Working With Your Ex: Four Tips for Staying Civil

So how do you prevent the things that didn't work when youwere a couple from affecting the things that work so well as businesspartners? By remembering that the past is the past, and your career isyour future. In fact, your business is your "baby," and for the good ofyour "child," it's important that you make joint custody work in a waythat allows it to flourish. Here are four tips for working civilly withyour ex:

• Tip No. 1: Respect each other's skills.One of the reasons you got into business together in the first placewas because you both have unique talents that harmonize well in aprofessional environment. We at MarsVenus.com knowthat it can be difficult, but just because things didn't work outbetween you in your personal lives, don't let that keep you fromacknowledging the level of accomplishment your ex brought to his or herwork in your joint business efforts. As you would with anyone else youwork with, grant your ex the respect he or she has earned as yourco-worker.
  
• Tip No. 2: Give each other the space needed todo what each of you does best. Whatever issues you may havehad when you were married, that was then and this is now. And now --between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. -- is not the time in which torelive those feelings. Consider how you would feel if you workedsomewhere else and your ex kept calling or stopping into the office torehash the issues that stood between you. That would be disruptive,wouldn't it? You must allow your business partner the breathing spacehe or she needs to do the job properly.
  
• Tip No. 3: Don't let a crisis at work be thecatalyst for airing previous personal issues. Like home, workis an arena in which there is a lot of stress. When we are underduress, other issues and fears can come to the forefront. If your exwas a source of stress and upset for you during your marriage, it'svery easy to project your immediate anxiety onto him or her -- even ifhe or she has nothing to do with the current problem.