|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A Seasonally Inspired Post
Writing a weekly post on the challenges of generational transitions for families has seen me compose more than 600 of these blogs over the past dozen years.
Almost all of them are what content experts would dub as “evergreen”, that is, not tied to anything in the news or seasons.
Every once in a while, though, I get inspired me to write something that is not evergreen, and this is one such occasion.
Thanksgiving is a huge family holiday in the USA, and as a Canadian who consumes more than enough American culture, I’m actually a bit jealous of our southern neighbours.
Our Thanksgiving feels more like a “second Labour Day”, coming just six weeks later, on another Monday.
A Random Comment During a Presentation
A few weeks ago, in On Learning by Doing and Advising Others, I shared that I managed to get myself invited to the final day of presentations for the FEA Program, where I act as a project team advisor.
It was during one of those presentations that a team member was sharing that their team had managed to encourage their project family to “carve out time” for meetings.
This was the week after Canadian Thanksgiving, so maybe that’s why the turkey carving image lit up in my head.
In reality, though, the image of someone carving a turkey in front of the whole family at the table is much more of an American one.
Luckily, US Thanksgiving still lay ahead, so I made a note to write this post so that it would be timely for readers on the other side of our border.
Convening the Family Regularly and Productively
The reason this idea of carving out time was so salient for me is that I had also recently written about how important it is for families to convene regularly and productively.
In fact, Ideas on Dealing with the Family CRAP was all about that.
I guess this needs to be clarified here because we’re talking about the family getting together to share Thanksgiving Dinner together, and this is important too, but what I’m getting at is something different, and very much complementary to family meals.
My major audience is families who either have a business that they run and own together, or who at one time had a business and who now have a certain level of wealth that they are concerned with passing down to the next generation.
It’s great when all family members also enjoy the pleasure of each others’ company over a family meal, either on special occasions or some other regular of irregular basis.
But such families also need to carve out time to talk about things as a family, because all family members are stakeholders in what the family owns, even those who are not part of the business or the current ownership or management of what the family owns.
Separate Meetings to Untangle Family and Business
Families who are in business have a habit of mixing business and family way more than they should.
Subjects get blended together and an effort needs to be made to set aside time for separate meetings, in order to untangle areas between the business and the family.
Family governance, one of my favourite subjects, is all about having family meetings that focus on all family members, as they relate to the business or the family’s wealth that is to be transitioned some day.
See Progressing Up the Family Governance Mountain
Carve Up the Subjects into Separate Meetings
There are always plenty of subjects to talk about when a family gets together, and when they also run a business together, it’s so easy to just jumble up the topics that get discussed.
When I started working full time for my Dad’s company, I still lived at home, but that didn’t last long because he continued work discussions at the dinner table and into the evening, and I needed a break, so I moved out.
I acknowledge that it can be difficult to keep subjects straight and stay on topic, and that’s why having an independent outside facilitator makes so much sense.
Family members are almost always looking for more clarity, and it’s completely normal for some family members to have more than others, which is why this is so key.
See Clarity for the Family – The Good and the Ugly Versions
It’s not easy to get into the habit of having regular family meetings but it’s such a difference maker, and more families should be having them.
