It's all in the family

It was reported last week that thanks to a massive fallout between Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli, the former had terminated her sister’s services as her manager. A close associate of the actress had said that her sister was known to be dominating and used to oversee all of Kangana’s decisions. Be it brand endorsements, acting workshops, scheduling shoots or even choosing a film, she approved it all — sometimes even after protests from Kangana.  The Queen actress has now sought assistance of her PR agency to fill in for her manager’s position too.

The fallout between the sisters raised the issue of the awkwardness of professionally associating with a relative. Working with a family member does not follow a formal management structure, which encompasses standard policies and practises; the members involved are always treading a thin line, feels life coach Khyati Birla. “It’s great fun to work with the family member if you share the same kinds of work ethics. The working style then becomes relaxed and you don’t find it difficult to strike a cordial work-life balance. Having said that, if your work ethics do not match, there is a lot of scope for disharmony, as the lines between the formal working systems are often blurred,” she says.

Your personal hang-ups shouldn’t affect your work and neither should work related confrontations impact your personal relations, asserts life coach Chetna Mehrotra, “You make it clear that all work-related conversations, disagreements, feedback are purely professional, and this has no bearing on the personal front. Sulking over a harsh professional discussion, while sitting on the dinner table is not a good idea; this isn’t good for business. Maturity, patience and workmanship are the ideals one must have to be able to pull off a successful professional relationship within the family,” Chetna shares.

It isn’t easy to treat a family member as an employee, and ask them to prove their salt, as familiarity often tends to breed contempt. “ It is often noted that instead of giving feedback, the family member starts giving an opinion. Things might tend to get personal where the family member would constantly be reminding you of your mistakes in the past and throwing it at your face at the slightest of provocation. This, should be strictly avoided,” Khyati cautions.

But if one is faced with an awkward situation like the ones mentioned above, the best thing is to give all the parties involved, some time. “While it may be very difficult to not bring the conflicts of work at home, it is always best to reconcile after the dust settles down and then try reasoning issues out. Never confront when the feeling of hurt is ripe,” Khyati concludes.