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Family Business Mediator Video No 29: Rules of Engagement: Family to Business.

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.

 

Written by Jon Kenfield

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