On Father’s Day, it seemed appropriate to mention an article in the June 25th issue of Fortune.  Fortune discusses parents working for their children.   

The dynamics of kids working for their parents are familiar to many people.  Working for parents is just an extension of how family’s often function.  Kids do what parents tell them to, right? 

However, when parents work for the kids, the roles are reversed.  The person who may be entitled to deference at home has to exhibit deference in the work environment.  If the kids and the parents have a strong relationship and communicate, the article indicates that parents can work for their children.

Think about how this situation could occur.  As people age, many parents who own small businesses may turn the businesses over to their children and continue to work in the business.  In other cases, a child may have a successful business and hire parents as the business grows. 

Negotiating with parents and other family members is difficult.  The article suggests that, rather than telling the kids what to do, parents ask questions.  Perhaps, kids may do the same thing?

Other tips that might be helpful include:

Separating business and family so that conflicts at work do not harm familial relationships.

Deciding how to deal with conflict before it occurs. 

Keeping the business discussions on business topics is important for many.  This makes it safe for people to disagree on the business issues, without judging or attacking the value of the people involved.

Filed by Coleen Davis at 8:16 am under Business Articles, Negotiations