Family Council

• A family council is a type of supervisory board comprising of some selected family members to govern the working of all the businesses owned by the family.
• The composition of a family council must be done as directed in the family constitution. Generally, it comprises of the members of the family who have some stake in the businesses.
• A family council is usually advisable for families with some significant size.
• This council chooses the representatives of the family who will be a part of the Board of Directors in the various businesses of the family.
• It is the primary link between the family, the business and its senior management. It meets regularly to deliberate on the family business issues.
• The council guides the businesses in the strategic and planning matters. It may revise the mission, vision and values of the businesses it owns.
• It sorts the family related disputes and conflicts. This can help to isolate the business from being affected by such matters.
• It also ensures proper career plans for the aspiring family members. The council determines how many family members should be involved in the family businesses and in which roles.
• Effectively, it acts as a balancing mechanism for coordinating ownership, family and business related priorities.
• It drafts and finalizes various policies which determine the family members’ interaction as well as the ownership of the business. In doing this, it follows the guidelines spelled out in the Family Constitution.
• The family council also deals with the other important matters related to the family which arise from time to time.
• The family council may set its criteria for membership (i.e. age, experience, qualification etc.)
• The membership of the family council must be revised every 3 or 5 years so that more and more family members can be its part in a rotating manner. This lends it a quality of fairness and provides equal opportunities within the family.
• The family council is the main guiding force for the business. Hence, a mature and well-represented family council is a must for any big family which has business interests owned by it.

(Expert advice to GROW your business wherever you are, whenever you want.

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