How can I escape company merger power struggles?

My company has “merged” with a sister company but there seems to be power fights, some of us are treated harshly. How can I avoid being caught up in the fight of the big elephants? Tom

Dear Tom,
When companies merge their operations the leaders of the business have to realise that a new team has been born and this new baby has to be purposely nurtured to go through the stages of team birth and development, which are:
1.Forming: this is when the merger has just happened and the new team members are coming together. 2. Storming: different ideas begin to compete for consideration. Each team member usually has an opinion on how assignments should be executed. This stage can be contentious and conflicts are common. This is when some members feel that others are harsh or some are favoured. Most likely your team is currently at this stage and your leader has to purposely steer the team to the next stage of development. 3. Norming: When the team has crafted its first vision and has agreed to adopt to the new ways of working. The team has agreed on which ideas to adopt from the competing pool and, what to reject. This is also when collective responsibility of the team begins to set in.
4. Performing: The team has now taken off. It is smoothly executing its assignments. The team members have become interdependent, motivated, knowledgeable and competent
My advice to Tom is to understand the stage of development of his team and then take the initiative to help fellow members, most especially the leader, to quickly navigate the team to the performing stage. This you can do irrespective of your position in the organisation.

Moses Ssesanga
Head Human Resource
NMG - Uganda
[email protected]