Hey Sabby,

I run an online company with some online friends that I have known for many years. It’s been a lot of fun and been quite profitable. I’ve really enjoyed working with these people and the money has been great. Recently, the head of the company gave his brother and his brother’s girlfriend a job. I was okay with this in the beginning because it meant a little less work for me (or should have) without really costing me anything.

The brother and girlfriend live in the same house with the owner. You would think that they would be able to communicate well being only feet from each other but their lack of communication is really putting a strain on the company as a whole and making the work even more stressful on me. The owner and I have had many discussions about how he doesn’t really want them working in the company either, but they are family and he wants to help them out.

I can’t help but think well, they aren’t my family and they are hurting me as a person and my business not to mention how much this then affects MY family. I want them gone if they can’t communicate or do the work correctly. I don’t know if I should tell the owner that and risk him telling me to piss off or if I should just suck it up and deal with it.

- Angela

This is a really touchy situation you’re in. I don’t think there is a way to settle these issues without some good old fashioned bluntness.

Pull out a fresh sheet of paper. First I want you to outline the Pros and Cons of working for this online company. I want you to think about how the company was before the brother and his girlfriend came along and write the pros and cons. Then I want you to think about the company now and do it again. Really think about what you put down and try to be as honest and detailed as possible because you should really show it to the owner of the company. It’s a good starting point so you can get out your feelings and show him what has changed.

You’re going to have to tell him exactly why you want him to fire his family. While it sounds like he realizes they suck at their jobs, they are still family. So you’re going to have to come up with some serious and real reasons why they are harming the company – not just you. And if you can’t do that, then you need to rethink your plan.

An alternative in this situation is to come up with a better way for you all to communicate. Use everything available – email, instant message, MySpace, Facebook, voice servers like TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. Whatever it takes to get you all on the same page, do it!