Tuesday 29 January 2013

Best way to improve family communication

By George E Lawrence


At some point in everyone's life they are part of a multi person household. Living under one roof, and being part of a family, can have many challenges. In order to avoid chaos and constant fighting, a family much search for ways to effectively inform the other members of the household about their thoughts and feelings. One of the best ways for everyone in a home to have a time to talk about how they are feeling is to schedule regular family meetings.

One of the biggest deficits in family home life is the lack of open communication. Many people's natural instinct when they are faced with problems is to bury their feelings and allow them to fester until they cause the person to start screaming because they cannot deal with the stress any longer. If you want to avoid this situation, calling a regular family meeting will allow everyone the opportunity to share with others in the house. Having everyone involved in the meeting, encouraging people to share both negative and positive feedback, and setting the rules before you begin, will increase the chance your meeting will have a positive impact on your families happiness.

Family meeting tips for success

The most important aspect of a family meeting and perhaps the one thing that can make or break its success is attendance. If even one person in your household does not participate in the meeting, it creates a potential for conflict. When major decisions are being made, every person should have a chance to share concerns or thoughts. While not everyone in a household will have equal say, it is important that the decision maker or makers take the time to hear ideas from every member of the family. This will give the person making the decision the chance to see all sides of an argument and also give them a chance to answer any questions or concerns that may be causing other family members to have reservations.

Remember to always add some lighthearted fun to the end of every meeting. Once you have discussed any concerning topics and everyone has had a chance to give their input, plan a little something fun. It is rare in today's busy world that everyone from a household is all together in one room at the same time. Use this as an opportunity to create a few memories. If you are a musical family, sing a few songs, if not, set aside fifteen or twenty minutes to play a game or read a funny story out loud.

Finally, like any structured gathering it is a good idea to create a few basic rules or guidelines before you schedule your first meeting. If there are only adults in your home, you may want to use your first meeting together as a couple to write the rules, if there are children in your home, sit down with your partner or spouse and write a basic rules outline. At the first meeting when you introduce the rules you can ask your children if there are any other rules they think should be added.




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