How to identify and involve facilitators in merger processes

The existence of informal networks in any company is undeniable. They form in the bonds of empathy and trust established between colleagues and are strengthened in the flows through which information relevant to the results achieved at the end of a work project circulates. From these networks emerge equally informal leaders who reach this level only through the empathy they arouse among their colleagues, the spirit of cooperation that guides their professional and personal posture. Informal leaders do not appear on any organization chart; However, it is through him that the most innovative ideas can emerge.

In merger processes, when companies are under heavy cultural stress, the intervention of these informal leaders is critical to soften the clash between different groups and thrive on the model desired by the new management.

THE NEXT DAY

The day after the merger is signed, the climate in the corridors of any organization is permeated by uncertainty. Sometimes paralyzed by this insecurity, employees tend to look to their previous groups to interact and find pre-fusion comfort. The natural tendency of humans is to preserve the relationships of pre-existing informal networks.

“Our behavior is very old in that regard. No matter how new networks are, it is normal for previous informal networks to persist, ”warns Ignacio Garcia, organizational anthropologist, netnographer, and expert in complex network analysis.

Since man became sapiens-sapiens, relationships have been established through bonds of trust. When a new group is created by merging others, the time to build new bonds of trust can be long and even exceed the 100 days normally devoted to this PMI stage.

Seeking to accelerate the process and make integration truly effective, visual mapping of informal networks identifies a key figure in organizational anthropology: the facilitator.

Facilitators are those who occupy strategic positions in their respective informal networks. They are cooperative, energetic and innovative people, always focused on integration, beneficial and enriching cultural exchange for the whole group.

HOW TO IDENTIFY FACILITATORS?

When mapping relationships between employees in an organization, facilitators often appear at the center of a network, surrounded by numerous connections.

Tree Intelligence applies the network pyramid model to perform these mappings, from the capillarity of an informal network between two people to the breadth of analysis of a complex network, as well as the entire team of a large multinational. No matter the size of the network, human relationships will always be based on cooperation.

Not coincidentally, cooperation is at the base of the network pyramid. This is not a hierarchical sequence of values cultivated between colleagues or team leaders. What cooperation networks identify in diagnostic work is precisely an informal network through which communication does not always flow according to the formal flow of an organization chart.

Individuals who are more willing to cooperate are not always at the top of formal organization charts. As informal leaders, they will play a key role in the cultural integration between teams of companies that come together.

Organizations preparing for a merger or submitting to PMI should encourage facilitation of these facilitators. Specifically, coaching and mentoring may be good options to make the most of this professional's cooperative potential. More than investing in improvements, it is up to the company to engage this informal leader at crucial moments to make him feel part of the process and increasingly help to make the integration of cultures as natural as possible.

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