Integration Project Charters can save headaches down the road

Say the word "Charter" and many folks will understandable roll their eyes. Thoughts of unwelcome bureacracy and red tape will abound. However, for merger integrations, charters can save a lot of time, money and unnecessary turf scraps by getting important decisions and scope details outlined early and agreed upon by all stakeholders.
Here's a very simple integration project charter to use as a starter, and best to keep it to 1-2 pages max. Good luck!


Integration Project Charter:
1. Project Title and Description: Integration of XXXX into YYYY. (Here to referred as “Project A”)
2. Integration Project A Purpose: business need, project justification, alignment with strategic plan.
3. Integration Project A Scope: planning and management of near term initiatives required to integrate merged/acquired entity. Scope can be changed through approval of the Project Sponsor and Integration Management Office (recommend including this line to prevent the “pile-on” of operational projects individual stakeholders may like to add to the scope).
4. Sponsoring Org (SO) Participants for Project A:
5. Integration Mgmt Office Participants for Project A:
6. SO & Integration Mgmt office Responsibility & Authority Guidelines: Outline primary responsibilities of SO and IMO relative to Project A. Example:
-SO responsible for coordinating master integration schedule and delivery dates for functional plans for Project A
-IMO is the centralized decision making authority for Project A
7. Integration Project A Schedule: pre-close to first 100 days, transitioning outstanding items to a thinner end-state management process

8. Resources:
-Integration Management Office/Integration Project Manager - role, stakeholder communication
-Integration Team – functional organizations, resource commitments, and their participation
-Stakeholder Requirements As Known: project sponsor, involved acquired/acquiring company functional management/employees, integration team members and their managers, customers, investors, community.

Functional Resource requirements:
-Core responsibilities: (See Functional Job Description for more work detail)
• Serve as a member of the Integration Management Office (IMO) for Division integrations for a period of 60-90 days on average (time commitment will vary by integration)
• Develop Track and report functional workplan progress and issues to the IMO
• Ensure completion and adherence to the scope identified in the Integration Project Charter
• Plan and Coordinate overall activities for specific function
• Participate in IMO integration planning process, and use IMO tools for tracking and communicating information regarding integration activities
• Ensure appropriate links to other III functional leads or executives to minimize overlap and to foster efficient coordination among functions

11. Project Deliverables: Integration Plan, Communication Plan, Synergy Plan, Weekly Status, Lessons Learned, and End State Tracking Log.

12. Organizational, Environmental, and Internal/External Assumptions & Constraints
• Deal Terms that may affect schedule, scope, or cost
• Resource limits (ability, quantity, …) that will need to be factored into the plan