Farm succession and planning is such a never-ending process that what was said during your first conversation with your spouse or another family member can take place weeks even months before you share what was discussed with your advisers.
If you don’t write down what is said, in an order that makes accurate recall possible, your communications will be like those described by Lewis Carroll, “I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant” in Alice in Wonderland.
Writing down what people say when they say it is important, because in the end what you are trying to achieve and create is a sort of “relationship agreement” that spells out how you and they all see the future together. Maybe what comes out of these farm succession and planning conversations is a collection of relationship agreements on simple issues as well as your mutual ideas for the big ones.
Whenever two or more people are involved in a long term interdependent relationship there is likely to be disagreement. In a family business these disagreements are often more acute because they are never just about business – they are always tinged with something personal, everyone has a history and a future that gets lumped into whatever infraction of the code is observed by the others.
Succession and planning for the farm’s future is an excellent time to unearth these sore spots and create agreements on how they should be handled in the future. This is the time when everybody will have their chance to set the record straight and provide their input into how things should be in the future.
Writing it all down is important. Each party to the process, that should be every one, will come away feeling that their county had been heard from. Nothing makes us feel better than having our say and knowing that it’s been noted for serious consideration!
Your advisers will be the ones who create the legal documents and contracts – that is not your job and nothing any of you write down should be considered “binding” on anyone. The answers to the questions do however provide a framework of understanding around which the documents your advisers will be creating. Plus these notes will “ping” your advisers about matters they would never have come up with on their own.
To make sure what is discussed and subsequently written down you’ll need the questions. Non-judgmental, fact and feeling seeking questions designed to get everyone talking about the same important things openly and honestly. Questions for everybody that search for “What’s important?”, “What’s the situation today?”, “What do you/I/we want it to be?”, and “What’s possible for us to achieve?”
The answers to these questions, perhaps asked by the planning coordinator (an insider whose role is to keep the process moving) will be written down and shared with your farm’s advisory team of professionals. Usually, based on the experiences of Lewis Carroll above, the planning coordinator will return to ask, “How did you mean that exactly?”for the clarification your advisors need in order to do their job more effectively.
When you write down the agreements, incrementally step by step by step, as you move through the process of farm succession and planning you are not only adding bricks to the wall that will make your family’s future relationships better and more productive – you are providing the exact information creative advisers can use to help make your picture of the future a reality.
As you can see farm succession planning is a process, one that does not have to be complicated unless you make it so. The fact is that you and only you have the power to make the succession and planning decisions necessary, you alone have the authority to make the decisions required and you alone are responsible for the outcome of your succession and planning process, whether they are the result of thoughts, conversations, and negotiations or by luck or misfortune.
If you are serious about farm succession, or if you are a professional involved in farm succession planning – or an farm association executive whose members desire to see their farm continue into the next generation, you are in the right place!
Wayne Messick
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Farm Succession – The 7 Keys to Successfully Passing Down The Farm to The Next Generation | Farm Succession Planning // Sep 9, 2009 at 9:47 am
[...] work for them, you’ll find other better advisors. Remember who is working for whom. Write down agreements you and your family have made as a result of your discussions. When there is communication – often with the insights of peers to expand the options, and a [...]