Improve your profile to increase the likelihood of finding higher quality and more compatible job mates. We recommend the following actions:

If you have accepted a request to connect from a potential job mate, or your request to connect has been accepted, you need to schedule a time to meet and evaluate the opportunity of becoming job mates. Complete the following items to better prepare for this meeting:

• Review their profile
• Review their resume (if available)
• Review their LinkedIn profile (if available)
• Prepare a set of questions to ask. You will literally be interviewing your job mate
• Identify any complementary skills that each of you bring into the partnership
• Prepare to discuss which job sharing model works best for your situation: Pure, hybrid or job split
• Schedule a meeting with your potential job mate

At some point, you and a potential job mate need to meet in person or via video to chat about your job partnership and ensure that you have what it takes as a team to share a job. It will require several meetings to discuss your potential job partnership. You should be thinking about if you’re compatible and how to arrange the job partnership. You need to select someone with whom you can easily communicate, collaborate and disagree.

To help you with this stage of the pairing process, we have prepared a basic list of questions to ask and topics to discuss over several meetings. Review this checklist and modify it by adding topics and issues that are important to you. The most important factor for a good productive discussion is to be open, honest and straightforward with your potential job mate. The two of you will fail or succeed together.

Things you need a preliminary agreement on:

• Job Split: How do you want to divide roles and responsibilities?
• Time split. Who works when? What are the on and off days and times for each job mate?
• Do we need to have an overlap time to help with handover (recommended)?
• How do you make decisions? How would you consult a job mate for a decision, if needed?
• How do you handle disagreements?

Things that you need a basic understanding of:

• Personality-wise, are you compatible?
• How are his/her social and communication skills?
• How are his/her listening skills?
• How does s/he handle a disagreement?
• An example of a time that s/he shared a success with a teammate.

JOB SPLIT

A Job Split allows for full autonomy of the two job mates. In effect, it represents just two part-time jobs. As an example, two dental hygienists may be covering a full-time position at a dentist’s office, working completely independent of each other.

HYBRID

A Hybrid Job Share provides a model where the two job mates share some responsibilities and split others. This model may be more suitable for management and leadership roles where complementary skills will be essential in successfully filling in the position. As an example, two leaders, one with technology background and another with strong business background can be paired to run a business together.

PURE

A Pure Job Share represents two people essentially doing the same job over different hours of the day or days of the week. They are interchangeable. As an example, two software developers can share a full-time position, each working on the same project and the same deliverables.

• Overall Compatibility: [High or Medium or Low]
• Components of overall compatibility:

• Competency: [High or Medium or Low]
• Similarity: [High or Medium or Low]
• Complementarity: [High or Medium or Low]

Below, we provide you with more information about what compatibility means in this context as well as how you can use the above scores.

What Does Compatibility Mean in the Context of Job Sharing?

Job sharing is a phenomenon in which a job is performed not by one person but rather by two (or possibly more) people. Like any relationship, a job-sharing relationship flourishes when the individuals who share the job are compatible with each other. However, compatibility means something rather different in a job-sharing relationship compared to, say, a romantic relationship. Of course, two individuals who want to share a job need to be compatible in the sense that they are both interested in the same job and that they are both sufficiently qualified for that job in terms of educational background and prior work experience. But there is a lot more to job-sharing compatibility than this. Based on the research literature on interpersonal compatibility, which we have applied to the context of job sharing, we define compatibility as a function of three components: competency, similarity, and complementarity.

