Working With Family Members:

It's Not Personal - It's Just Business

by:

Leslie Helm

Seattle Business launched its first Washington Family Business awards last year. You can see the winners here. We thought you might be interested in the following article on family business used with permission from consultant Rhonda Savage.

By Rhonda R. Savage, DDS

If you've ever been in business with a family member, you know there are several advantages, but even the most dedicated, hard working family member can experience or create tension, stress and conflict in the company. Can you really separate your family history, emotions and knowledge you have of a person at a deeper level and also have a great working relationship?

Families have successfully worked together, but there are reasons why it's worked. What are the qualities that facilitate successful family working relationships? What are the common issues in practices that exist within companies that employ family? If you are in business with or thinking about working with family members, being aware of the following issues can prevent them from becoming problems in your business.

Loyalty leading to micromanagement

Often, family members are more dedicated to the success of their business than other staff members. The old saying, "family is thicker than blood" is true, and yet too much caring can cause conflict.

One business owner employed his mother. The owner had established his vision and goals, but he had trouble developing a consistent, fair style of leadership. He found the staff management was much harder than actually doing the work. His mother, in her eagerness to help him succeed, was openly voicing her concerns and opinions during business hours and outside the office.

She felt the office staff wasn't diligent enough in collecting money at the time of service and inconsistent in their processing methods. She felt they weren't doing a good job and needed more attention to detail. The boss had difficulty enforcing his policies because of the conflicting views between his mother and the other team members. His mother became a micromanager, telling everyone how they should be doing their jobs, in detail. She meant well and only wanted to help the business succeed, but her micromanaging drove the morale of the business down.

Taking work home

One business owner enjoys working with his wife. His wife, however, was concerned that the team members weren't held accountable for their work.

Because the owner is sensitive to conflict, he avoids team meetings, coaching and performance reviews. His wife is quite verbal during the off hours about