What do job-sharers need to know?

In the second part of this series we look at key learning from experienced job-sharers:

• Accept that the job-share is one and indivisible. Bring a mindset of collective responsibility and consistent communication to every task and relationship. The success of the role subsumes the success of the individual partners. Everything they do should demonstrate that they are committed to each others’ success.
• Choose a partner you would completely trust to run with the job in your absence. You may have different styles and personalities but you need to believe that their judgement is likely to be as right as yours is. You need a mindset that you will not want to let your partner down.
• Never skimp on the handover conversations. Prepare for them properly, whatever else is going on. Treat them as an opportunity to think things through together, listen to each other’s perspectives and do some co-coaching. The handover is as much about planning ahead and prioritising, as it is about updating on the events of the last few days. Periodically review the handover arrangements and enable them to evolve over time.
• Talk to the line manager about their needs and how these can be met. Explore whether catch up meetings with the line manager might be on a handover day when both partners are present.
• Invest in key stakeholder relationships, so that they trust each of you as individuals but also trust the partnership.
• Provide the team with consistent management and leadership. Do not get into a position where one partner can be played off against the other.

“Job-sharers cannot be competitive with each other, as they have to operate as one person. It’s important to keep any disagreements to private discussion.”

“People constantly muddle up our names, as though we were twins. We don’t mind, because that means we are being heard as one voice.”

“Learning to lead as two, rather than one, has been the biggest journey for us.”

There are other practicalities that need to be addressed at the outset, before they become a barrier to success:

• Agree how many and which days each partner will work and what to do if the partners are at different locations. If the working week typically sees the high- profile events happening on a particular day, how will the partners ensure they both get exposure to key people and meetings?
• Decide whether each person is to cover the full range of the job or whether some aspects become the sole or prime responsibility of one or other partner. Communicate this clearly to others.
• Agree whether and how to keep each other up to date outside of the formal handover sessions: are any decisions so urgent and important that both partners need to be involved?
• Set up a joint email account for the job- share, with a footer that explains how the job-share works and how people can make contact. Get advice on how other technologies can support efficient working.
• Be clear how people invite the job-share to a meeting. Get others used to seeking the view of the a job-share, rather than the view of one of the individuals.
• Talk with the team about how both partners will input to objective setting and performance assessment, even if the conversations with individuals are split between the partners.

The arrangements need to be dynamic, and capable of evolution as circumstances change. There needs to be regular review about what should be changed and adapted. Keep asking: ‘How does this make us more effective in delivering our objectives?’

“You need to take it in turns to deal with the less exciting stuff, as well as the high profile work.”

“Preparing for, and doing, the handover is my thinking time in the week. It forces me to think through what has happened, and articulate what needs to happen next. If I can’t fully articulate the latter, I know I will work it out in talking to my partner.”

Every job-sharer tells us that communication is key. As soon as there is a hint of a problem or misunderstanding, there needs to be open conversation about how to learn from experience and adapt the ways of working.

“You need to take it in turns to deal with the less exciting stuff, as well as the high profile work.”

“Preparing for, and doing, the handover is my thinking time in the week. It forces me to think through what has happened, and articulate what needs to happen next. If I can’t fully articulate the latter, I know I will work it out in talking to my partner.”

In the next extract from our booklet, we consider issues for managers and how coaching can help both the manager and the job-share partner. The full booklet is downloadable from www.praesta.co.uk