HPA Senior Advisor Alex Nesbitt’s valuable insight on extension mergers continues. Read Part 2 here.

Extension mergers, often referred to as roll-ups, have historically been one of the most successful business growth models. Whether pursued to extend geography, markets, products, or some combination of these, such mergers focus primarily on revenue synergies. They have fueled impressive growth for companies like Cisco and IBM, who have used their extensive sales and distribution networks to, in turn, drive sales of products from hundreds of small acquisitions.

During an acquisition, the most effective and efficient way to ensure everything that needs to happen does is quite simple: a checklist. Or rather, in this case, two: a Take Control Checklist and an Integration Checklist.

If you’re approaching an M&A activity, or you’ve already done your due diligence, read here for some behaviors you should be aware of–and avoid.

A well-run Project Management Office has the power to bring structure, focus, and speed to enterprise-wide change initiatives and process improvements. Building an effective PMO that adds value starts with staffing the PMO with talented, organizationally savvy personnel who know how to get things done.