SYNOPSIS OF INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE
Introduction
The externship was a challenge in bringing
all the skills learned throughout the University experience. To bring so many ideas and experiences into
one course was definitely fun and tiring at the same time. In the beginning the challenge was mostly
with communication and lack thereof. Whenever
you bring on new staff it is always wise to introduce them to their supervisor
and explain what their role in the company will be. Neither of these were done with the new batch
of interns as the experience quickly turned ugly.
Being an intern in any company can be a
daunting task as you are new and probably not sure of what is going on. Having a good structure in place when
bringing on new staff whether an intern or new employee is essential to giving them
and you the best opportunity to see where the company can go. The employee orientation program is designed
to show new employees/interns what our company is about, what is expected of
them and the organizational structure of the company. We want to make any new employees transition
into the company a smooth one. That is
why every company should have an employee orientation program in place and
implemented effectively to reduce confusion, stress and anxiety of new
personnel coming on board.
The first week was the toughest with
little communication from our supervisor and that means none at all. Then when asking the professor for help also
gave little to no relief to the interns.
Some were posting that they might have made a mistake in taking this
externship as the problems seemed to out of control to make the experience fun
and learning. That is why some even
questioned whether this course was actually real because to bring on new staff
like that was horrible planning on their part.
Since the first few weeks things have
gotten better as those interns have gained more experience and we actually know
who our supervisor is and what our roles are.
Part of the confusion was also the lack of information as to what our
role would be in the company and our assignments. It was required to have 10 hours of time for
the company each week, yet the first week many had no idea how this would come
to be. There was even a few times mean
things were being said about some interns that spoke out because they came off
too hard and maybe a little rude. But
could you blame them for how things started and not at all what was promised
when most were signing up for this course.
The experience has gotten better and allowed us to put our experience at
University to good use.
Human Resources
The first project given
was to make a sales sheet when contacting customers. Just like the introduction into this course
there was little instructions other than go do it. This made gathering information difficult as
finding a starting point was difficult.
The answer came when questions were asked because the project seemed
dead in the water without some assistance.
Once the answers were given, filling in the information was a whole lot
easier.
The second project give was to make the
code of conduct for the University consulting company. This was a little easier as we had more
experience within the company and had a better understanding of what is
expected of the interns. The research
wasn’t that difficult as most companies have posted their code of conducts
online and many are almost copies of each other. The only difference with University consulting
was incorporating the online experience as part of the conduct. This was a challenge as most copies that were
read pertained to brick and mortar buildings verse one that is totally
online. With the help of the other
classmates the project seemed to do well and was approved by our supervisor.
CHAPTER II: MEETING THE
COURSE OUTCOMES
Information Management,
Planning, & Controls
Planning and controls is one of the most important aspects to a company
and making sure things run smoothly. Having in place ideas and procedures that
allow new staff to understand the company, understand their roles and know how
to conduct themselves is key to making and controlling what happens in the
company. Information management is the
flowing of information in a company through e-mails, telephone, fax and basic
communication.
Planning is key to making a company run well like University consulting and was key to many of the
issues felt in the first few weeks. Our
Vice President decided to take a vacation but left no one behind to help the
new interns as they came on board. The
lack of communication with planning dealt University consulting a black eye for the first few
weeks. The information could have flowed
from Kevin to others if it had been in place an employee handbook and
orientation program for them.
Evaluating information management, planning and control in the business
world was fairly easy as they reflect many of what goes well or poor for
companies. Information management for
the University
Consulting appeared easy on paper as the information sharing today is so much
easier than in years or decades past. We
can share information through e-mails, phone calls, conferences, meetings,
customers and employees. According to
AIIM the community for information professionals,” managing this information
throughout the information lifecycle regardless of source or format (data,
paper documents, electronic documents, audio, social business, video, etc.) for
delivery through multiple channels that may include cell phones and web
interfaces” (AIIM, 2013). The success
seen with information management lies heavily on the organization and how it is
set up.
