Align
The first phase provides a foundation for having healthy, constructive dialogue through context gathering and confidential conversations about the business, the individual family members, the family system, and the leadership team. Bench creates a forum to better understand one another, align the family around critical decisions, and create a compelling Why behind go-forward decisions.
- Discover: In addition to understanding your governance and estate plans, our discovery work provides a foundation for having healthy, constructive dialogue through context gathering and confidential conversations about the business, its operations, family members, and family dynamics.
- Two-Day Family Meeting: We provide a forum to better understand one another, align the family around critical decisions, and create a compelling Why behind a go-forward approach.
- Action Planning: We develop a roadmap for activities and support the execution of those within the family, with organizational leadership, and with outside advisors (as needed).
In the first phase, we use assessment tools, including the Hogan Assessments and FamilyNavigator. Many families ignore the crucial first step of understanding one another and their organization’s preparedness for the transition.
The Hogan Assessments (3 inventories that take ~45 minutes to complete) and Interpretive Coaching Debrief (90 minutes) allow an individual to better understand how their actions are being perceived by others. Based on validated data, the Hogan provides an outsider’s lens on how an individual behaves (or will behave), which increases self-awareness and promotes stronger relationships.
FamilyNavigator empowers families with knowledge that provides a foundation for cultivating stronger families and building enduring legacies. It provides quantitative data that is helpful in the first phase and in determining the action items and priorities in subsequent phases.
Execute
The second phase focuses on the execution of the key priorities of the family and its enterprise and includes tactical support to strengthen family dynamics and drive tangible enterprise returns.
In the second phase, Bench develops a roadmap for activities and supports the execution of those within the family, organizational leadership, and outside advisors as needed. For each of your roles within your family and enterprise, we help you drive the key activities necessary for a multi-generational legacy, including:
Owner
- Shareholder / Operating Agreement
- Owner’s Strategy Statement
- Family Participation Plan
Director
- Board Design, Strategy, and Governance
- Director Vetting and Selection
- Director Onboarding
- Board Meeting Cadence, Agendas, and Preparation
- Director Development and Performance
Leader
- Strategic Planning
- Operating Model Analysis and Organizational Design
- Roles, Responsibilities, and Decision Rights
- Succession Planning
- Leadership Development
Family Member
- Awareness and Family Dynamics
- Family Education
- Family Communication
- Family Council
- Family Meetings and Retreats
Support
The third phase provides ongoing support as well as self-service tools and community-based resources to enable your family’s legacy. That support includes facilitation of:
- Ongoing next gen education
- Shareholder and family meetings
- Family coaching
- Executive team development and alignment
- Advisor vetting and selection
- Networking opportunities
- Ongoing workshops
Frequently Asked Questions
Owners of family businesses who are navigating conflict and / or struggling to make decisions about the future. Their businesses can be any size, but we typically find our clients have annual revenue north of $100mm. Really, though, it has less to do with how many zeros are on the P&L and more about the family’s engagement in the process. Families with $50mm businesses and $5B encounter similar challenges. Regardless of size, our clients are focused on figuring out where to go and how they want to get there. Additionally, we work with enterprising families with family offices or looking to develop a family office.
The first step is to connect! We would love to hear about where your family is on the journey and how we can help.
Our projects, like families, are all different. That said, our initial phase can be as short as 6 weeks. Subsequent phases are determined based on the needs of the family and the enterprise.
We recognize the deep influence individual personalities have on the family system. § Because of this, we take the time to understand you and your family and think deeply about the nuances of your family’s dynamics. We know theory only goes so far and that an off-the-shelf governance or estate plan isn’t the solution. However, we’ve seen that when we engage an entire family and its leadership team, our multi-dimensional approach delivers generational results.
