The organizations have merged. The structure is in place, processes are set up, and responsibilities are assigned. Yet, you notice that collaboration does not happen automatically. The integration requires more time.  

Employees bring their own methods, experiences, and beliefs. As a result, teams may find it difficult to connect, and an unintended sense of difference may arise. Not out of unwillingness, but because people view the same reality from different backgrounds and motivations. 

A merger brings together people with different experiences, beliefs, and ways of working. What is self-evident to one person may be new or challenging to another. When you understand what motivates people and how they deal with change, there is greater understanding of each other's perspectives. This makes differences open to discussion and helps teams build trust and work together effectively. 

Many integration processes focus on structure, processes, and governance. The real integration takes shape in the daily collaboration between people. 

By gaining insight into motivations, a shared language for behavior is created. This helps to leverage differences, strengthen collaboration, and develop a joint culture in which people feel connected. 

1. Gain insight 

Identify drivers, team dynamics, and cultural differences within the organization.  

2. Make differences discussable 

Create understanding for each other's way of collaborating, communicating, and dealing with change. 

3. Strengthen the connection 

Build trust, leverage differences, and encourage collaboration across team and organizational boundaries. 

4. Develop a shared culture 

Make the desired way of collaborating part of daily practice and build a shared organizational culture. 

Organizations that invest in the human aspect of a merger, acquisition, or integration: 

1. Build trust faster 
2. Strengthen collaboration between teams 
3. Utilize differences more effectively 
4. Break down 'us vs. them' thinking 
5. Develop a shared culture 
6. Increase engagement and ownership 
7. Achieve the benefits of integration faster 

Thus, a merger grows into one organization where people work together towards the same ambition. 

This solution is valuable when: 

1. Two organizations merge 
2. Teams from different organizations start collaborating more intensively 
3. There is a need for more understanding of each other's perspectives 
4. Employees want to quickly find each other in the new contacts;  
5. A joint identity needs to be formed 
6. The integration requires more than just an organizational merger