The Family Business

I attended a conference this past weekend and one of the guest speakers was a communications expert who gave people some coaching on how to have effective personal discussions on difficult topics. I recognized a number of the techniques as corporate communication skills used in diffusing potentially flammable situations.

So this got me thinking …

What if we applied more business management techniques to family life? Surely, if the communication skills transfer from business to personal situations, then other techniques should transfer, also. So, with this in mind, I’ve decided to give it a chance and attempt applying the same strategies used to make business meetings less boring to spice up the family dinner. There were several suggestions I found on the internet. Here’s he first one:

Strategy One: Set the tone before the meeting by making the agenda interesting, fun, and grabbing.

First of all, I never thought about having an agenda for dinner, but it seems like a brilliant idea to keep things on task. So here’s what I came up with:

1. Sit down at table. There will be one less chair than number of family members. When the music stops, sit down. Person without chair is “out” but will be allowed to watch the others eat.

2. Serve finger foods. This means that family members must pay for food with their fingers. How hungry are you?

3. Eat salad. Use a fork if you still have enough fingers to do so.

4. Main course. Smear your meat, vegetables, and potatoes into an imitation of a master work of art before eating. You may not eat until someone else at the table recognizes the work of art and names the original artist.

5. Molotov cocktails for dessert. Siblings may not bomb one another’s rooms unless the destruction is mutually agreed upon in advance.

I think I’ve made the agenda both fun AND interesting!