5 Business Strategies that Can Strengthen Your Marriage (#4)
May 2nd, 2012 // 10:18 am @ Janine and Alane
PRINCIPLE #4:Conduct a 360-degree review of your relationship.
A 360-degree review uses evaluations from a variety of sources — such as coworkers and clients, not just a supervisor — to assess an employee’s performance. “Bosses learn things they wouldn’t otherwise,” says Lynda Zugec, managing director of the Workforce Consultants, an international HR consulting firm. Getting some outside perspective on your marriage can be just as beneficial, she says, because sometimes you’re more open to receiving constructive criticism from close friends and family than you are from each other. (But don’t include your mother if she refers to your husband is That Guy You Live With.)
CASE STUDY: Karen and Brandon have been married for eight years and have two young kids, with a third on the way. The couple’s main issue right now is whether it makes sense for Karen to stay home after the baby is born or go back to work and pay for day care. “We’re both pretty stubborn, but I feel like I give in more than Brandon does,” Karen says. Karen and Brandon asked five close friends and family members (including Brandon’s parents) to rate their marriage on a scale from one to five in the following areas: communication, shared goals, trust, alignment of personal views, and general outlook on life. When the results rolled in, Karen was surprised to see that she and Brandon had scored themselves lowest. “It was fours and fives across the board from everyone else, but we’d given ourselves a couple of threes. I think they were afraid to hurt our feelings.” Plus, she noticed that her and Brandon’s scores were the most in sync — including a mutually so-so score for communication. “We knew we needed to work on that, but this made it obvious that it should be priority number one,” she says. Since then, the couple has made a date to sit down and brainstorm ways to improve their communication, and hope that will help resolve their work-or-stay-home issue. Karen and Brian are also committed to doing an annual marriage review, but since the scores they gave themselves had the most impact this time, next year’s will be just between the two of them. “I think doing this will keep us on the same page and working toward the same goals,” Karen says.
courtesy of http://www.redbookmag.com/love-sex/advice/marriage-as-business#ixzz1rR6VzxHM
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