Family meetings are often touted as an important, if not essential, tool to maintain communication and harmony in family businesses or families of wealth. Are they? And, if so, should you consider holding family meetings?
Family meetings can provide several benefits:
But, as with life, not all family meetings go as planned. Even with the best planning and best of intentions, family meetings are not all roses; they can result in feelings of isolation, distrust or resentment. Nonetheless, a benefit is that allowing these feelings to present gives the family an opportunity to address and hopefully ameliorate those feelings, rather than allowing the feelings to fester and grow.
Some situations where you might want to consider holding one or more family meetings include:
Creating constructive family meetings can take time and thought, but the benefits of family meetings can outweigh the effort. Reach out to your Warner attorney or Susie Meyers at 616.752.2184 or smeyers@wnj.com if you are ready to start holding family meetings or ready to update your current meetings to adapt to your growing family’s needs.
