If you’ve ever assigned a short-term but vital initiative to an appointed project manager, then you understand the importance of having a key leader and driver in position. Ratchet that experience up by a considerable degree and you begin to have an idea of just how critical an integration manager is to the successful outcome of a merger.

Many CEOs mistakenly view an integration manager as a glorified project manager, but for a merger to thrive, the position should instead be considered much more crucial and influential. In fact, a good integration manager will play an essential role in the fulfillment of a merger’s promise.

Because an integration manager contributes the time and talent necessary to actively steer post-merger projects, objectives, and most of all, dynamics, finding the right candidate and giving him or her sufficient support is key.

Acknowledge responsibilities first 

Before tapping an effective leader, clearly identify the job ahead and recognize its necessary depth and breadth. The integration manager’s responsibilities should not simply be execution and implementation, like overseeing the integration of departments, for example.

Instead, the position should also have the fundamental responsibilities of actually setting agendas, and defining objectives and priorities within the newly merged organization. This requires involving the integration manager early on in the process, a core reason some companies stumble in merger aftermath.

Perhaps most importantly, the integration manager is required to keep all things on track while also speeding up the pace. In order to maintain the course, he or she must have the permission and authority to drive decision-making, particularly when faced with bottlenecks or impasses. CEOs are typically overextended, especially subsequent to a merger, and the integration manager can serve as the eyes and ears of top management, knowing when and when not to involve executive players.

The right candidate

The best place to find the right integration manager is right in your own backyard. Inside management staff members already know and understand your business, are quickly onboard with merger objectives, and are in alignment with your vision for the future.

But time is of the essence in any merger, therefore, organizations that have a strategic advantage are those that have already groomed several key leaders as prospective integration managers.

Such leaders may, however, be reluctant to give up their positions for a likely yearlong assignment, with the even greater likelihood that their previously held position may no longer be available at the end of the appointment.

To secure the best possible candidate, the CEO must pledge some important commitments to the individual in order to make the opportunity attractive, and the conclusion more so. Such commitments should reflect a working arrangement that will help ensure the integration manager’s success throughout the period. That includes establishing trust, extending authority, and instating the candidate in the integration management position early. If at all possible, the CEO should also identify the position that the integration manager will assume at the completion of the assignment.

Selection and support

Entrusting decisions and direction to an integration manager during the tenuous time of post-merger can be intimidating. But choosing the right executive and championing his or her efforts is the best route to fast-tracking merger success.