Every family is challenged to find creative ways to engage family members in the process of learning – about the family and what it values and owns, as well as what it takes to care for these human and financial assets.

While every family’s learning and development program will be unique and reflect the needs of its students, there are several best practices to which all can aspire. This list is culled from conversations with family leaders, industry educators, family members who want to learn, and office executives who are struggling to find the time and resources to do this well:

1. Invest in the family as much as you invest in the business, your financial assets and broader family enterprise. Your family’s human capital is your most precious asset; make sure that your budget allocation for learning reflects this.
2. Use a programmatic approach to learning that incorporates opportunities for individual, family group and peer group (by generation) learning. Learning is a process, not an event.
3. Recognize the different learning styles in your group and provide opportunities to learn in different ways (classroom, hands on/experiential learning, field trips, project work with opportunities to present learning/outcomes to the group).
4. Involve your students/learners in the development of the learning program to ensure that it resonates and meets them where they are (life stage and aptitude/interest).
5. Work with the family to outline quantitative and qualitative core competencies that every family member needs to flourish as individuals and within the family enterprise and include training on these competencies at every family meeting.
6. Include time at a family meeting to complete an assessment and have a trained facilitator work through the results with the group. Families who have used assessments report increased self-awareness, greater understanding and appreciation of their family members, and better communication across the family.
7. Invite trained educators to lead the learning components of your family meeting to enhance the learning.
8. Make it fun! Include fun activities and time for bonding as a group in every family meeting.
9. Incorporate the following into every family  meeting:
   • time for a roundtable check in where family members can update the group on their progress and share successes and challenges
   • balanced mix of quantitative and qualitative learning
   • qualified, trained experts to teach the content and engage the family
   • system for soliciting feedback to improve future meetings and ensure that the meetings are achieving the learning goals effectively
10. Measure and report on your progress.
     

In an effort to help families prepare their young people to manage their wealth well, we have outlined the following vision for a FOX Family Learning Network. This vision combines the online learning resources currently found on the FOX website with individualized and group learning that will be coordinated by a team of experienced educators and coaches. The goal is to provide a marketplace of learning options that members can use to supplement and enhance their current efforts.

FOX Members can learn more about the Network here. If you are not a member but are interested in this Network, we invite you to inquire here about FOX Membership.

The FOX Family Learning Network is a community of families and educators, who have access to:

• Online discussions with other members for fast response to immediate questions
• A dedicated web page providing FOX resources and curated family learning content
• Leadership from a FOX subject matter expert
• Family learning webinar programming
• An in-person meeting, at least once per year, so members have the opportunity to work together in real time