Nineteen-year-old logistics officer Adam Henderson gets on well with his manager. He has worked with her since January. "We have a really good relationship," he says, "she is a fair boss, who always tries to match the jobs which need doing to the skills of each worker. I really do enjoy working with her." Complimentary words from an employee - but Henderson's boss is also his mother. This might seem like the worst possible scenario. Some people can't even spend the weekend with their mothers without coming out in hives, let alone contemplate sitting in a planning meeting with them. The disadvantages to working with a family member extend beyond the obvious too-close-for-comfort elements. Linda Hardcastle, the site manager of an arts and business complex in Halifax, northern England, manages a staff of 27, among whom is her daughter, Johanna Sutcliffe, the company's receptionist. "You tend to expect more from a family member." Says Hardcastle. "I think I tend to be quite strict. But I feel I need to do this so the other employees don't think I am giving her special treatment." Sisters Jo and Natalie Walker have worked together for the UK-based Perfume Shop chain on and off since 1996. Jo is now CEO and Natalie is sales development manager, working together at the store's head office in Buckinghamshire near London. "I am tougher on Natalie because she's my sister and I think I always look at the other person's viewpoint and not hers," says Jo. "But I do consciously separate when it's Jo and Nat talking sister-to-sister and Jo and Nat talking colleague-to-colleague."

Mica May is a life coach and family therapist. She helps family businesses to work on their relationships. "When you work with someone who knows you really well, they can predict what you're going to do, understand your responses and explain your reactions to other people around you," she says. This might seem an advantage but, says May, can have a downside. "While they may understand your response, it might be one that infuriates them at home, so can cause a horrible blurring of boundaries and trigger habitual reactions." To avoid this, set clear limits - if there are any existing difficulties in the relationship or dodgy power dynamics, working with a family member can be explosive. Then there's the question of the work persona; the person our colleagues see what our family never sees. "If family members are very good at putting on this work persona, it can be strange seeing them change before your very eyes," says May. But equally, this might be the key to surviving working with a family member: "Being a different person at work than within the family relationship, creates a distinction that enables people not to fall into familiar family behaviour patterns at work, and to drop work issues at home." Having someone who knows you well at work can also be an incentive. "I'm really proud of what my sister has achieved," says Says Jo Walker. "It's great to see her in action everyday as she really inspires me."

SŁOWNICZEK

coming out in hives - dostać wysypki

blurring of boundaries - zacieranie się granic

dodgy power dynamics - nadużywanie władzy nad kimś

work persona - osobowość biurowa (przybierana tylko w pracy)