Family Meetings

Family meetings are a very simple but very powerful tool in building strong families and can get at all six of the areas of family strengths.
They can be regular or intermittent and can happen with just the husband and wife before kids, or with kids when they are able to talk and listen.
Some guidelines:
1) Pick a place and time so people are prepared ahead of time, and when people can be at their best, not too tired or distracted.
2) Have meetings even when there is no "big issue" to talk about. If family meetings only deal with heavy agenda items the energy for them will be low.
3) Have a familiar agenda each time, and give everyone an opportunity to add to the agenda.
4) Start with some simple warm-up sharing to get the conversation flowing: a high from the past week; a low from the past week.
5) Give everyone a chance to talk.
6) Use the "around the circle" method; someone starts and then everyone shares, one at a time around the circle.
7) Be sure to leave enough time for any important things that need to be talked about.
8) Use these meetings as a great time to practice the listening and talking skills you are teaching.