How and why did you choose that specific advisory role: (i) counselling & mediating, (ii) facilitating & consulting, (iii) mentoring & coaching? For which issues? How do you think that your proposed advisory intervention would help the family and the business overcome and manage the issues identified in your diagnosis?
- I would choose a.) Counselling and mediating and b.) Mentoring and coaching for my own family business.
a.) I would choose this kind of advisory service for my business because there have been disputes between our family members irrespective of the seriousness of the issue. I think all the board members need personal counselling for their way of performing the roles that they've been allotted to from the beginning. The main existing problem is that each members way of thinking and their opinions on the growth of this business are very distinctive. They need to come at a mutual understanding, which I think only a professional 3rd party can make them understand. Also, this way the advisor can actually act as a mediator between the board members and make them understand the POV's of each other which eliminates the complications and disputes which might arise if they try to do the same thing without a mediator in between.
b.) I would choose this kind of advisory service as I think the board members of the business really need to upgrade from their traditional ways of handling their business and they need to get mentored about the new business techniques (for eg. Handling finance). A good mentor can guide them through smart techniques which I'm sure could open new doors of opportunities for them, as they have been sustaining in this line of business since years.
2. What key transitions do you envisage the family business advisory capability will needs to contend with in the next 5-10 years?
I think the key transitions would be:
- Financials of the company
- Supply chain management
3. How do you anticipate your family business, its current financial structure, its culture and management will react to the family business advisory solution that you are beginning to design? Consider positive and negative reactions.
The reaction to all the solutions and changes that they will be asked to do by thee advisors would be mostly negative initially, but I'm sure once they get to see the outcome of it, they will be shocked to see that there was so much that they could have done from the start which can be this simple and which can actually eradicate the complex nature of their business techniques.
Also, there will be a good amount of money spent on all this and some staff getting fired as well ( for instance the CA's of the firm who have been handling 200-300 other business's finances other than us). At start everything will seem impossible but when all the complexities will get eliminated they will get to see the positive side of the changes this might bring to the business.
The advisory solution will aim to eliminate the lack of gender diversity and incorporate more female employees in the company. The reaction to this solution would be negative in the beginning. The society in which my family business operates is men-dominant and they find it difficult to allow females to hold important positions within the company. However, once this negative reaction passes, they will see the position changes due to the new perspective in the family business and will accept the change.