Work-Family Triangle Synchronization

Organizations have addressed challenges in the fields of work and family for decades. Researchers have developed frameworks for work-family conflict, work-family enrichment, and work-family balance in light of the complexity of the interface and have helped reveal dynamics and develop management tools. The time has come for a holistic look that takes into account the triangle of forces involved in the conflict: the manager, the employee, and the employee's spouse at home. These players are best represented as a triangle of three dyads: manager-employee, manager-spouse, and employee-spouse. Using the therapeutic triangle relationship framework, we elaborate on the dynamic of work-family triangles and offer a structured process for designing a psychological contract among the three players. The contract reveals and addresses the needs and abilities of each unique triangle. This psychological contract is termed work-family triangle synchronization (WFTS). Only through understanding the dynamics among these three actors can we design a solution that fully addresses the conflict. This book is based on the authors' academic research and field experience in the organizational and family domains for almost 20 years. It is an extension and update of research and practice in the field of work and family, with a distinct and innovative important work-family triangle synchronization framework and introduces a model, methodology, and compelling tools. By highlighting vignettes in the form of personal anecdotes and stories, the authors make the text accessible and understandable, accompanying the reader step by step in the task of developing a synchronized work-family triangle psychological contract, as both a diagnostic and a management tool. The ground-breaking WFTS framework takes the work-family field one step forward and gives the reader a new workable holistic tool for managing the work and family interface in the current world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.