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Using Personas to support integration

  • 1.  Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-10-15 16:13

    Hi Community,

    I was catching up on this BCG article "The People Side of Post-Merger Integration" where it talks about using personas. I've used personas on some of my deals, but not on all. Is this a standard that others employe consistently?  @Marsha South, I saw you comment on one of @Leslie Ellis recent posts, talking about using Change Impact Assessments. Those I do use as a standard and am thinking about aligning the persona activity up there. Thoughts or experiences from others?

    Becky



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    Becky Persak
    Aon
    Head of M&A - Leadership, Culture & Change
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  • 2.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-10-16 08:32

    Hi Rebecca,

    I have successfully used persona techniques in previous projects, but for this specific M&A initiative, focusing on conducting a comprehensive change impact assessment of employee benefits and cultural alignment proved more effective. Our stakeholders' primary concern was the impact on employee compensation and benefits. We conducted a thorough analysis to ensure the transition was equitable for all employees as the roles they were transitioning into were different. The teams were moving from a manually operated facility to an automated one. Existing training programs were already designed to accommodate groups at all levels. Will take a look at the BCG article soon thanks for sharing.



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    Marsha South
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-10-16 09:47

    Hello everyone,

    I ready the article, very informative as I've never used personas in integrations. I will consider this on the next larger deal. Would be very helpful.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Teresa



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    Teresa Gretencord
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-10-17 01:09

    The BCG article seems to stay non-drama. If you want some persona examples that dip into M&A drama, check out @Jennifer J. Fondrevay's book "Now What." The Amazon summary mentions the "cast of change" characters (e.g., the Former Rock Star, the Black Widow). 😊



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    Robert Snyder
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-10-21 11:41
    Hi, Becky:
    I developed personas during the Post-Merger Integration (PMI) for a recent client and you're correct, I created them based on the Change Impacts Assessments.
    The personas represented both acquired employees and current (acquiring company) employees because, of course, the acquisition impacted everyone.
    I interviewed several people from each employee segment for each persona, including leadership, to get the full perspective on their key needs during the integration, challenges of the acquisition, motivations and values, and preferred communication venues.
    I shared the personas with multiple teams engaged in the integration, including the leadership; it gave everyone a new perspective on how people were being impacted and how to help them through it.
    If you'd like more information about how I developed and used the personas, please let me know.


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    Diane Weinsheimer
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-10-29 08:27

    Diane - Love that you did personas for this! I would be curious for more details on how you create the personas and even moreso, other ways you leverage them. 



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    Leslie Ellis
    leslie@meaningfulchangeconsulting.com
    Founder & CEO
    Meaningful Change Consulting, LLC
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-11-07 14:33

    Hi, Leslie:

    Apologies for the delay in responding to you, my computer was "on the fritz" and I couldn't access this thread.

    I created the personas utilizing a change impacts assessment and Prosci's Impact Index, first by completing my initial understanding of the impacts. Next I interviewed multiple people in 5 different levels of the organization, using the questions/categories in both assessments to create questions to ask those stakeholders. 

    Next I analyzed the data (qualitative only) and created the personas as a summary of the common responses.

    I presented the personas to the Integration Management Office, CIO and the IT leadership team responsible for the IT Integration (which I was leading) so everyone could understand how employees were feeling (both existing employees and acquired employees) and what they needed to be successfully integrated.

    Of course this helped define our OCM strategy, including communications, training, resistance management, end user support (technical and non-technical), engagement and adoption monitoring and success metrics development/monitoring.

    Personas are an important part of my practice, to help everyone "see" impacted employees as people and understand their experiences during an Integration.



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    Diane Weinsheimer
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-11-07 11:38

    Thanks, Diane. And others!

    I have a new integration coming up that will be a great candidate for personas. I'm curious if you used the Prosci Impact Index as part of your process. I've used that in the past and think it's going to be really valuable as part of interview conversations with people. I want to be most effective with how I'm using my tools whether that's the Impact Index, Change Impact Assessment or Personas.

    Becky



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    Becky Persak
    Aon
    Head of M&A - Leadership, Culture & Change
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-11-07 14:16

    Hi, Becky:

    I used the Change Impact Assessment and the Impact Index for the development of my personas, because they each offer value in understanding impacts to those going through an Integration.



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    Diane Weinsheimer
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-11-08 00:04

    I would use Personas for many types of CM or M&A activities. Personas originated in the User Centric Design/Design Thinking methodology. However, they are akin to Stakeholders in a way. I find that the use of Personas makes the work more personalized, connecting with the employees, and help us to think of their unique perspective/criterion/impacts. 

    One example where I used them with great results was on the pivot during the Pandemic. The company, like many others, had to pivot from an office centric to a remote centric way of working. Personas helped us to understand and analyze how that could work while bringing employees along on the journey.



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    Douglas Flory
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Using Personas to support integration

    Posted 2024-11-08 11:11

    Hi Rebecca, I find persona are incredibly useful they can help create empathy and understanding, I use empathy mapping in Mural when identify different user types, needs, motivations. I also want to share something that I have used as a reference and it reelects an example of a persona. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/msdn-magazine/2009/april/the-power-of-personas  



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    Tammie Ray
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    Original Message