The physical office itself will need to be ready to meet your job share team's needs. 

While you may have a joint office or cubicle even, there must be ample space for both of you to work in the space on your shared day/handover period. 

If you have overlapping days you both work together in the office, you must have two computers to work on. You should also have individual business cards with both of your contact information. 

For data security reasons, many companies will require you each to have an individual email. However, we highly suggest you have a joint email for all of your work correspondence and that you take on the "we" personality in terms of work completed when emailing stakeholders, even when one person is emailing. 

We also suggest you do not use your names as your email address but a more generic email (for example [email protected]), in the event that one of you exits the partnership and another partner joins the remaining partner. Trust us, this will save A LOT of headaches down the line. 

No, you don't! Module 6 puts together our advice based on Melissa's personal experience, research, and the input of job share teams.

The most important part of any system you put in place is to make it work for your team! You and your job share partner will be melding your work styles. You're likely to have slightly different organizational styles. Talk openly about what works for you, whether you like a tactile physical book with handwritten notes or using apps and software for organizing work and checking items off your list, or a combo! The most important thing is that your communication system and handover process works for your team. It will likely take some trial and error and discussions along the way. 

You've got this! GO TEAM! 

No, you don't. You are two individuals who are working in one full-time position. What this means is that you have two different identities and bring two distinct skillsets to your position but, you want to be seen as interchangeable. 

You want others to feel confident that what one knows, the other knows. That you have joint responsibility for your job in every sense of the word. And for that to be the case, they must see your partnership as one on equal footing in every way. 

Establishing a "we" identity in taking ownership of your projects and deliverables will help this immensely. Remember, your team is responsible for every win or loss! In this way, you do have a joint identity. It helps when you speak highly of your partner to others, even if they are present, allowing the wins of the team to be visible for all. 

It's why you should both be present in any important company and 1:1 meetings. It's also why you should use "we" in email correspondence to stakeholders, so they firmly understand you both are intimately involved in the work. 

This is our #1 Tip to rise through the ranks as a job share primed for promotion: Be bold. Be visible. 

It's also completely understandable that this advice might feel a little too, uh...bold, and may even be off-putting to some. 

Understand that your feeling of discomfort might be due to years of being socialized not to brag and not to tout your big wins. However, bragging on your partner or your team itself takes the focus off of YOU and rightly puts it on the outcome or the work completed. Sharing the team's wins can help you be bold and visible without appearing ego-driven. 

Another part of being bold and visible is being a visible leader to others. This means being accessible to stakeholders and mentoring others where possible. It's a small thing, but will go a long way with your co-workers who will see your job share team as leaders to look up to! 

Another way to be bold and be visible without putting others off is to showcase your company as one on the vanguard, innovators who value their employees' work-life balance and personhood. Bragging on your company for embracing job sharing elevates your company, your team, and your co-workers who might also like to job share! 

You know your boss best, but if your direct manager is supportive and open, by all means, share the Top 10 tips for how standout leaders can support job share teams with them!