At each step in the Consolidate-Integrate-Optimize process, there are both factual tasks and organizational/leadership issues.

Step 1: Consolidation

During this phase, the challenge is to sort out which staff and assets are to be consolidated; to document what level of service the consolidated organization is expected to deliver in trade for those resources; and to bring incoming staff into a safe home where they learn to feel part of the new organization.

Factual: document the current levels of service to trade resources for SLAs and project contracts; change HR reporting.

Organizational issues: oversee data gathering to ensure that we can fulfill expectations with resources given; determine how to prevent hiding and holding; plan a temporary home in organization for incoming staff.

Step 2: Integration

During this phase, the challenge is to deconstruct incoming groups and put staff into the right groups, based on their specialties and existing workloads.

If neither has invested in a principle-based organization, it's best to design a new structure together.

Through participation of the affected managers, the best knowledge is involved in these decisions. Furthermore, involvement in the process is a powerful team-building experience that breaks down walls, builds working relationships, and generates commitment to the new organization -- all while accomplishing real work.

Factual: document lines of business within each consolidated group using the Building Blocks framework (as in the Rainbow Analysis).

Organizational issues: decide if one merges into the other or if designing a new organization together; facilitate participative, principle-based process of structural change.

Step 3: Optimization

Managers of the newly integrated groups harvest cost savings and synergies. (This is ongoing by individual managers.)

Factual: reconsider commitments and resource assignments; identify and standardize best-of-breed methods and tools; eliminate redundant work and assets/licenses; merge overlapping projects and services; invest in professional development.

Organizational issues: develop an integrated catalog with rates and investment-based budget; revise sub-structure to increase specialization in now-larger group.