TOOL 1

Family Business Genogram

You can begin to decode your family business by examining the relationships
READ MORE
inside it, as a family business involves multidimensional relationships that
influence each other in profound, often unexpected ways. To begin to Family Business
Handbook
understand the complexity in your family business, identify the individuals in
Chapter 1
your family business system and their relationships with each other.
Decode Your Family
Business
Start by sketching a genogram (a family tree) with all your family members,
Pages 13–15
including spouses, and going back to the generation that founded your
business. A genogram helps you map a business family at a glance—and identify potential issues in the
future. Though it may seem simple at first, creating a genogram will help you identify assumptions, issues,
and looming challenges in your family. At its most fundamental level, you are plotting the family tree from
whomever you consider to be the matriarch or patriarch on down. But even starting to create a genogram
for your family will help you identify some potential issues for your family business. For example, when you
start to plot your genogram, you first have to decide who you consider to be “family.” Do you add divorced
spouses, stepchildren, children of diseased members of the family, and so on?

Genograms can be sketched simply on a piece of paper or there are many available online tools (we
suggest some below) that allow for far more complex information to be mapped. As you read through the
Handbook, you might want to continually update and refer to your genogram because more complex
issues might become important to add to your genogram. The value of a genogram is that you can visually
identify some of the unrecognized dynamics in your family business, where the current and future
ownership issue might be, and what challenges you should recognize you might need to deal with.

For a simple example of a genogram, see the below map of “the Dillons,” a disguised third-generation
family business in the pet care industry.

© 2021 BanyanGlobal Family Business Advisors. All rights reserved.

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook Toolkit Page 1 of 3
 FAMILY BUSINESS GENOGRAM

Creating Your Family Genogram

In creating your genogram, you can begin to identify what stage of family business you have. For example,
what generation is the family business in? Are you a “sibling partnership” or a “cousin consortium”?

But beyond that, a genogram can help you identify potential issues. Your family business system is likely
far more complicated than you might first assume. For example, can you look out a generation or two and
see where issues of unintended inequity could potentially develop? In the Dillon family genogram, for
example, the third generation may well have unequal percentages of ownership because one member of
that generation is an only child while other branches of the family have multiple children.

Have normal life disruptions to the family (death, a new entrant to the family, unequal branches, etc.)
influenced the ownership (see chapter 8)? Has your family anticipated issues that might arise in future
generations, such as who is allowed to work in the business (see chapter 10)?

A quick Google search will help you identify a range of online tools that can help you map out your family
genogram. Below are a few examples ranging from basic to expert. The goal isn’t to create a definitive
map but rather one that can uncover any obstacles you might not have considered before.

 Basic option: For people who like old-school-looking software, Family Echo is the place to go. It
features a simple user interface with fields to fill out on the left and the corresponding genogram map
on the right.

© 2021 BanyanGlobal Family Business Advisors. All rights reserved.

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook Toolkit Page 2 of 3
 FAMILY BUSINESS GENOGRAM

 Mid-range option: Creately offers genograms, templates, and community-based support in its free
version. You can also scale up to a paid account for more options and better support functions.

 Expert option: GitMind offers free mind maps and charting options (look for the “family tree” template
among their options). But if you don’t know your way around a genogram, this might be a challenging
start.

© 2021 BanyanGlobal Family Business Advisors. All rights reserved.

Harvard Business Review Family Business Handbook Toolkit Page 3 of 3