Is the Family Dysfunctional, the Business Dysfunctional, or Both?

Many small businesses are family owned and operated. They may be owned by parents and children, spouses, siblings, and extended families. Some family enterprises work well; others are disasters. Every family and every business has interpersonal dynamics. In a family business those dynamics intertwine so it is difficult, if not impossible to separate them. For example, imagine a husband and wife who own a business together. They have a disagreement at work and it continues at home. It can escalate until, eventually, the business and the marriage is damaged. I know of situations where one spouse fires the other and another where a mother demoted her son… talk about family dynamics in a business. I’ll bet Thanksgiving Dinners and the Annual Meetings are interesting!

On top of working hard to make the business prosper family members have the additional pressure of making the family prosper. For a family business to function well, extraordinary issues need to be discussed and negotiated. Critical to the longevity of the family business is clear understanding of each family member’s role realizing that each person may be fulfilling multiple roles as diverse as “partner,” “employee,” and “family member” all at the same time! It is a difficult position to be in for anyone.

While it is important for all businesses to have viable Mission, Vision, and Values statements it is even more important to have these statements in a family business so all the family members and non-family staff know and understand what the company is, where it is headed, the path it will take to get there, and the manner in which it will be managed. It is equally important to have clear internal policies, expectations, and accountabilies so everyone knows what they are responsible for, how their performance is measured, and who they are responsible to. With the business well organized, it becomes much easier to separate family dynamics from business dynamics so each entitie can function effectively to support the other as family members and business associates. It will go a long way towards making both the family and the family business functional.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com Questions??? Send an email to larry@larrygaller.com

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