Family working together does it ever work?

[Washinglinewench29]

Just would like to hear other people's experiences on working alongside colleagues who work with family members.
I have worked with sisters who made it work. Couples however seem to be a nightmare especially when one of them is in a management role.
I don't think it works personally I think it's healthy to have a life away from your family.

I disagree. I work with my husband in an educational role and we both work alongside each other. I am management and he isnt but that doesn’t affect anything, we are both professional and good at our jobs. Our personal side of things never crosses the line both in an outside of work. There are many related individuals in our profession and as long as you remain professional and do your job it isn’t an issue.

This very much depends on personalities and having clear boundaries - especially in a family owned business.

I worked with my partner and my nephew, we didn’t work the same shift all the time and we worked in different areas, but it was fine.

I was an accountant for a family business for a decade, it was two brothers who owned/operated and two of their adult children were employed. The business went into insolvency (thankfully I got out just before it went tits up) after many years of deficits due to poor management as the family could never agree. Sadly the brothers are no longer speaking since the liquidation of the company, millions of debt has wrecked their relationship and that of the wider family.

Based on that experience, I would never go into business with my family.

That’s how you feel about it, but who knows if your colleagues feel differently.

I worked with a married couple - the wife was in our team, the husband was in management in a related role though not directly responsible for our team. It made things quite awkward at times, and I felt I had to be careful what I said in front of the wife as I assumed things might get back to her husband.

I think it depends on the culture of the organisation and the individuals involved.
It can work very well.