Life together, family meetings

An inevitable part of family businesses, is to retain the family part of the family business.
How is this done? In my view, simple not easy….communication.
Communication is something that many need continual prompting to ensure that it is regular, productive and constructive.
One tool to facilitate communication is family meetings.

– why family meetings? formal time when the business operations are put aside and focus is placed on the family
– frequency of meetings? regularity, subject to the geographic and time constraints of the family members.
– three circles: family, ownership, business – ensure that you retain the family part of the family business
– have fun in family meetings. The meeting may not always be about tough topics. Just having time together and age appropriate activities can be very productive.
– bonding time without agenda. Think about family holidays.
– intergenerational interactions. Share ideas, history and just different points of view.

All of these above points are just teasers to think about starting family meetings.
A start is the best way to enter this often new world of family meetings.

Learn, think, apply!