Friday, February 6, 2009

The Benefit of the Weekly Business Meeting

Any successful family relationship revolves around good communication.

In the case of me and The BB, we are both self-employed and that creates an extra set of challenges for us as we grow our businesses, juggle the household budget and finances, and plan for long-term investments. In addition, we need someone to bounce ideas off of and to be an accountability partner so that we stay on track for our own personal and business goals. So we set up a weekly business meeting.

At first, I thought these would be short - 30 minutes max - but we're finding that it takes us two hours to go through everything on our list. We cover it all, from budgeting/bill paying and scheduling to business ideas and marketing plans. We always feel a little goofy starting the meeting, but once we get on a roll, there's no stopping us.

I share this with you because I think a family meeting is an often-overlooked communications tool that can make running a busy household much easier. You can meet with your significant other only, or you can involve the children if it's age appropriate. Set a "standing" agenda and leave time for everyone to bring up issues that impact the family. You can cover topics like:
- Everyone's schedule for the week (use this time to update the family calendar)
- Upcoming big expenses (kids can share in the decision making and learn valuable lessons about saving for luxury items, vacations, or household necessities)
- Travel plans/family vacations
- Household projects (let everyone know the expectations and their roles)

Set the meeting for a standard time every week so that you can plan around it, and everyone can plan to be there. And for the typical family, I think 30 minutes is more than enough time.

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