Keys to Effective Family Meetings

"Send Ben a text"

Why Do Family Meetings?

Increased communication
Plan Activities
Address Problems
Give Family Members a Voice
Model/Teach Leadership and Communication Skills
Get people on the same team

Common Mistakes

Not respecting the opinions, thoughts, views, and values of others,
Trying to change others.
Lecturing/Arguing
Not having a clear purpose
Giving away your power

Recommended Components

1. Clear Purpose and Intention
   • Tackle just one topic
   • Come to the meeting with an idea of where you want the meeting to go.
2. Invite All To Participate/Have a Voice/Vote
   • Everyone is invited to share and be heard.
   • Everyone gets to vote.
3. Value Driven/Respect/Understand other's Values Might Be Different
   • Understand what your values are
   • Seek to understand what your teen's values are.
   • Reinforce values.
4. Critical Concepts
   • We like to reinforce concepts like:
   • Fairness
   • Concerned
   • Effective
   • Enjoyable/Fun
5. Advantages and Disadvantages
   • Explore as a family what possible advantages and disadvantages are.
   • Define the pros and cons.
6. Positive and Negative Consequences
   • What might some positive consequences be?
   • What might some negative consequences be?
   • How can you reinforce the outcome with positive and negative consequences.
7. Keep it Simple and Short
   • Keep these meetings between 15 to 20 minutes. 
   • You know your family best, end before people lose attention.
8. Reward People for Participating
   • We like to do a desert or an activity to help motivate our family to participate.
   • Make it fun and rewarding.
9. Practice at the Top and the Bottom of the Wheel
   • Be willing to practice this many times.
   • Do family meetings about fun topics to build the habit before tackling tough topics.

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