We were fortunate that we didn’t have to sell Andrea’s manager on the jobshare concept, but we still wanted to ensure success, so we put together a jobshare proposal.  First we interviewed other jobshare teams to learn best practices. We asked a lot of questions… how did they manage their work days, vacation time, email, voicemail, did they have their own cube or did they share, did they have separate performance reviews and rankings or shared, etc.  After these interviews we talked about what would work best for the two of us, as well as how to make it seamless to our partners and our manager.  We then documented a proposal, which we reviewed with our manager, before we started.  All this pre-work and planning we really think has helped us develop a structure that has been critical to our success. We wanted to share a few of the tools and tips that have worked especially well for us.

During Labor Day week, it seems only fitting that we spend a little time on the topic of work-life balance. What do great bosses know about the struggle? Plenty, because many wrestle with it themselves.

Imagine leaving your cubicle at any time of the day and working outside via a wireless campus your company has set up. If you worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, you could. If Utah-based Arup Laboratories were your employer, you’d work seven days on, seven days off — and still be considered full-time. Ever have days where you can’t seem to break away for lunch? NRG::Seattle forces you to. Every day around noon, the insurance company goes dark so that everyone must take an hour break for lunch. The goal: come back feeling recharged.

The National Association of Mothers’ Centers recently told a bipartisan U.S. Senate working group that a lack of flexibility in the workplace is punishing vast numbers of family caregivers in New Mexico and the rest of the country.

Gen Ys believe they have more choice about work-life balance than previous generations, and if they don’t have it at your company they are likely to look for it elsewhere.

The study, which sought to find out what women want in childcare, discovered instead that part-time work seemed to be desired by many mothers. The report suggests that improving the quality of childcare (a Rudd Government priority) might not be enough to convince parents to use it, since part-time work or flexibility of work is a common goal.

Organizations worry about being perceived as offering a good balance between work and personal time.  Many career sites and recruiters stress the ways the organization addresses this through flexible work policies, family-friendly HR polices, child care, and so on. And, for many job seekers, finding a company that offers this magic blend is the Holy Grail.

The findings listed in the bill provide a snapshot into the new norm for families in America. In the segment of married families with children, in 2/3 of the families, both parents work full-time.  The number of mothers with children under the age of 18 that work full-time is 71%.  Further, the bill reports that 70% of employed parents say that they don’t have enough time with their children.  Parents reported that the primary obstacle preventing them from spending more physical activity time with their children is their work schedules.

Smart employers are using flexible work options to manage through the recession—and help their employees manage. The organization I head, the Families and Work Institute, highlights 260 award-winning employers across the US using innovative approaches and practices including:

• Giving employees four Fridays off in the summer in lieu of raises the organization cannot afford
• Allowing employees to work at home 1-2 days a week to save on commuting costs
• Giving employees the option to take unlimited, unpaid personal time off during the downturn, while keeping full medical benefits and the right to return to their jobs
• Allowing employees greater scheduling flexibility if their spouse has lost a job or seen their hours reduced and the family needs to make changes
• Reassigning responsibilities when no hiring is possible
• Offering employees reduced hours or additional unpaid days off to avoid layoffs