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How Strong is Your Family Communication?
If you want to continue to build healthy communication as a family, you need to check in regularly as a family. Don’t wait until issues spiral out of control, and instead, you can take a proactive approach through the power of family communication check-ins.
How to Use a Family Communication Check In
The purpose of a family check in is to have a regular time where you can review current issues, share updates and concerns, and hold each other accountable.
We’ve made this simple for you with our Family Communication Scorecard you can utilize. You can either review this scorecard all together as a family and perform the ratings together, or have everyone fill it out before you meet and then discuss results together.
You can add your own questions as you find what works best for your family in its current season.
Setting Rules for Healthy Check Ins
As you go through this process, the goal is to gain honest feedback and perspective, so make sure to follow these parameters to keep your discussion on track:
- Review any rules or guidance on active listening in advance so you have a clear plan on how you will listen to seek understanding, not just respond or defend.
- Follow your conflict process rules on behaviors. (ie. Avoiding “you” statements, if voices escalate, you will take a pause, etc.)
- Set a time limit for the discussion to keep it focused.
- Identify and state your goals as a family for the process so everyone is in agreement.
- Define your parameters of what happens based on the scores. For example:
- Scores of 75-100 indicate you are in a healthy state, so the goal at this stage will be to continue accountability and identify new goals.
- Scores of 65-74 indicate that you may be experiencing some growing pains or challenges. Identify the areas to focus on during your meeting and where you need to revisit.
- Scores of 64 and under indicate your family is in a state where it needs dedicated attention to address specific conflicts. Scores under this marker are a trigger point for you to plan a Conflict Process session, and dive deeper into what the root causes or situations are, and dedicate time to work on resolution and repair.
Start Your Family Communication Assessments
It will always be an ongoing process to learn and improve your family’s communication, but these simple tools can help you navigate each new season. If you are not ready to integrate it with your family yet, take your next step by completing the assessment on your own first. Identify any issues that you need to address personally first in order to make it a positive and healthy experience for your family.
Looking for more help so that your family can succeed? Join our free “Winning as a Family” course where you will find 3 quick lessons to help you set a new standard for your family.