{"id":45,"date":"2026-03-31T18:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datadrivenops.co\/blog\/?p=45"},"modified":"2026-05-22T19:08:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T19:08:05","slug":"running-the-ops-workstream-in-an-ma-integration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/datadrivenops.co\/blog\/running-the-ops-workstream-in-an-ma-integration\/","title":{"rendered":"Running the Ops Workstream in an M&A Integration"},"content":{"rendered":"

In May 2019, the deal closed on a Thursday. By the following Wednesday I was running two integration workstreams — Customer Support and Corporate IT — for a combined organisation of 254 people, with a Day 30 target for operational alignment. The deal had been anticipated; the exact close date had not been.<\/p>\n

The First 48 Hours<\/h2>\n

The first 48 hours of an integration are when most ops leaders make their biggest mistake: they try to solve everything. Org design, systems integration, process unification, communications — all of it feels urgent, and none of it can actually be resolved in 48 hours.<\/p>\n

The two things that actually matter in the first 48 hours: people know who to report to, and customers see no disruption. On the reporting structure: even a temporary, explicitly provisional org chart is better than ambiguity. We issued a provisional structure within 48 hours — framed explicitly as “this is the operating structure while we design the end state” — and committed to a timeline for the final structure. That framing prevented the ambiguity from becoming anxiety.<\/p>\n

The 30-Day Timeline<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
Day 0
May 27<\/div>\n
\n

Deal Closes<\/h4>\n

Workstream leads confirmed, integration war room established. First all-hands communication drafted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Day 2<\/div>\n
\n

Provisional Org Structure Issued<\/h4>\n

Interim reporting lines communicated to all team members in both organisations. Framed as provisional with committed timeline for final structure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Day 7<\/div>\n
\n

Process Inventory Complete<\/h4>\n

Both support operations documented — tooling, escalation paths, ticket volumes, SLA commitments. The data needed to design the unified model.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Day 14<\/div>\n
\n

End-State Design Drafted<\/h4>\n

Proposed unified support structure, process model, and systems approach. First stakeholder review.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Day 21<\/div>\n
\n

People Mapping Complete<\/h4>\n

Every role in both organisations mapped to the end-state structure. Role clarity communicated to individuals before the final org was announced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
Day 30
Jun 11<\/div>\n
\n

Day 30 Target: Operational Alignment<\/h4>\n

Unified support model live. Reporting lines confirmed. Process standards adopted. Integration milestone delivered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

People Mapping: The Work Nobody Talks About<\/h2>\n

People mapping is the part of M&A ops work that gets the least attention in retrospectives and the most attention from the people living through it. Every person in both organisations needs to know where they fit in the end-state structure — and they need to know before the announcement, not after.<\/p>\n

Every role in both organisations was mapped to a position in the end-state org. Where a role was straightforward, role clarity was communicated early. Where a role involved a change, those conversations happened individually, personally, and before the general announcement.<\/p>\n

\n

“The org design spreadsheet is a document. The conversation with your team about what it means — that’s leadership. Every person on that spreadsheet has a mortgage, a family situation, a career goal.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Communications: The Cadence That Reduces Anxiety<\/h2>\n

In an integration, communication cadence matters more than communication content. Teams that receive regular, honest updates — even updates that say “we don’t have a final answer on that yet, here’s when we expect to” — are significantly less anxious than teams that receive detailed communications infrequently.<\/p>\n

The cadence we used: weekly all-team email from the integration leads, twice-weekly manager briefings so frontline managers were always one step ahead of their teams, and an open Q&A channel where questions could be submitted anonymously and answered publicly. The anonymous Q&A channel was the most valuable communication tool we used. It surfaced the questions people were actually asking — often the ones they were afraid to ask in an all-hands.<\/p>\n

The communication rule we held consistently:<\/strong> We never used corporate language to avoid a question. “We’re evaluating all options” when you’ve already made a decision is not communication — it’s delay with extra words, and people can tell.<\/p>\n

What I Would Do Differently<\/h2>\n

Start the process inventory before the deal closes. In most M&A situations there’s a due diligence period during which you can at least sketch the shape of both operations without having access to anything confidential. Arriving at Day 0 with a blank page adds unnecessary delay to the first two weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In May 2019, the deal closed on a Thursday. 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