April 27, 2001

Family meetings can help a farm operation run smoothly

Most farms today are still family farms, with several family members contributing. That means regular family meetings can help a farming operation run smoothly, says an educator with the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

Scott County educator Dave Resch cites information on farm family meetings the University of Wisconsin has developed.

"Family meetings provide an opportunity for family members to share opinions and points of view and know that these affect decisions," says Resch. "Meetings also provide an opportunity to share ideas, feelings, concerns and suggestions. They help in figuring out what's necessary to keep a busy family organized."

Resch says it's a mistake to wait until there's a problem before calling a family meeting. Waiting until something is wrong means the meeting can turn into a shouting match, especially if family members haven't figured out other ways to handle frustrations. Trying to prevent such problems is a better approach, Resch points out.

Resch recommends monthly meetings. "They should be something to look forward to rather than dread," he says. "The trick is to make them fun." He has the following suggestions for good family meetings:

1. Have family members take turns creating the agenda and running the meeting. Encourage everyone to let the designated person know if there's something that needs to be discussed. The designated "chair" needs to take responsibility for keeping the meeting running smoothly and efficiently. This includes making sure everyone gets to talk, not allowing the person who has the floor to be interrupted and enforcing ground rules.

2. Ask for a volunteer to take minutes so they can be read at the next meeting. Make sure minutes from all meetings are kept together in a notebook for future reference. Responsibility for taking minutes should also rotate.

3. Don't let a meeting drag on and on. The length of the meeting will depend on the ages and attention spans of family members. Meetings should be no shorter than 15 minutes and no longer than one hour.

4. Make sure the meetings include an opportunity to recognize positive things. Consider having each family member take turns mentioning something nice about whoever is sitting on either side of him or her. Or, end the meeting with a list of all recent happenings for which the family is grateful.

5. Remember, the key to successful family meetings is fun. That's why it's important to follow the "business" portion of the meeting with something enjoyable.

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Source:  Dave Resch, (952) 492-5383
Editor:   Joseph Kurtz, (612) 625-3168, jk@umn.edu

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URL: http:// www.extension.umn.edu/extensionnews/2001/FamilyMeetingsCanHelpAFarm.html  This page was updated May 21, 2002 .
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