By The Family Business Community

It happens – all families fall out or go through difficulties from time to time. Families in business together are no exception but finding ways to prevent and resolve conflict and deal with problems is key to the business success and family harmony.

Many of us will have had some experience of this. Conflicting interests between family members, a lack of ‘fairness’, difficult personal relationship circumstances, disagreements about future plans, personality clashes, differing management styles, sibling rivalries… the list goes on.

In family businesses, emotions add another layer of complexity. Working together means that family disputes and upset can get dragged into the workplace, where time and distance to resolve them is not possible. Sometimes old unresolved family tensions are unearthed, leading to a never-ending cycle of conflict.

Why it’s important to address conflict in a family business

Ultimately the cost of conflict within a family business is high.

Whilst constant bickering and disagreements are unpleasant and demoralising, at a more severe level, conflict can threaten the growth and even the survival of the business, have serious legal or reputational consequences for the business, be a threat to the morale and happiness of the workforce and threaten family relationships.

Having some kind of system for managing business and family problems is important for the productivity of the business and the health of the family. 

Some families are better than others at are airing issues. Many avoid honest and sometimes painful conversations as they either don’t want to create conflict and fallouts, or simply don’t know how to start the conversation. But by leaving things unsaid, family members are not open and honest with one another, so tension and pressure builds up.   

Conversely, families that can address conflict directly are able to build trust and respect for one another, enabling them to work together as a group.

Preventing and resolving conflict

Whilst conflict can be personality based or commercial based, often in family businesses the root of conflict is actuallydown to the structure of the business and the way it has been set up.

Personality based conflicts can be more difficult to resolve, as fraught relationships can’t be easily changed or repaired. In these cases, the senior leadership and family members as custodians of the business, have a responsibility to find a way to prevent a situation that could result in long-term conflict and ultimately the destruction of the business.  

Structural based conflicts are when something is failing in how the company is set up that affects how the family relates to the business which undermines the family dynamics and decision-making. The good news is that these issues can often be foreseen and prevented or resolved.

For example, a family business that undertakes good generational succession planning involving family participation to achieve a consensus buy-in, will be more likely to prevent future disagreements by the successors than a family that didn’t have any advance discussions.

Likewise, having a clear and defined leadership structure will help to prevent any confusion or misunderstanding from family members about their roles and responsibilities.

There is huge value in having systems or processes in place that prevent or address any potential conflicts or relationship problems. Chiefly, they help to retain an all-important balance of rational versus emotional thinking and decision-making.

Where to start

Many families in conflict find themselves wondering ‘Where would I begin to solve this?’ or ‘Who do I go to for help?’

A good starting point for planning is with a family meeting. It might be simple, but they encourage participation, shared planning and decision-making and they offer a space for constructive confrontation to resolve conflict.

Often families in conflict find this too difficult or would rather enlist the support of an impartial professional to help them. A family business consultant or mediator can guide a family through a process to resolve any difficulties.

Here at The Family Business Community, we offer a private advisory service for family businesses who need support with resolving conflict or are interested in creating family systems that align with the business. Our fully confidential service involves both mediation and counselling with individuals first and then collectively to help families achieve what they consider to be the right outcome for all through a fair process.

For further advice or support on any of the above, please get in touch with either Sue Howorth or Dave Clarkson. You can find out more about our Co-Founders here. You can also find useful video content on managing family conflicts through our Fam Biz Subscription via https://fambizcommunity.com/subscription-options/