Starting or creating a family office
What Communication Plan Helps Family Members Understand the Office's Role?
Short answer. Use a written plan that explains the office's purpose, services, decision rights, and limits. Give relatives a regular update on work, costs, and open decisions, and provide one clear channel for questions. Repeat the same message across meetings and written materials, then revise it when the family approves a change.
A useful communication plan tells family members what the office does, who it serves, and how to work with it. Put that information in writing, discuss it together, and repeat it through predictable updates. Relatives should not have to guess whether the office handles a request or who has authority to decide.
Write Down the Office's Role
Begin with a short purpose statement in plain language. Describe the services the office will provide, such as coordinating records, working with outside advisers, or preparing family reporting, if those are within its approved scope. Also state what it does not provide. List the family members or branches covered and explain whether services differ among them.
Clarify decision rights. Identify who can approve spending, direct staff, make investment decisions, and change the office's scope. Explain how a request moves from a family member to the person with authority to act. A family compass can connect these practical rules to the family's broader purpose. The family compass guide and the governance guide can help structure those conversations.
Set a Regular Rhythm
Choose a recurring schedule for family updates and keep it. The format can be a meeting, a written report, or both, depending on what works for the family. Each update should cover completed work, important work in progress, expenses against the approved budget, service issues, and decisions awaiting family input. Keep sensitive personal or financial details restricted to the people who need them.
Make meetings useful by sharing materials in advance and stating what response is needed. Separate information for awareness from items that require a decision. Record decisions, owners, and follow-up dates so relatives can see what happened after a discussion. When relatives live far apart, use a consistent remote format and provide a written record to those who could not attend.
Make Questions Easy to Raise
Designate a contact for routine questions and a separate route for complaints or disagreements about policy. Explain how quickly the office aims to respond and what information a relative should provide. Acknowledge questions even when the office needs time to investigate or obtain advice.
Communication should also set expectations about limits. If a service is outside the office's scope, explain the reason and point to the appropriate adviser or decision-maker. Avoid allowing different relatives to hear conflicting promises from different staff. The office leader can coordinate the response and keep a record of commitments.
Review the Plan When the Office Changes
Revisit the plan when the family changes the office's responsibilities, adds a new branch, or revises who can approve decisions. Tell relatives what changed, when the change takes effect, and where to find the updated policy. The family office startup hub can help place communication within the wider setup process. A costs and results update can also be treated as a regular part of the plan.
Clear communication is a management practice, not a one-time announcement. When the family hears the same explanation, sees decisions documented, and knows where to direct concerns, it can assess the office against an agreed role.
This can help manage expectations for family team members and those outside the family alike.
Sources: How to Start a Family Office, The Single Family Office. Informational only, not financial, legal or tax advice.