Here are the steps for a Family Meeting, to hold weekly, to REALLY create change for everyone in the house. Every step counts. Don't cut corners here. Be sure to download and print the Family Meeting Outline that you got in your email. I have included an exercise to create your family vision statement, and a plan for each meeting.
1. Timing is everything.
Decide together what a good time for the meeting is. Have it at the same time every week. No excuses. If the time needs to be changed, get agreement from everyone in the family for the change.
2. Have a family Vision Statement (and a vision board to support it).
Vision statement includes what your goals as a family are, how you treat each other, the basic foundational understanding that you have with each other (that no matter what, love is always present). Read the vision statement at the beginning of every meeting.
3. Everyone in the family / house gets a chance to share.
For HOWEVER LONG they need to. Anything bothering them, any goals for the week, anything they want to see change or shift or grow as a team or an individual. The most important thing is that the person talking DOES NOT get interrupted.
4. Have a HOT TOPICS round.
This is when you talk MONEY, SCHEDULE, COOKING FOR THE WEEK, DATE NIGHT, PERSONAL ASKS, etc. Obviously, use discretion here. Some things are NOT appropriate to talk about around kids, this is really situational...
This is also a good time for the CHORE KEEPER to give out chores for the week. Chore keeper is the person in the house in charge of making sure all of the chores get done, and when appropriate rewards / allowances are distributed.
5. Weekly Understanding.
During the week, if there is an issue that comes up around the HOT TOPICS, it is agreed that the FAMILY MEETING is where and when the discussion should take place. Not in the middle of running around or schedules changing or needing to leave the house. Remember, timing is EVERYTHING for communication.
6. Closing gratitude share.
Each member of the family shares (for a minute or less) why they are grateful to be part of this family, and ONE THING they appreciated the others in the family did over the past week.
Meeting Schedule Example:
8:00PM- Read Family Vision Statement
8:10-8:30 Personal shares
8:30-9 Hot topics
9-9:15 Personal gratitude share
In our house, at least 5 times a week, we hear these words: this sounds like a great thing to talk about at our family meeting.
Oily Tip: great idea to diffuse PEACE and CALMING during the meeting. This will support the mission of the meeting and the emotional system of each family member. CLICK HERE to get set up with an order, if you don't already have a YL account.
