Working with family

We all have work, and we all have family, and on their own they can be wonderful. However, sometimes mixing the two can be a nightmare. Most people would caution against working with family. However, there are ways to make it work. Just as any relationship, you can make a working relationship work with family, as long as you follow some rules of conduct. Consider the following:

1. It is professional, but no one can completely separate his or her personal and professional life, so you should not expect someone to. If you do, you are set up for disappointment, and problems. So, if you do not think that working with someone because of personal feelings may conflict with your ability to act professionally, then do not work with them. If someone is going to use personal feelings and problems to blackmail you into higher pay, more time off, or something else, then do not work with them.
2. No favoritism. When working with family, the thing you have to be the most careful about is not favoring family. This is especially important if you are in a position of management, or make decisions regarding pay rates or something else that could be construed as favoritism. It is difficult not to give a little favoritism to family, but be careful that no one else is getting the shaft because of it. For example, do not give a lousy employee extra shifts because they are family, and exclude a good employee from the extra shifts they want.
3. Don't get involved with large amounts of money. Money has a power over people and can make them do stupid things. So, if you want to maintain the relationship, and have happy business dealings, do not get involved with family with large amounts of money. If you want to invest with family, or work with them involving money, only use the money you can manage to lose.
4. Set up professional, legal contracts. It can't hurt, and it keeps everyone being fair and honest, so that personal grudges and problems can't get in the way of you having a job. If you work for your parent, and you get in a fight over how they cut your child's, their grandchild's. hair, would you want your job to be at risk? The point is that if you want to feel safe in your job when working with family, make it a legal contract.
5. Know whom you can work with and whom you can't. Some family is too sensitive, or too confrontational to work with. It can mean a large headache with the guilt factor in that if you fire someone, or reduce their wage, they will not be able to make their bills, and the family will blame you for leaving them destitute.
The rules of working with family are strict and difficult to follow, and it is like working in a mine field, one wrong step can not only affect your relationship, but your business. So, avoid working with family.