Family Meetings: Nine Tips for Success by Rich Merk

Maine Woodland Owners is committed to helping small woodland owners develop succession plans so they can know their life’s work will be passed on to someone who will continue their stewardship efforts. Here’s another topic to stimulate landowner efforts to develop and improve their plans.

1.  Prepare a written agenda. Consider sharing it with all invitees before the meeting date.

2.  Pick a neutral site for the meeting so that no one is on their “home turf.”

3.  If you will be raising difficult issues or if you do not feel comfortable leading the meeting, hire a trained facilitator for at least the first meeting.

4.  Decide whether spouses will be invited to the family meeting or not.

5.  Plan to have a full family social event after the family meeting for everyone, spouses and grand children in the family to enjoy so they feel a part of the process.

6.  Because family members have history with each other, remind everyone to put the past in the past and listen with no preconceived opinions to others as adults.

7.  Your children may not know much about each other as adults. At the start of the meeting, have an exercise where everyone introduces themselves as they are as adults.

8.  Particularly if some of your children live a distance from the meeting place, offer to pay for their travel and child care costs so they know their participation is important to you.

9.  Don’t be afraid to discuss your dreams for the future with your children. Be willing to share why you are having the meeting and state what your goals for the meeting are.