Time to talk about the future

When it comes to shaping how the family business will look and operate in the future, a solid communications strategy and engaging in a facilitated process can make all the difference in creating a succession plan that works for every family member.

Succession planning expert and General Manager of Proagtive, Jess Cavanagh, said sharing individual perspectives with a facilitator is the first step families can take towards building an effective plan for the future.

“Starting the process by having individual consultations with every family is important, so family members have a very safe space to share their expectations and challenges before having to share this in a whole-of-family setting,” Jess said.

“Everyone has their own wishes, hopes and dreams, as well as their own unique perspective.

“If we don’t have a good understanding of everybody’s expectations, then we can’t develop a holistic strategy that will benefit all parties.

“It’s also about developing a level of rapport with each family member so each person involved in a family’s succession process knows when they do get into a whole family setting, they feel well understood and represented, so they feel like they can share their story in a very transparent way.”

Facing it head-on

When it’s time to start having whole family conversations around succession planning, Jess said meeting face-to-face for a structured conversation can help family members communicate effectively to make positive progress on their plan.

“Only 7% of communication is through the words we choose to use – 38% is through our tone/feelings and 55% is through our body language,” Jess said.

“So, it’s no surprise that face-to-face whole family communications is vital in succession planning.”

Conflict is common during a typical succession planning progress – but meeting it head-on is the best way to overcome it and move forward with a fair succession plan.

“Conflict is normal and having the ability to work through that conflict is where great results lie in any family

succession process,” Jess said.

“If you can’t get to the root of the conflict and work through it, it will continue to prevent the family from moving forward in succession planning and prevent the ability to have harmonious relationships.

“Being able to acknowledge the conflict is normal and work through that conflict with the help of facilitation is really how you find the right outcomes for each member of the family in the process.”

Skills for the future

Facilitators can also provide families with the tools and environment they need to not only work through a current conflict but tackle any future conflicts constructively, to keep the family business running smoothly.

“It’s about learning how to approach topics that are a bit tricky,” Jess said.

“Most people’s default setting is not to approach these topics and to sweep conflict under the rug because they don’t want to hurt somebody’s feelings, particularly when it’s family.

“However, it’s important to work through those things where there are different perspectives so that you can reach a compromise together.

“Having those conversations with the help of external facilitation helps families to acquire the necessary skills

to work towards setting up a platform for communicating effectively following that meeting, even without the coordination and help a facilitator provides.”

Be strategic

As well as learning to manage conflict, Jess said establishing a robust communications strategy was another key way families can ensure the succession planning process continues to flow smoothly.

“One of the things we try and assist families to do is develop a full communications strategy for both those conversations happening within the business and outside the business – and involving the whole family,” Jess said.

She said it’s important to set aside time for regular and structured business communication, as this will

change the way family members step into having conversations.

“Most of the families we work with have an informal approach to communication – they’re just used to have a chat over the dinner table or the bonnet of a ute.

“Setting up, for example, weekly onfarm meetings and then quarterly, whole family, strategic meetings can create communication channels where the whole family can participate and have the space to talk about things that are important.”

Consensus and compromise

With the help of these tools, Jess said creating a succession plan that’s fair and viable for all members of the family is well within reach.

“Building these skills and strategies will mean everyone’s capable of transparently sharing and can understand what outcomes they can agree to,” Jess said.

“It’s very rare to find consensus without a lot of compromise and the more people can understand about each other, the more you can get a sense of what compromises can be made and what outcomes will be the best for all family members involved.”