After every major undertaking, it’s always a good idea to conduct an after-action review to determine what went well, what went poorly, and how to improve for the next time around. This is modelled on the military approach to after-action review, which I’ve described in more detail here.
I’m currently working with a client that has been through a merger and now an acquisition. Here are some of the areas to examine in conducting an after-action review to improve the next time around:
- Competitive and corporate strategy
- Financing & ownership
- Brand & repute
- Competitor reactions
- Strategic planning
- Planning & budgeting
- Operations
- Information technology and management
- Website and online presence
- Client relations & communications
- Client retention & turnover
- Other stakeholder reactions
- Marketing & promotion
- Employee relations (especially management)
- Revenue generation
- Redundancy & cost control
- Administrative processes & systems
- Compensation & benefits
- Recruiting & integration
- Key people retention & turnover
- Succession planning
For each of these areas, you can ask your key stakeholders to identify the following:
- Successes
- Mistakes
- New strengths resulting from merger/acquisition
- Weaknesses & vulnerabilities resulting from merger/acquisition
- New opportunities
- Risks & threats
- How to improve the process in the future