What’s the Difference Between a System for Managing and Management Systems?
July 4, 2025 
“System for Managing: The 5 Phases of Effective Business Management in Family Enterprises.” | Ferguson Alliance
Managing a family business, while often rewarding, can also be complex. An effective leader must manage not only the business dynamic but also the family dynamic, which can be a delicate balance.
One of the key ways to set your family business up for success is to implement a reliable system for managing both the strategic and the operational pace of your organization. A good system for managing provides consistency, clarity, and reliability over time, which can help your business to thrive.
What’s a System for Managing?
When we say a system for managing, we’re describing something that’s different from management systems – which you probably already have in place. It’s likely that you have a project management system, a customer relationship management system, a financial management system, and so forth. These types of systems typically rely on technology platforms that help you manage the day-to-day work of your business. These systems are important for individual business functions, but a system for managing represents an approach that is more extensive and pervasive throughout your organization.
A system for managing features structured and organized processes supported by meetings and activities designed to effectively oversee and control for variance in your business environment.
The secret to the success of our system is that it is tailored to the specific dynamics and goals of your family and your business. Unlike other popular systems for managing, it is unique to your organization. For such a system, there are five key phases, with specific recurring meetings, activities, and reports.
Five Phases of Our System for Managing
Now let’s take a closer look at each of the five phases that compose our system for managing:
1. Planning
Planning is essential, and it represents the very first stage of our system.
Many businesses find success with some version of an annual plan. Whether you call it a budget plan, a strategic plan, a business plan, or something else, it represents a rough guide for what you need the business to accomplish in a given time period.
Even more important than the plan is the planning process – which usually happens in a highly collaborative manner. Involving your team in setting the course for the year helps create employee engagement, enrolment, and focus.
2. Execution
Once your plan is complete, it needs to be executed well.
During the execution phase, you oversee and guide the implementation of the plans to ensure they are carried out effectively and efficiently.
The role of management is to continuously monitor the progress of the work against the project plan and established milestones, remove barriers, and allocate resources as you’re making decisions to help mitigate changes – with supply chain, labor, environmental concerns, or something else completely unexpected.
Managing through developments beyond your control helps you and your team stay focused on your end goals.
Additionally, through every step of the execution phase, you’re measuring and monitoring your results against the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) you and your team committed to during the planning phase.
3. Reporting
It’s imperative to formally report how you and your team perform against stated goals.
During the reporting phase, you take all the measurement data you’ve collected during the execution phase and present it in an organized and succinct way. This allows for informed decision-making and continuous improvement. Seeing this kind of aggregate report helps your team use your previous performance data to make decisions for the future.
For the last two phases, and additional insight into each of the five phases, please read the original article found on the Ferguson Alliance website.
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