Have your family meetings become stale? Are you bored just thinking about them? Are you tired of hearing the grumbling and the excuses about attendance?
Although it is probably a natural progression for any group that meets for many years to realize that their meetings have become ho-hum, it doesn’t mean that the family engagement is lost forever.
If you are wondering how it is possible that everyone in your family is offering an excuse for missing the family meeting date, then it is time for some new ideas or approaches to turn these meetings into events that no one wants to miss. How? By planning a purposeful family event that also happens to include the family meeting.
Choosing the right location, choosing the best meeting format and choosing family bonding activities which have meaning to multiple generations of family members will go a long way toward increasing a sense of purpose and engagement.
Does It Matter Where We Meet?
Yes. This is a special event, so choose a neutral location that is comfortable for everyone (not grandma’s house or a business headquarters) with privacy and security your family requires.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, find some place that offers entertainment options nearby.
How Can Our Meeting Be Productive Instead of Agonizing?
Use best practices in family meetings.
How Can We Make Our Meeting Interesting and Relevant to Everyone?
According to the publication Family Meetings by Aronoff and Ward, a good balance for a family meeting is 1/3 fun, 1/3 family development and 1/3 family business. Many families and their offices have no problem thinking of fun activities and family business agenda items, but they can be stumped when it comes to family development ideas.
To develop family members in an engaging way, we encourage our clients to focus on three areas: continuing the family legacy, preparing the next generation of heirs to manage wealth, and exploring philanthropic avenues for the younger generations.
Focus on Family Legacy
Explore the family history at meetings to instill family pride and bond the family generations together, especially if the family is beyond the third generation.
Family Legacy Meeting Ideas
Artistic
Family Bonding
Historical
Prepare the Next Generation to Steward the Family Legacy
Think Outside the Box Here:
*Aronoff and Ward: Serves a dual purpose as a metaphor for building a structure to protect the family legacy over generations.
Create Some Family Fun with Philanthropy
Other Ways to Mix It Up
The only limit to your ability to reinvigorate your family meetings is your family’s willingness to try. Once you give them the opportunity (and responsibility) to reimagine the family meeting, you may have so many ideas that you and your office can easily plan meetings for years to come without running out of engaging activities.
Note:
Internet resources used to create activities on page 3:
