When it comes to implementing change at an organization, it pays to plan ahead even for scenarios that might not happen.
Just ask Sarah Morgenstern, MBA ’93, an Ivey Advisory Board member who co-founded SavvyMom Media. When Morgenstern and her business partner, Minnow Hamilton, were exploring avenues to grow SavvyMom Media last fall, they worked on a plan for implementing change in the organization in the event of an acquisition, even before the deal was signed.
Related to this story
When the deal ultimately came through and Ideon Media acquired SavvyMom Media, along with its competitor, UrbanMoms.ca, in March, the transition was relatively easy. Together the three organizations formed The SavvyMom Group, which is the largest provider of Canadian online content for Canadian moms.
Morgenstern, now a senior executive with Ideon Media, shared three lessons from the experience:
Don’t get caught in analysis paralysis – When Morgenstern and Hamilton were deciding whether or not to accept Ideon Media’s offer, there were many things to consider. Morgenstern said it was easy to analyze everything and get bogged down working out details pertaining to small administrative areas. She eventually realized you can’t solve every problem in advance. Some details can be worked out later.
“At some point, there’s a leap of faith that you have to take that’s more based on the parties at the table, a shared vision, and trusting that everybody wants to do the right thing,” she said. “You can’t think through every little nuance. You just have to think through the big picture.”
Keep it business as usual – It can be tough juggling negotiations for a potential deal while still performing your regular work tasks. However, it’s important to keep potential plans under wraps so that your staff won’t worry about their future with your company. For Morgenstern, that meant keeping up with her day-to-day operating role, while doing the strategic deal-making role on the side.
“You need to keep it business as usual so the business is still healthy if the deal comes through,” she said.
Plan for change in advance – When the deal came through, the next challenge was to integrate the three organizations. Some people would need to take on more work in the short term, while others had to learn new tasks or new ways of approaching tasks. Fortunately, Morgenstern had created a work plan in advance so that most of the integration details regarding responsibilities and processes had been worked out prior.
“Had the deal not been concluded, the work plan would have been a waste of time. But it was good to do it in advance so that we were poised to integrate once the final documents were signed,” she said. “It felt like a theoretical exercise to be going through because we didn’t know for sure that what we were working on was going to be needed. But it was the right thing to do because it allowed for a more successful transition when the companies came together.”
And while the process of integrating three organizations required give and take from all players, Morgenstern said there were benefits to all. The smaller companies were able to benefit from Ideon’s larger sales team and greater technology capabilities, there were larger teams to brainstorm ideas together, and best practices were shared among all the businesses.
Being sensitive to the different working styles and corporate cultures was also critical, she said, as well as always keeping the vision in mind.
