The Million Dollar Question—What About Integration?

Abstract

The following question is of great significance for a change project—no matter whether it concerns the complete restructuring of a company; the introduction of a new product or the consolidation of processes and system environments—“Who do you integrate when and how in order to achieve good results in the quickest manner possible?” Where integration is concerned the following principle applies for every phase of implementation—as much as necessary and as little as possible. Because the more participants you integrate, the more time-consuming and worse the solutions will be because they are riddled with compromise. The fewer participants, the greater, however, the risk that individuals feel that they have not been integrated and put up the corresponding resistance. So you must consider carefully who you integrate when and what is the most intelligent way of doing so. As trivial as this question sounds, the more difficult it can be to answer. Because if no genuine clarification is achieved at the outset of a process then progress will prove to be all the more difficult and unproductive. When answering the question you are therefore making a decision about whether you make speedy progress, experiencing genuine momentum within the scope of implementation, or the project becomes a tough struggle for every metre.