STEP VI: ON-GOING FAMILY RETREAT

Family Councils should have an annual retreat in addition to other scheduled meetings throughout the year. These annual retreats should have the following agendas:

• Family Fun, which features recreational activities
• Family Education for providing specific learning experiences for members’ growth and development
• Family Business, which will include a thorough annual assessment of the previous years’ activities and efforts
• Family Vision Statement Update, which should focus on the successes of the past year while expanding the possibilities for the family’s future

Legacy Planning Specialists will coordinate with Family Council members to conduct, execute, or provide activities they want to have happen. For example, usually the family members will determine the recreational activities they will want to experience. If the Family Council has an Education or a Membership Development & Growth Committee, it could make arrangements to have a specialist in an area of interest attend the event for a day or two. They would teach and mentor to the council members. They could also address the entire gathering. Or, the members themselves could commit to each providing one session on personal development. Often times other members of the advisory team should attend this event so they can form even deeper understandings of their clients and family. The possibilities for opportunities for improvement through this event are really endless.

Since “the more we know, the more we can learn” is the maxim forward-thinking people live by, more possibilities for the Family Council will come into view as a result of on-going family retreats. Continuing to clearly focus those possibilities is critical to the Family Council’s growth and development. Such value Legacy Planning Specialists provide.