Identify management strategies for balancing work and family roles.

Identification of management strategies should include

• family life cycle (e.g., beginning stage, child rearing, launching stage [also known as the empty nest], mid-year, and aging stage)
• family and work values
• prioritization of family and work responsibilities
• use of time
• use of technology
• organization
• strategies to manage stress
• health and safety needs of family members (e.g., physical health, mental health, substance abuse, disabilities)
• conflict resolution.

Process/Skill Questions:

Thinking

• What is the relationship between the family’s circumstances and workplace productivity?
• Why is it important to a person, to the family, and to the employer to balance work and family roles?
• What responsibility does an employer have for a worker’s well-being beyond the workplace?
• How do management strategies for balancing work and family roles change as the family progresses through its life cycle?

Communication

• When is it appropriate for an employee to communicate personal/family problems to an employer?
• What communication skills are needed to develop strategies for balancing work and family roles?
• How can the lack of communication hinder work environments? Family environments?

Leadership

• What leadership techniques can you use to address and resolve conflict regarding work and family roles?
• What skills do family members need to become leaders?
• What criteria should be used to assess efforts at balancing work and family roles?

Management

• What management skills are needed to set priorities at work and at home?
• What kind of training is needed to develop management strategies for balancing work and family roles?
• What management skills are needed to deal with issues at different stages of the family life cycle?