Conceptualizing a deal is relatively easy. However, achieving a successful merger or acquisition requires not only imagination but also hard work; and it is too important to be left solely in the hands of dealmakers who won’t have to live with the consequences after the closing.

When it comes to post-transaction integration, it is critical to have a plan that works. Some tips for successful integration planning include:

Empower the Team
Carefully select the leader and planning team members from both sides. Make sure that transaction goals, team roles, and management expectations are explicitly clear. Remove competing assignments and attention-grabbers from team members and publicly demonstrate their authority with total executive support.

Insist on an organized and flexible project plan with questions to be answered, an approach to be followed, information to be gathered, and measures for progress. Distribute the project plan to stakeholders for feedback and buy-in.

Dig Deep
Make sure the team gets to know each other and understands how their respective organizations tick as they develop integration plans. Objective information such as examples, models, templates, prototypes, and stories of operational processes are important.

However, a subjective understanding of each other’s people, culture, operations, philosophy, and values may be more valuable in the long run. This is the time to mine for conflict, competing imperatives, sacred cows, resistors, and revolutionaries for appropriate action. Investigation is done when there is sufficient information to design a robust integration plan and make an informed Go No-Go decision.

Assess Critically
Mergers and acquisitions are among the riskiest projects a firm can pursue. The planning team must consider alternatives for office organization, management structure, marketing approach, operational consolidation, etc. Outline each alternative, how it would be pursued, the risks, likely outcomes, and costs. Costs include not only cash expenditures but also key staff demands, lost clients, and employee departures.

Be realistic; not every client or employee will survive or want to stay with the merger. It is essential that the most significant foreseeable risks are identified and workable contingency plans are developed. When evaluating the recommended plan, focus on the outcome, confront difficult issues, and insist on clarity.

If the integration plan does not meet or exceed expectations and provide a viable response for every identified risk, there are fatal flaws. Stop. Do not proceed. If you can’t afford your best managers to plan, manage, and implement post-transaction integration like a “real project”, you likely cannot afford the transaction in the first place!

This article is an excerpt from PSMJ's  free ebook M&A Survival Tips for A/E Firm Leaders, a must-have tool to help you navigate through some of the thornier parts of getting started as well as implementing a realistic and successful M&A plan.