Work With Family

If you are starting a business with family or joining a family business, it is important to learn how to work together as a family in a professional environment. Because you know so much about each other, a family business dynamic has the potential to work wonderfully or result in screaming matches. By establishing your role within the company and creating relationship specifically for the workplace, you can prevent potential conflicts and learn to work well as a family.

Steps

Establishing Your Role

1. Clarify the company’s career goals and individual responsibilities. What does the company hope to achieve, and what role does everyone play as an individual to make that happen? Talk about what different roles must be covered, like finances or production, and assign roles to cover all bases. Understanding the company’s mission and goals helps everyone direct their behaviors and work tasks effectively.
   • For example, if you are helping with your family's photography company, have one person be in charge of taking the pictures, another in charge of editing the photos, someone else in charge of taking video, and someone in charge of customer service.
   • Working relationships can fall apart quickly if everyone is not clear on their role.
2. Ask for a job description to understand what is expected of you. You want your responsibilities to be clearly, objectively, and completely described to you so you know exactly what you need to focus on. Family businesses are less likely to have formal job descriptions written out, though establishing a clear job description will help you prioritize and stay on task.
3. Approve your compensation, including pay, vacation days, and benefits. When you are detailing your job description, also cover details like your salary, potential bonuses, and paid time off. Clarify what your compensation amount will be, how often you will get paid, and when to expect your first paycheck.
4. Put everything in writing to reference later. Document in writing the company’s mission and goals, your precise job title, and your agreed upon compensation plan. This will give you documentation to refer to if issues arise or if you need to double-check your responsibilities, while ensuring everyone is clear on expectations.

Creating a Working Relationship

1. Establish a decision-making plan to maximize productivity. Think about how the company decisions will be made and who can make them. Are decisions reserved to one person, or will all parties have a say? The nature of your business will help you make these decisions, and both options are effective. Creating a structure to implement daily will keep everyone focused and productive.
2. Keep a professional tone at all times. While you will already be friendly and familiar with your new coworkers, it is important to pay attention to the words and tone used while working together. Try to not refer to each other by nicknames, and keep your language professional at all times.
   • If calling your father by his first name instead of “dad” feels too awkward, you don’t have to force it. But if you are mentioning to him to a co-worker who is not family, use his first name rather than “my dad.”
3. Draw a line between personal and business relationships. You want to be mindful of what role your family members play for you while at work versus at home. While on company time, don't discuss your birthday or vacation plans. While at dinner, don't discuss critical business topics or decisions. It is helpful to clarify your conversations by saying something like, “I’m talking to you as your daughter right now, not your designer.”
4. Maintain your personal life to keep a work-life balance. To have a healthy working relationship, set a boundary between your work and personal time. Your identity can be quickly overtaken by the demands of family and work, especially when these aspects of your life are intertwined. Make sure you allot time outside of work for your own personal interests and social circle.
   • Take time out for your own hobbies, like exercising, reading, or gardening.
   • Take a vacation without your family.
   • Have a guys night with your friends.

Preventing Conflicts

1. Build trust between all members of the business. Always work with honesty and integrity, backing up your words with actions, to show your coworkers that you are dedicated and capable. Honor your commitments and promises, and be consistent and on time.
   • This may be the most crucial part of working with your family members.
2. Show respect to everyone you work with at all times. Encourage the abilities of others as it relates to your work, and compliment the hard efforts of others. Be grateful, sincere, kind, and attentive. Maintaining a level of respect between all parties will prevent conflicts and keep everyone happy.
   • Even if your brother did something to upset you earlier, you still must show him respect in the workplace. The company is not a place to work out family issues.
3. Communicate clearly and effectively while in the workplace and at home. Everyone in your company must agree to not let personal feelings come into the workplace and to keep the workplace a professional atmosphere.Speak your thoughts clearly and thoroughly with a detailed explanation. If you say you will change something, do it to the best of your abilities.
4. Address any issues as they surface rather than letting them build up. You will know much about your family coworkers, including what makes them happy or what irritates them. This may make it difficult to always be rational or fair with your thoughts and feelings. Rather than letting issues sit and fester, make sure you address them early on. This will keep your work relationship professional rather than emotional.
5. Listen carefully and speak openly to prevent issues from arising. Disagreements are inevitable, but you don’t want them to impact your business processes or personal growth. Use conflict resolution skills like careful listening and speaking openly about problems to reduce the potential for conflicts to emerge.
6. Assess the overall communication with your family members. Look at your current communication methods and think about if this is the most productive dynamic. Is everyone communicating their thoughts and feelings and listening to others’ perspectives? Or are emotions complicating business decisions? Your behaviors and attitudes impact others, so save the heated conversation until it is outside of business hours.
   • A third-party observer or non-family employee can be helpful to point out communication problems.
7. Gauge your overall job satisfaction and make adjustments as necessary. Are you happy with your job description? Is everyone playing their part to accomplish the company’s goals? Try to have a meeting with your supervisors to discuss your feelings about the job. You may find satisfaction in contributing to your family’s financial well-being, or perhaps working with your family is too emotionally draining and difficult to balance.
   • If need be, seek other professional opportunities.
   • It may be difficult to have a standard 90 day review in a family workplace, but it is helpful to get input to your work performance when possible.

References

See also

• Improve Your Working Environment
• Stand Up for Yourself at Work
• Innovate
• Return to Work After Having an Extended Unemployment Gap
• Get a Job when You Have a Work History Gap Due to Disability or Illness
• Be a Middleman
• Survive Working at Home As an Extrovert
• Expert Taxable Retirement Accounts
• Be an Asset to Your Company
• Get Proof of Employment

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