How unity can affect the success of the next generation of family business

How, then, does an enterprising family maintain a shared experience while physically apart? At the most fundamental level, how do you keep a growing and geographically cleaved group of family members connected to one another and to the family business?

​

Consider these areas where family unity can weaken or deteriorate because family members are geographically distant:

• Family bonds:
  How do you strengthen relationships and build friendships among relatives when family members did not grow up together and do not have opportunities to socialize?

• Owner alignment:
  How do you align owners around strategic decisions when they have limited time together and don’t see each other on a regular basis?

• Family connection to the business:
  How does the family stay connected to the business when the business is located somewhere that family members rarely—and may not even like to—visit?

• Family alignment around mission & values:
  How do you keep family members aligned around the enterprise’s mission, vision, and values when they have developed different individual interests and priorities due to living in different locations?

• Resolution of sensitive issues:
  How do you resolve conflicts and heal past wounds between family members when you aren’t near enough to meet and talk in-person?

• Family care:
  How do family members show support for one another, especially in times of need, when they are not nearby?

Is digital connection a sufficient replacement for maintaining long-distance family relationships?

While modern communication technologies often feel like an antidote to the challenges described above, research across the social sciences has repeatedly demonstrated how email and videoconferencing cannot replace in-person contact. For instance, meeting face-to-face, when compared to virtual replacements, has been shown to more effectively build empathy, enable difficult conversations, and prevent miscommunication. Research also shows that face-to-face requests were 34 times more likely to garner positive responses than emails.

​

In-person communication is simply more persuasive and effective. Meeting together physically improves creativity and strengthens friendship. These are helpful elements in building family unity. Families should make every effort to meet regularly and, when possible, in-person.

​

How to build unity in a multi-generational family business?

For the reasons described above, meeting face to face is not always feasible for families. But it is still possible to stay connected and maintain unity when physically distanced from one another. Below are 10 practical actions for enterprising families to try as they work to strengthen unity while physically apart. Some of these require meeting in-person; others can be effective online. Likewise, some can be followed without violating social distancing guidelines; others are suggested with a post-Covid-19 environment in mind.

​

1. 1.Unify around mission, vision, and values.
   Remind the family what brings you together. For example, lay out what it means to be a member of this family, what the family wants to achieve together, its purpose for being together, and why it is important to maintain connections and support the work it is doing. Don’t assume people have this in mind, but instead make it an explicit exercise. Virtual or in-person workshops work well for this activity.

2. 2.Convey messages of geographic inclusion.
   Actively articulate to the family: “We are all in this together. No matter where we are in the world.”

3. 3.Broaden the geographic scope of family activities.
   Expand the geographic boundary around family activities to engage more family members. For example, redefine the social issues that the family’s philanthropy addresses by selecting regional or global issues. Organize ways for the family to respond philanthropically to a crisis or disaster in geographic areas where family members reside, as this can be a unifying and inclusive activity.

4. 4.Actively engage distant family members.
   Families should be particularly deliberate in engaging family members who are far away or isolated. Stay in close touch with them. Help them feel connected and help them contribute to the enterprise in productive ways. Assign someone in the family to serve as their “Sherpa” so they have a go-to person they can ask questions of or receive updates from, allowing them to stay in touch with the family enterprise. You don’t want to risk these family members becoming disengaged, uninformed, apathetic, or alienated. Don’t forget to reach out to in-laws (spouses) and non-marital partners, either. Their participation can be essential in the pursuit of family unity.

5. 5.Develop a caring culture in your family.
   A feeling of being cared for is a critical force in unifying families—it is part of the foundation on which unity must rest. Develop a caring culture in your family. Appoint family unifiers who pay attention to the shifting winds of relationships and who work hard to assure they blow warmly. Unifiers are responsible for bringing people together and recognizing people for their personal achievements.

6. 6.Meet in person whenever you can.
   Devote a substantial amount of time and resources to bringing the whole family together in-person every year, preferably for extended periods. These events should balance pure diversion—a vacation somewhere—with a formally structured retreat. The focus should be on collaboration, joint learning, team-building, shared experiences—and being a family together.

7. 7.Facilitate ways for family members to rngage socially together.
   Participating in interesting social activities together is a wonderful way for family members to get to know each other, build bonds, and connect meaningfully. Make it easy for family members to participate in experiences by providing encouragement and resources. Come together to celebrate milestones and holidays. Also make it a habit to participate in novel experiences: take trips together, host community gatherings together, create something new together, be adventurous together.

8. 8.Pay close attention to relationships among the next generation.
   The next generation needs time alone to build relationships, learn about the family enterprise together, and work together. Develop projects for the next generation to work on together so they have a reason to coordinate and communicate. For example, have them work on a philanthropic activity together, or develop a business plan for an entrepreneurial idea, or present something that they’re passionate about. It is effective when the senior generation unites to support and provide these opportunities for the next generation.

9. 9.Visit each other
   —on holidays and for no reason at all.

10. 10.Survey the Family
    Ask the family’s input on what each individual would find beneficial to stay connected and united around the mission, vision, and values of the family and enterprise.

In closing

In the end, a family enterprise can only be as strong as the family behind it. In the face of trends and currents driving families apart, both socially and geographically, families need to actively build a sense of connection and unified purpose. The suggestions above are a place to start, but bear in mind the pursuit of unity is, and always will be, a process. Like a fire, it needs steady stoking and care.