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Job Sharing Challenges: First-Person Accounts
The following unsolicited reports from two
Flex Success users should prove very instructive if you are considering a job
sharing proposal. Situations differ, but if you face similar challenges, you'll be better prepared
than most.
I just found out that they approved my proposal. I honestly did not think they were going to because of the questions and the tension I felt in the room when discussing the proposal.
I thought I would share some of the questions they asked me and how I dealt with them:
What are you going to do if we say
NO? That was a difficult one because I had not prepared for such a direct question.
I told them that I hope that that won't be the case, but if it is I will have to re-evaluate by situation and decide what is best for me at the time.
What about travel? Are we going to have to pay for both of you to go to a conference? Are we going to be paying one person a full 40 hours during that week and the other 20 hours or will the other one not work during the week that that individual is on
travel?
I put this back in their court by telling them it was up to them. We could either have double coverage if we need it or if funds were short we could work it out so that one person comes in one week and another the other week during that travel period.
This was a great experience and your [Flex Success Job Sharing] proposal really helped me organize my thoughts. I was able to feel more confident talking to management and explaining my points.
Your Flex Success
program worked for me and my co-worker. We have been job sharing now for five months. Our boss was totally against the idea at first, but was very impressed by our proposal and agreed to allow us to job share.
We both are new moms. I have a 10 month old son and she has a 6 month old son. So we have a lot in common both on the job and at home.
I would like to add that job sharing is not as easy as it sounds.
It takes a lot of discipline to be able to
record almost everything you do so that your partner can pick up where you left off. Both partners need to be very organized.
There have been a few communication gaps where one of us didn't know what the other had done. So, communication is very crucial as well.
We keep a To Do log and both type our comments in different colors so we know who wrote what. That has helped a lot. It does, however, take extra time to complete this
To Do list.
Another important thing to stress for people considering job sharing is the work strengths of both people involved. Our job share arrangement is unbalanced, but I knew that going into the arrangement.
I tend to have more work to do and have to pick up the slack, but since it was her job we are sharing, I'm grateful to be able to be working part-time.
If someone weren't in my particular situation I think this unbalance of work would cause friction in the arrangement. It is very hard not to get frustrated at times. I hope these comments help.
Choosing the right partner is a key element to successful long-term job sharing. Periodic evaluations and problem-solving among the two of you (and your
manager) at early stages of the partnership are also important. Job sharing works, but it does take work to make it so.
Here's an update
report from another user: ...we have been working at our
job-share position for about 18 months now and it has worked so well for
us that the Director of Administration has suggested it for other positions
in our main office. Thank you for creating this excellent plan that
covered all the bases and helped me to realize my dream of being able to
work and be home for my children too. Therese K. (requested first initial on
last name only)
Geotechnical Support Specialist
Mascoutah, IL For
several testimonials with full attribution, click on
User
Stories,
Hall of Firsts,
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