior managers who track the progress of the integration teams. The integration manager reports on the teams progress to a steering committee that is ultimately responsible for capturing the cost and revenue synergies propelling the deal. Integration managers do more.

They push the merging of two HR departments to identify the top performers, who are more likely to stay, instead of just overseeing it. Integration managers help capture synergies by breaking the deadlocks that inevitably occur when two organizations merge, and they don't just track whether synergies are being captured. Several integration teams were involved in a recent pharmaceutical merger.

The finance integration team felt uneasy about giving cost reduction targets to the functional teams because they didn't know how the new organization would be structured. The integration manager found a solution that allowed the finance team to refine its targets and the functional teams to complete their organizational designs by providing ballpark figures. The company was on track with its cost reduction efforts.

Organizations that actively manage their talent will have an easy time identifying candidates, as they can quickly pull up lists of A players, many of whom will be suitable for the role. Other companies will need more time to complete their mergers. A strong talent-management system makes it easy to identify potential integration leaders.

The Integration Manager in M&A

The Integration Manager does not have the authority to control the critical business resources. They are held accountable for the creation and delivery of a disciplined integration strategy, process and value delivery plan, instead of the monthly P&L, because they have a keen interest in the monthly P&L to track the impact of integration the business. It is almost impossible to connect or detach from the start.

The integration can't be tied to project management tools and processes. The Integration Manager must adapt and re- calibrate their plans as the situation changes. The ultimate goal of any merger or acquisition is to realise deal value, and the Integration Manager needs to focus on that.

The focus of an Integration Manager is on the business result, not the milestone objective. There will be multiple projects of significant complexity that need to be planned and implemented tightly within the integration plan. The Integration Manager needs to motivate hundreds of people in multiple teams across multiple locations, and also balance the scope and pace of projects to ensure that the programme is focused on delivering the promised benefits as efficiently and effectively as possible within the limits of the budget.

In the M&A context, the management of the delivery of benefits and business value, coordinating and shaping a set of projects and business-as-usual activities and bringing people on the journey requires real accomplishment in programme management. There is no clear team sometimes. The Integration Manager is the person who needs to motivate and involve people through fragmented channels of authority, because team members may not be aware of who they are reporting to.

The ability to make the journey exciting is a vital skill. There are likely to be lots of gripe sessions when businesses are combined. The integration manager needs to be able to appreciate the emotional and cultural issues involved, help others to deal with them, then manage them sensitively and effectively.