• The first component, competency, refers to the extent to which each of the job mates (i.e., the employees who share, or intend to share, a job) individually exhibits dispositional tendencies that facilitate success in work situations that require interaction and coordination with other people (e.g., the other job mate). In brief, individuals who score high on the personality traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness exhibit high competency; individuals who score low on these personality traits exhibit low competency. In particular, our focus here is on how individuals score with regard to several facets of conscientiousness such as orderliness and facets of agreeableness such as affiliation. Unlike similarity and complementarity, which we discuss next, competency is a property of individuals: each individual can be assigned a score on competency. Thus, for two job mates, competency can be calculated as the average (i.e., arithmetic mean) of the two job mates’ competency scores.
• The second component, similarity, refers to the extent to which the job mates are dispositionally alike. In particular, our focus here is on the extent to which the two job mates’ scores on several work-related values are similar versus dissimilar. For instance, job mates who agree about the importance of pay (e.g., both job mates think pay is very important or both think it is not at all important) are more similar than job mates who disagree about the importance of pay (e.g., one job mate thinks pay is very important whereas the other thinks it is not at all important). Unlike competency, similarity is inherently a feature not of individuals but rather of pairs of individuals: it is the degree to which the two job mates are dispositionally similar to each other that matters.
• The third component, complementarity, refers to the extent to which the job mates balance each other dispositionally. In particular, our focus here is on the extent to which each job mate can fulfill the other’s needs. For instance, job mates for whom each individual’s tendency to seek advice aligns with the other individual’s tendency to give advice (e.g., one job mate seeks a lot of advice and the other job mate gives a lot of advice or else one job mate seeks very little advice and the other job mate gives very little advice) are more complementary than job mates for whom the tendencies to seek and give advice are misaligned (e.g., one job mate seeks a lot of advice but the other job mate gives very little advice, or vice versa). Like similarity, but unlike competency, complementarity is inherently a feature not of individuals but rather of pairs of individuals: it is the degree to which the two job mates dispositionally complement each other that matters.
• We can then define a “compatibility cube” whose axes consist of competency, similarity, and complementarity. This is a way of quantifying the overall compatibility of a particular pair of current or potential future job mates—and of comparing overall compatibility levels across multiple pairs of job mates. For instance, if one pair of job mates scores high on both competency and similarity but low on complementarity whereas a second pair of job mates scores high on competency but low on both similarity and complementarity, then the first pair of job mates is more compatible overall than the second pair. All else being equal, the first pair of job mates in this example would be more likely than the second pair to succeed at a job-sharing arrangement—and therefore employers would do well to hire the first pair over the second pair.

How Best Can You Use These Compatibility Scores?

You can use your compatibility scores in various ways.

• If your job pair receives high compatibility scores, that is wonderful news: congratulations! In that case, we would recommend making your compatibility scores public by editing the joint profile and switching to show your compatibility score. These high scores will serve as an important signal to employers.
• On the other hand, if your job pair does not receive high compatibility scores, you have a few options. One option is to remember that your compatibility scores refer only to your dispositional potential to becompatible. However, there are ways to increase your actual compatibility. To do so, we would recommend that you complete the “things that you need a preliminary agreement on”—available here — in which both members of each pair agree upon operational topics such as job split, time split, work handovers, communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, and backup strategies. We would also recommend that you use the list of discussion questions “things that you need a basic understanding of”—available here — to talk about big-picture topics such as career and life plans, ideal jobs, preferred work-life balance, and preferences in terms of job mates. These two activities are based on psychological research on topics such as team cohesion and interpersonal compatibility. Completing these activities helps job pairs to augment their compatibility.
• A second option in the event of low compatibility scores is to think of the type of job for which you are applying and to determine how important compatibility is for that type of job. In particular, as you know, a few job-sharing arrangements do not require much interdependence at all. For instance, if the job is “dental technician,” one member of the job pair can work mornings and the other can work afternoons—and the job pair can be very successful even with relatively low levels of interaction and interdependence. In such cases, we would advise that you focus less on the overall compatibility score as well as less on the similarity and complementarity component scores and instead that you focus more on the competency component score. This is because, if you are applying for a job that does not require much interdependence, competency is the most important component of compatibility. On the other hand, if you are applying for a job that requires considerable interaction and interdependence among the job mates, then all three components of compatibility are important.
• A third option in the event of low compatibility scores is to decide that it may be better for each member of the job pair to instead pair up with a different person using the website. After you have taken the compatibility test as an individual, our algorithm will provide you with compatibility scores with several potential job mates. Perhaps you and your current job mate would be better off trying your luck pairing with other people? We recommend always having a discussion with your current job mate about the pros and cons of such an approach, and, needless to say, we recommend always being professional and considerate in your communications.

As part of the pairing process, work together with your job mate to complete the following items. This will be an ongoing process and effort, not a one-time task.

• Team building
• Relationship building
• Joint profile
• Time split
• Job split
• Communication
• Decision making
• Disagreements
• Vacations and sick leave
• Job Share Proposal

As part of the pairing process, work together with your job mate to complete the following items. This will be an ongoing process and effort, not a one-time task.

• Team building
• Relationship building
• Joint profile
• Time split
• Job split
• Communication
• Decision making
• Disagreements
• Vacations and sick leave
• Job Share Proposal

As part of the pairing process, work together with your job mate to complete the following items. This will be an ongoing process and effort, not a one-time task.

