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Family Management System

The FMS (Family Management System) is similar to the principles and discipline a QMS (Quality Management System) provides, but has been created for families to benefit and learn from.

We live in a time when everyone is busy, schedules are hectic and miscommunication can often lead to unfavorable conditions.  Our personal actions and accountability can use structure and organization, just as we have been trained to do in business environments. Without a system to tie loose ends up, and avoid the “he said, she said” or the “I never said that”, or,” I really meant this,” we can be too quick to overreact, or falsely accuse the innocent, create inefficiencies and waste.  At times, an unexpected and unjustified outburst may even lead to family members becoming emotionally wounded or scared.

The FMS documentation is a starting point that is intended to be changed, built on, modified and customized to fit individual family needs in the hopes of continually developing a happy, healthy environment. 

(cover art by Carlton Bjork)

The FMS includes:

• The manual that includes a description of: house rules, family credo, vows, responsibility, authority, communication guidelines, respecting each others property, family time, nutrition, school, holidays, in-laws, outside activities, entertainment, friends, correcting problems, lessons learned, contingency plans, and more.  This manual needs to be reviewed and agreed upon by all family members.
  
  
• The forms include: checklist, communication log, food chart, discovery log, family budget, goal setting, meeting minutes, house rules, household work order, lessons learned matrix, lost or damaged reporting, maintenance schedule, change log, time off request, pricing work sheet, progress/completion report, property log, proposed plan, purchase log, purchase requisition, safety report and more.

The FMS, when agreed upon and applied should help eliminate time, exhaustion from arguing over what was supposedly said, what left the house and went to the ex spouses with the children, etc.

It also includes the rules of responsibility and accountability and necessary action when things don’t go as planned.  The FMS works the same for parents, children and any other long term house guests that are a part of every day life.

The purpose and goal of having an FMS, is to make sure everyone is accountable for their actions and pull their weight, which could mean the difference between taking a camping trip or an exotic cruise for vacation.