Consolidation – Coming To An Organization Near You?
“Hey! I have an idea! Let’s move into one of our houses, after selling the other, combine finances, and work out the rest later,” said no one who wanted the relationship to last. Organizations, however, do it all the time. They approach consolidations as “mergers” with the “acquisition” word hanging in the air. Immediately there is an adversarial relationship set up – who is acquiring whom? Whose house is going to be sold? Who is working harder than who? Who gets to decide? Etc.
Every successful consolidation that we have supported (to date none has failed) has been successful because they took the time and asked for help to negotiate the cultural aspects of what combining in some way, (and there are choices; we generally look at eight) would look like.
There are predictable power struggles in the areas of property, finances, governance, worship format and tones*, social gatherings (and their purpose) and mission (which programs, exactly, will we continue to support and why?!)
When organizations approach consolidations carefully, with an eye to success, years of work, not months, are involved. Done well, a negotiated decision to move ahead or not, is well-informed, speed bumps navigated, and consensus built.
While we cannot remove the unforeseen hiccups in the process ahead, we have built a collaborative structure for negotiations and a comprehensive communication loop throughout, such that when the Boards of Directors, Department Chairs, or the Sessions, the Vestries, or the Councils decide to move ahead, the elements are in place to support the alliance, its infrastructure, mission, and goals with essential buy-in from all constituents.
*Pertains to work with religious communities
