Can Men and Women Really Work Well Together? Absolutely, As Long as They Don’t Have to Share a Bathroom

Men! There’s hope. I believe that working with women and knowing the dos and don’ts has come of age, so here goes:

Its ok to golf without asking the female executives to join the team.

Golf for men is quite different than golf for women. The sport doesn’t lend itself well to mixed doubles. The trick for businessmen is to spend as much business time with the female C-level women as C-level men. DO NOT make decisions based on the discussions at the sand trap on 17. It’s important that business discussions be made at the business, with equal input opportunities by all members of the executive team.

It’s ok to travel on the same plane and not sit next to each other.

No one likes the middle seat. Unless your firm has a private jet, many C-level executives will be traveling together, men and women and facing the seating dilemma. The requirement to work together on the flight leads to the woman executive stuck in the center seat. (Guys usually like the aisle or the window). This makes the trip awkward at best. Why not freestyle the flight? Make sure its comfortable for both the female and male members of your executive team. They can sit wherever they like and use the flight to re-energize rather than verbalize.

Its ok to discuss Sunday’s football game on Monday, even if the company’s female COO hates football!

Some women love football, many do not. When a female C-level executive actually has a Sunday where she is not working, most are happy to spend quality family time at home, with their husband and children. Some even enjoy cooking Sunday dinner. They are probably not focused on the play by play in the 2nd half, Giants vs. Dallas. When Monday morning quarterbacking takes place in the executive meeting, you can expect the female executives to be cordial. They won’t complain about the male bonding IF they are getting a fair shake at the business strategy decision making. If the playing field is set as fair, then who cares what their male counterparts talk about outside of business issues!

The executive lunch: Wouldn’t it be nice to have lunch with a colleague without worrying about their gender?

The business lunch works between a man and a woman C-level executive under certain specific guidelines:

1. Not more than one lunch per week. More often and the walls start talking.
2. If you eat lunch at restaurant “A” with the male C-level executives, then the same restaurant “A” should be where you lunch with the female C-level executives.
3. Always sit at a table and not a booth. Sit across from your lunch companion, never next to each other. This allows for the best business discourse and prevents anyone from thinking you are more than a business couple, because you sit elbow to elbow.

So you see, as long as you level the playing field on business issues, women worth their salt in business will never be insulted or affected by the male bonding which takes place in and out of the office. After all, if you can keep business decisions in the boardroom and out of the men’s room, who can complain?