• Team building
• Relationship building
• Joint profile
• Time split
• Job split
• Communication
• Decision making
• Disagreements
• Vacations and sick leave
• Job Share Proposal

If you already have a job and you’ve decided you’d like to reduce your working hours through a job share arrangement, you will need to develop a job share proposal and discuss it with your manager. It is critical to secure his/her support.   We recommend finding a job mate prior to approaching your manager with the proposal. Knowing the competencies as well as complementary skills of your job mate will be instrumental in convincing your manager that the job share arrangement will be successful. If you don’t have a job mate and still want to proceed with a proposal, you can use this template. Just indicate that you will be looking for a job mate upon approval of the proposal in the job mate section.   While many progressive employers have already started to offer the job-sharing work model to keep or attract talent, many are not familiar with this model. Areas that your manager may be concerned about and need to be addressed in the proposal include:

• How are responsibilities divided? Who does what?
• How are tasks coordinated? How do we make sure things don’t fall through the cracks?
• How does the handover process work?
• Does everything need to be repeated twice?
• How do you work with the rest of the organization? How do they communicate with two people?
• What if one of you leaves or needs extended sick leave?
• Why would a manager want to approve this? What would I gain as a manager?

After you pair up with a job mate to explore job-sharing opportunities together, you need to create a joint profile to connect you (as a pair) with employers. Specifically, the joint profile will be used in our system for employers to find you when they search for pairs with certain expertise and other requirements to fill their positions, and for you to find job-sharing positions posted by employers.

• Profile pictures (extracted from individual profiles).
• Contact information for both job mates.
• Common expertise and skills.
• Complementary skills that you need to complete together.
• A link to your individual profiles if employers need more specific information.
• An executive summary section that you and your job mate need to complete together. (This is your opportunity to present your team and its value proposition to the employers.)
• Several additional sections, such as preferences.

The Daily Log File is the single most important tool for continuity of work between job mates and consistency within the organization.   The latest update always needs to be listed first to be immediately visible. The Daily Log File will be used by both job mates to handover their work and will cover the following items each day. It should be periodically updated during the day, instead of waiting until the end of day, as to not forget or overlook anything.

• Urgent Matters
• Summary (Text)
• Summary (Voicemail)
• Meetings
• Accomplishments
• Issues
• To be done next

Job sharing is a partnership between two individuals who need disciplined interaction between each other, while at the same time need uniformed and consistent interaction with the rest of the organization – almost as if they are just another “one” of the colleagues. What makes job sharing difficult is that every employer is different, every position is different, every job-sharing partnership is different, and every pair of job mates are different. Yet, they have many of the following success factors in common:

• Clear roles and responsibilities
• Well-defined work schedules for each job mate
• Methods of communication between job mates
• Methods of communication with the rest of organization
• Shared documents
• Hands off on days off
• Commitment to building a strong professional relationship
• Commitment to each other and to the partnership
• Discipline and attention to details
• Well-defined decision-making process
• Well-defined expectations around office space and equipment
• Getting and staying on the same page
• Supervisor’s support
• Management of expectations and perceptions
• Handling disagreements
• Well-defined handover method
• Plan for vacation and sick leave coverage

To assist you and your job mate with successfully implementing your job-sharing partnership, we’ve created a downloadable checklist to help you and your job mate. It is by no means a complete list, but instead, a foundation to start from and build on with what best applies to you, your job mate and your employer.

To prevent forgetting tasks, especially forgetting to mention them to your job mate, we recommend using a simple shared Task List that both job mates can access and update. We recommend a simple chart to capture tasks and action items, along with who worked on it last, what they did and necessary next steps. We also recommend putting urgent tasks on top of the list and in red font to capture your job mate’s attention.

You and your job mate need to walk through the shared Task List as part of your handover and ensure your job mate understands exactly what has been done and what s/he should focus on next.

As a pair, you’ll need a fail-safe communication method for both real-time communications and for updates as the baton is passed between off time. For others to treat you as one, there needs to be complete confidence that anything discussed with one has been accurately conveyed to the other. For scheduled communications, not surprisingly, different job mates develop different methods that work best for them. Expect to iterate through several methods to find one that is most efficient for you.

Here are some examples:

• Daily Log File
• Daily voicemail
• Regular meetings on calendars
• Email flags
• Use of a shared file system
• Urgent silver bullets

For your job share to be successful, everyone in contact with you and your job mate must be able to assume that any information given to one will reach the other. The objective is for everyone to feel that communicating with one job mate equals communication with both. Moreover, the communications should always represent both job mates, and not an individual’s point of view. No one should worry about who’s on and who’s off, or who is handling which task. Working with you as if you were just another colleague – singular – must be seamless and effortless. Here are a few specific recommendations:

• Use one joint email, calendar, instant messenger, and (work) phone for voice calls and text
• Always sign emails from both job mates
• Communicate your methods of communication
• Relationships with colleagues
• Handling Disagreements