7 Ways Agile M&A Adds Value

What is Agile?

The Agile approach to project management was originally developed to address workflow inefficiencies in the software development industry. This approach is based around universally applicable operational values such as speed, flexibility, cross-functional transparency, and teamwork — values which are perfectly suited to highly dynamic, informationally complex undertakings like M&A.

As a project management style, Agile has proven to be uniquely suited to the modern globalized business landscape, which is defined by its unpredictability, instantaneous communication, and focus on rapid growth and innovation. The success of the Agile approach has led to its adoption throughout a variety of industries, including M&A.

Agile M&A adds value by focusing on the following seven activities:

• defining the deal value
• prioritizing the backlog
• enabling collaboration
• collecting meaningful analytics
• responding to change
• continuously improving
• creating a smooth workflow

1. Defining the deal value

Starting the deal with clear processes, parameters and goals is the key to executing a successful deal. The teams should come together for a kick-off meeting in order to

• define key value drivers
• define the deal process
• align their strategies
• set goals 

Both teams should leave the meeting with defined sets of tasks, and a clear understanding of roles and goals.

2. Prioritizing the backlog

The way to optimize the deal-making process is to use prioritized lists. By prioritizing, the team will always work on the most important tasks first.

Using a m&a project management tool that is specifically designed for M&A is ideal; this tool would be designed to address sensitive information and compliance. Having weekly meetings is the key to keeping these lists current.

3. Enabling collaboration 

Enabling collaboration is a huge element of successful due diligence. The best way to enable collaboration is to use a software due diligence to bridge cross-functional gaps. Using a tool or platform will eliminate working offline in silos and creating extra steps to share information and prolonged waiting. Creating a central workspace allows the deal teams to communicate and collaborate seamlessly.

4. Collecting meaningful analytics 

Using meaningful analytics will help teams continuously improve the M&A process. Risks can be managed through analytics that can help track identified risks within the deal. This is another area where a project management tool can help by collecting data that is typically not captured in Excel or via email. A tool can help pinpoint where people spend the most time during a deal, as well as where bottlenecks in the process may lie.

5. Responding to change 

Change can be either good or bad, but it is always present. Often changes cannot be controlled, but the way in which a company responds to change can be controlled. Changes often disrupt the workflow of process or group, slowing the flow down or possibly creating bottlenecks. Being swift to identify the change and determine what effects this change will have is important to figure out how to make adjustments.

6. Continuously improving

Continuously improving a process involves taking a look at the process and determining where there is waste, extra effort, or where steps can be eliminated.

These small improvements, over time, make the process better.  

7. Creating a smooth workflow

A smooth workflow can be created through eliminating waste and analyzing the process for non-value-add activities that can be removed or simplified. These include everything from unnecessary reports to meetings without a clear purpose, to duplicate work. It is not about what can be added to the deal-making process, but what can be taken away.

This article is part 2 in our Agile M&A blog series.

Useful links:

M&A Deal Management