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Family Meetings - Are You Kidding Me?: Maintaining the Family Business Balance
October 30, 2007
Family business is an oxymoron. Family is supposed to offer an environment of unconditional acceptance and approval based on who you are, whereas business is supposed to be an environment of conditional performance based upon acceptance and approval. Most families in business are out of balance in either one direction or the other. Rarely are families able to strike the appropriate balance without intervention. As a result, family meetings provide a fantastic forum to begin getting into balance.
I was just with a family where 4 siblings from the 2nd generation were all vying to be treated fairly in the business. What they each meant by that was “what’s fair to me.” The sad part is that one family member rated his relationship with 2 of the other family members as a zero, on a scale of 1 to 10. Now, that’s bad!
If families in business are so dysfunctional, why in the world would we want them to meet together?
Below are 7 reasons to have family meetings:
- To provide a forum for family members to learn how to communicate effectively and get along.
Avoiding issues doesn’t work; it simply prolongs and deepens the issues. As a business owner, you deal with difficult business decisions everyday. You shouldn’t be afraid to deal with the difficult stuff in your family. Moving in this direction will help your family grow stronger and, in turn, improve business performance and focus. It will require you to get out of your comfort zone.
- To provide a forum for developing family members to learn about the business.
Family successors don’t develop by default. A family meeting atmosphere is a great way to reinforce the accountability of business and prepare the way for developing a successor.
- To provide a forum for family members not involved in the business to understand how decision making regarding the business and business related assets impacts them.
Keeping inactive family members from creating problems in the business is, usually, a matter of keeping them close. As has been said, “keep your friends close – keep your enemies closer.”
- To develop plans for the future that are based on agreements and, therefore, preclude disagreements.
As a business owner, you may think that you can develop a plan without the input of your family members. That’s true, if what you want to leave is the kindling for a shattered family.
- To address family issues openly and early to avoid the relationship trauma associated with surprise.
Surprise is the nemesis of a smooth transition.
- To make plans for the succession of ownership and leadership.
- To provide a forum for developing a clear picture of the family business legacy.
It’s vitally important to develop a common vision, clear values, and ways of doing business. What you have done instinctively doesn’t survive the transfer. What you document does.
Posted by Jeff Faulkner on October 30, 2007 | Comments (0)
