I enjoy my family and have had the joy of working with them often over the years. First with my wife and later with each of my three daughters. There are advantages and challenges that surround working with loved ones. Let’s start with a few advantages:
- It’s fun to work with people that you like!
- It’s exciting to see those you love excel and to be a part of their win.
- Working together with people you trust builds confidence.
- It’s great working with people that share your values.
- With family, you share a commitment not only to the vision but also to each other.
- Create space for each person to explore. Have you seen the Brown family on the TV Show Alaskan Bush People? It’s a program of a family with children as old as in their 30s that live, work and do everything together. That’s not us! My children all have different gifts that demand different stimulus to excel. They need room to explore their own wilderness.
- Have a clear understanding of expectations. Looking for “balance” seems so obvious, but it’s often a real world challenge. When it’s family, there is a temptation to overcommit. Another way to say this would be to make sure everyone has room to attend to their own world as well.
- Focus on strengths over needs. Evaluate the talents and gifts of your family members and assign tasks accordingly. When you allow people to operate out of their strengths, you set them up for success. Their work will be of higher quality and your relationships will flourish as well.
- Understand the mission. Even when working with family, everyone needs to be passionate about the mission. Resist the temptation to take vision for granted. Work hard for buy-in to a common goal that’s bigger than your combined capacity. Think so large, so expansive, that even together you need to grow.
- Don’t mix roles. Even as adults, there are moments when my kids just want me to be a dad. It’s important that we don’t miss these opportunities for familial love.
- Treat each other with understanding. There is a level of comfort between family members that rarely exists between coworkers. This level of comfort and familiarity is one of the benefits of working with family. Use the rapport and trust that exists between family members to your advantage, just be careful not to let that translate into unprofessionalism.
- Show appreciation. People still need to know that they are valued, even when you think it’s understood. Your family is just like any other team. Show appreciation; let them know you value their work.
- Don’t take advantage. Chances are, your family is working together because you believe in each other. They WANT you to succeed. The strength of those feelings makes a familial working relationship so effective. Be careful, however, not to take advantage of their commitment and expect more than they can give.
