The case is where 2 parents, founders of the company, are at the helm, with the two children each directly responsible for important areas of the company, which they have been managing for some years.
I organized the following process over a period of about 6 weeks
a. a couple of one-and-a-half hour individual coaching sessions with each of the 4 members involved, to make sure that all realize the need for change and they are ready to accept it
b. a couple of hours workshop with some key employees of the company, identified by the parents, to discuss their point of view about the generational change process
c. a half-day team coaching session with the 4 family members to jointly define the process of generational change and individual action plans to implement it
This has allowed us to define the conditions of the transition phase and to get it started.
In the transition phase, I conducted individual coaching sessions with each of the family members to monitor the progress of personal action plans, and a team coaching session with the 4 members for a collegial evaluation of the transition phase.
At the end of the transition phase, I have conducted a team coaching session with the 4 family members for a final evaluation that brought the decision as to how to proceed.
All in all, the key ingredient is the family’s trust in the coach and in the coaching process.
Coaching is capable to approach generation change taking into account the needs of the business while respecting the emotional aspects of the family dinamics.