Common Causes of Family Business Conflict & What to Do About Them.
Video No 29. Rules of Engagement: Family to Business.
By Jon Kenfield. Solutionist
• Family business = private business, legal & practical ability to do whatever.
• Founder generation often doesn’t feel the need to formalise policies and procedures because they have complete control.
• Entrepreneurial founders may be very business-focussed and largely non-empathetic towards staff needs.
• Most people prefer certainty to uncertainty, even if certainty creates pain.
• Lack of clarity, about almost anything, is a common cause of conflict, especially when individuals feel disempowered, insecure and threatened – a possible result of business culture.
• Rules of engagement are an attempt, when things are calm, to look objectively at how things should be done all the time, and especially during crises.
• Best to develop rules, and enforcement provisions, when opinions aren’t being skewed by emotions and stress.
• Family Rules of Engagement in respect of the business are captured in written Family Policies, Family Constitutions and Charters of Mutual Obligations.
• Solution: develop formal written rules, including implementation & enforcement procedures, through an inclusive process. Workshops are good for this.
• Discuss, modify and reconfirm on a regular basis, at Family Council and Family Forum meetings. This can be a good opportunity to establish a working group that helps to build the family team.
