Book Review - The Family ROI Experience

About the Book
Thriving businesses know the secret to success lies in knowing who they are, defining where they’re headed, and running daily operations smoothly. At the same time, many modern families struggle with values, communication, and effective management.

In The Family ROI Experience: A Step-by-Step Guide to Realizing Your Best Family, co-authors Barbara Fagan-Smith and Lesli Gee ask readers to apply time-tested business techniques to their family unit. The new book is modeled after their work with Family ROI, a nonprofit organization they founded, which hosts weekend retreats to teach guests how to use strategic planning tools, culture building practices, and communication strategies to realize and achieve the goals they have for their families.

Fagan-Smith and Gee conducted their first Family ROI retreat in 2005. In 2007, the New Zealand Families Commission adopted the program and, today, the New Zealand Foundation for Child and Family Health and Development shares it with families throughout the country.

In the book and program, users employ a “journey map” en route to strengthening their family. Stops include:

• Communication: Families learn strategies to communicate clearly and compassionately with one another. Once they have developed these foundational tools, they can move on to other stops along the map.
• Culture: Family members discover who they are collectively as a family – including their core values, traditions, and daily agreements.
• Mission: Families explore where they are headed and the steps necessary to make their vision a reality.
• Practices: Families examine and improve their day-to-day tasks.

“Our process encourages people to revitalize, refocus, and reinforce their bonds,” says Fagan-Smith.

Part step-by-step guide and part workbook, The Family ROI Experience includes activities family members can do together and stories from people who have completed the process at previous workshops.

Gee adds, “Regardless of a family’s size, structure, culture, or religious beliefs, The Family ROI Experience ensures a great return on a family’s investment of time, energy, and love.”

About the Authors

Barbara Fagan-Smith and Lesli Gee both hold executive positions at ROI Communication, a management consulting firm in San Francisco that challenges business leaders to better articulate their vision, improve corporate communication, and shape lasting company culture. In 2011, ROI Communication was named one of the “Top Businesses in America” by DiversityBusiness.com and has been recognized as one of the top 25 women-owned businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past five years. Working Mother named it one of the country’s “Best Small Companies” in 2007.

Fagan-Smith is the CEO of ROI Communication and on the executive board of the International Association of Business Communicators. The San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal named her one of Silicon Valley’s 100 Most Influential Women in 2011. In 2008, Fagan-Smith was selected as a winner of the Enterprising Women of the Year Awards, an annual tribute to North America’s top women entrepreneurs. She’s married with two children.

Gee is a senior vice president at ROI Communication, where she has designed and facilitated change and communication strategies for managers and employees around the world. She is married with three children.

The Family ROI Experience is available at www.amazon.com. For more information, visit www.familyroi.org.

My Take on the Book
As someone that works in education this book just makes sense. It takes business concepts and turns them into real life ideas that you can incorporate into your everyday life, making your and your family life that much more rewarding. The book is an easy read, but I have to say that it is even more powerful when you read this as a couple, or even as a family, depending on how old your children are. What was nice about the book is that you can go as quickly or slowly as you wish and you can come back and practice the concepts at any time too! This is a great book for all families!

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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