Couples who decide to work together undoubtedly pose a big challenge to their relationship. Having the other person around almost around the clock is only part of the story, because the devil is in the details here. But even though many details can be little stumbling blocks for the partnership, one thing in particular speaks for couples who decide to work together anyway: They have the confidence to do it all and are convinced of the stability of their relationship. This is an excellent basis.
Partners who met at work are also in a good position to pull it off, because they met and fell in love under exactly these difficult conditions. How couples can get the best out of this special situation and successfully work and live together is shown in this guidebook.
➔ Tip 1: Different areas of responsibility
To keep the private time together exciting, it is helpful not to work on the same projects all the time. If it is unavoidable, the partners should take over different work areas of the project. In a joint company, this can mean that one of the two keeps in touch with the customers, while the other deals with the concerns around the suppliers. This way, you still have interesting things to talk about and can share with each other what’s on your mind after a long day at work without your partner knowing ahead of time what you want to say.
The positive side effect of this division of responsibilities is that, despite a joint company, you can work largely independently of each other. If both partners work from home, it makes sense to set up separate offices to keep a healthy distance from each other. Also questions about
- Customers,
- Suppliers or
- one project
Do not have to be clarified face to face. E-mails are a good and professional solution here. You prevent a simple question from becoming a discussion, because this way you can better focus on the essentials. This promotes both efficiency and domestic peace. A further advantage of this method: Individual work steps for the project are logged and can be better understood afterwards – without discussions.
It is also possible for a partner to leave the house to work in a nice sidewalk cafe or inspiring place where a wifi connection can be established. Working in such an atmosphere is especially good for brainstorming and helps to see things from a new perspective. The partner who has the house to himself during this time will know how to use this time out for himself and will also have new energy for the other person and can look forward to the subsequent time together.
By the way, if both partners work very close to each other in a company, it’s a good thing to spend your lunch break separately. Instead, time can be well spent with work colleagues, maintaining a good rapport with them.
➔ Tip 2: Remain professional
Especially if both partners are employed in the same company and work quite close to each other, for example in one department, professionalism is required. How to achieve this, we reveal in the following table:
➔ Tip 3: Draw clear boundaries
It is often difficult when the boundaries between work and private life become blurred. Profession and partnership are different construction sites with different requirements. Both partners must be able to adapt to the respective situation and separate one from the other. What happens at home must not be taken to work and incidents at work have no place at home. One should not spill over into the other. If the dishwasher has not been cleared out in your own four walls, this has no influence on business matters and a misunderstanding in the office has nothing to do with family life.
These different areas of life should not be mixed. This is not always easy. Leaving a discussion started in the office right there is difficult when tempers are still heated. In such a case, it requires a lot of discipline and self-control to continue as a couple after hours and go on with business as usual without further ado.
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➔ Tip 4: Keep a healthy sense of humor
This is good advice in almost all disagreements. Intelligent humor helps defuse dicey situations. Regarding the above example, this could mean that a partner, when asked about his mood, replies with a wink that he was annoyed by a nice colleague in the office today. If the other person catches the ball, the annoyance is sure to evaporate quickly and there is nothing to stand in the way of a nice evening after work.
➔ Tip 5: Create space for yourself
- While working couples are usually primarily concerned with spending as much time together as possible, it is very important for couples who work together to also have space for themselves. This momentary distance from the other is an important basis for harmonious togetherness and for being able to look forward to the other person.
- Of equal importance here, however, is also the individuality. Every person needs space for themselves in order to be more solid in themselves and to perceive themselves as an independent person. It must not happen that, due to the close cooperation with the partner and the lasting closeness, one defines oneself only about the partner and loses oneself in the process.
- Those who have time to reflect on themselves and are at peace with themselves will be able to be a better partner, a rock and everything they want to be for themselves and the other person.
➔ Tip 6: Regular joint leisure activities
This point is really important to harmonize as a couple in itself and especially in the joint job. Joint bicycle tours or hikes, for example, help to clear the mind and leave work outside of it. Exercise in the fresh air supports this process wonderfully. There is a lively exchange between the partners. Small wonders of nature are noticed together and create beautiful memories. This not only welds people together, it also helps them to manage their time together on the job more smoothly. This is partly because you no longer feel like you’re missing out and either long for your partner while you’re working, or have to deal with negative feelings.
So this time spent together and used intensively helps to work at the workplace more concentrated and free from distractions from the private sphere. Good planning and consistency is essential here – otherwise it can happen all too quickly that other, seemingly more important things come in between.
➔ Tip 7: The right way to deal with your partner’s success
It can happen that one of the partners is promoted, or is more successful on another professional level, than the other one. If envy and jealousy are now given room, this can become a real test for the relationship. A balance of collegial professionalism and the ability to be happy for each other on a private level successfully counteracts this and strengthens the relationship. Discussions in advance help to recall this attitude in case of need. So you can play through the most different scenarios in a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere in order to be prepared.
➔ Tip 8: Remain attractive for the partner
Spending nearly every hour of the day together risks becoming predictable for your loved one. One believes to know everything about the other and to be able to anticipate every move. Partly this may even be true. So it’s high time to provide surprises and bring a breath of fresh air into the relationship. Moving a workday outside, planning a date in which a skirt is worn instead of jeans – or vice versa – or luring the other person away from their desk on a warm summer evening to feel the rain on their skin with them is just a fraction of the endless possibilities for escaping the creeping monotony. By the way: spontaneous ideas are still the best ones.
➔ Tip 9: Recognizing the advantages – how the common job connects couples
A really good thing for couples working together is to keep the advantages clearly in mind. Obviously, there are fundamental similarities. Matching interests and talents have eventually led to ending up in the same company, or even founding one together themselves. Isn’t it nice to rule out disinterest from your partner in the things you do on the job? That you have someone at your side who is a good contact person also in professional questions? It is nice to know the strengths and skills of the partner and therefore to be able to appreciate them. Knowing the other person’s work ethic and seeing him or her from this perspective is also an excellent basis for a special form of appreciation and recognition.
Also the understanding for the partner grows at such a constellation. While other couples often have misunderstandings and arguments about each other’s work, here the partners benefit from each other’s knowledge of working conditions and related stresses. No one has to go far out on a limb to laboriously explain why they are not in a good mood today, or need some peace and quiet and time for themselves after work. Knowing each other so well is a clear advantage when it comes to balancing professional life and the relationship.
Working together with your partner – the following advantages and disadvantages come with it
- High esteem for the other person based on precise knowledge of his or her skills and talents
- common professional interests facilitate planning for the future
- no one feels excluded from the ‘other life’ of the partner
- it is a valuable experience to see the other person at the peak of his creativity
- the partners have a harder time maintaining their individuality
- it is difficult not to mix work with private life
➔ Tip 10: Work together and become an unbeatable team
Shared professional interests and harmony in the partnership are an excellent basis for a power team. Partners should use this strong combination to plan their professional future together. Thereby it is allowed to dream a number bigger with pleasure. How about having your own business? Or, if it already exists, what common ideas can invigorate the business? What about social engagement? This team spirit animates the partnership and success in equal measure.
Conclusion
Working together as a couple is certainly a challenge worth taking on! If the partnership always takes precedence over the business relationship, love will not fall by the wayside. And with a good combination of good humor, discipline and an extra dose of love, these couples have the best chance of becoming an unbeatable team.