The Family Meeting
If you are thinking about succession then start communicating and sharing your thoughts. Start with a family meeting to build understanding, awareness and a shared commitment.
You may not even know if you will sell, transition the business to a family member, put in a management team, or some combination of these, but the time to start communicating is as soon as these thoughts begin to arise. Remember the best succession plans are formed the day you start your business. You need to take your family on the journey with you and the best way to do that is to openly share and discuss your thoughts. And, most importantly, allow everyone else in the family to contribute to the discussion.
Don’t assume anything.
Don’t assume one or all of the children want or do not want to be involved in the business. Don’t assume your partner supports or doesn’t support your preferred option. Open the discussions and solicit everyone’s honest thoughts and allow them time to go away and think about it. I have been involved in reworking many well-laid succession plans because of assumptions. And the most common assumption? That none of the children are interested in joining the business. You may kick the discussion off over a family dinner but quickly move to more formal meetings with a set date and time, agendas and minutes. And continue this format for the duration of the succession process.
Conduct the meetings professionally and you will be surprised how quickly discussions will advance and decisions will be made with support and little conflict.
And recognise — and tell your family, if it applies — that it is not easy for you to openly discuss succession with them but you are trying and you want the understanding and support of the family in this process.
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An Invaluable Resource — ‘Transition — Orienteering The Lands of Succession’