Planning in the business world and
especially with University
Consulting you can see how the smallest detail can mean major ramifications to
the process. If a plan is not in place
to cover each aspect of a situation, problem and then the business may
suffer. This was evident in the vacation
of Kevin our President. A vacation is
needed by most in any business world but planning on knowing what should happen
if that person is away is key to keeping your business flowing smoothly. One thing I took from this week’s discussions
and e-mails was that a better plan for bringing on new interns was definitely
missing. To achieve good planning for a
business you need to make S.M.A.R.T plans.
This means specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. The idea of bringing on new interns to help
with the University
Consulting is a great idea but needed to start with this and decided how best
to use our talents. If the planning
showed who was coming on board, what are we expecting of them, how can we get
them moving in a positive direction to help the company, make the actions
realistic and provide a time table the interns should be up to speed. All of these would make the transition of the
new interns a better one and reduce confusion.
According to Small Business.com, “Your planning and organizational tools
provide direction for your work efforts, allowing you to complete the most
pressing tasks first” (Frost, 2013).
Control in business is a way
management can set standards, goals and measure them to see where and how the
company is doing. Control for University Consulting is needed because of the
online environment we are all in. Being
that we aren’t next to our fellow intern or director means that control must be
that much more enforced. Setting
standards for University
Consulting was key to showing people what is expected of them, how those
expectations will be measured and what the outcome will be. This week had some great examples of control
or lack thereof as one the biggest factors to control is corrective
actions. Any company or business needs
to have corrective actions to address problems, concerns or areas of
confusion. This week saw confusion on
what was to be accomplished along with what was expected. The right course of action should correct
these problems to make going forward much smoother.
Organizational Processes
& Procedures
The difference between process and procedures is the way to go about
doing things and then when will it be finished.
The process at University consulting was the
POAM which spelled out who was doing what project and when it was due. The procedures were spelled out in the
organizational meetings that each department held each week. Overall the organization has worked well with
how they process and expect projects to be done.
The best way to analyze the processes of a
business setting is to look at what we are doing in the University Consulting and with my current
company. The development of an employee
in any company is only helpful it the organization and procedures that are in
place allow him/her to expand. With the University Consulting the organizational process is
nice but not well thought out. There was
so much confusion at the beginning about who our contact, who was our
supervisor was and what department we were in.
Then being placed in a department with little to no experience in didn’t
help much either. Then when we
questioned Kevin’s choice of a vacation, his response was, “I can’t take a
vacation”. The process that broke down
was that yes a vacation is needed by most but if you are a chairmen, vice
president, you need to know that leaving your company without proper feedback
with your employees is not acceptable.
Then not having a backup person that would take the new interns and
welcome them. The process and procedures
should have been in place to understand what each person’s role is when at work
or away. In the current role as
Inspection’s Manager for our office in Baltimore, Maryland, if the notion to take off while new hires were coming on and
had no one in place to assist them; there would be a new manager very soon. “Business process guides are helpful with
projects that require planning to control to coordinate the work of multiple
locations, personnel, business partners and resources”, (Sessoms, 2014).
Also we were given our first assignment on
the Boy Scouts of America which was never asked my opinion if we felt ready or
anything. It was just given to us and
then asked why we weren’t working on it.
In the real business world if you are a manager you should know your
employees and their capabilities. If in
this situation my supervisor has known me for all of 1 week then hands me a
large customer like the Boy Scouts of America, should have been handled
better. During our weekly meeting it
should have been talked about and seen who wanted the project and who would
offer support. We would never have
assigned a project to someone that was unaware of it first. At least talk with them to see that this
project is too much for them or if it needed to be divided among the other
people. In all the organizational
processes and procedures in place have worked but just need time to develop
correctly.
Ethics in Decision Making
Ethics is one of the most talked about
topics in the business world yet one of the most confusing. Ethics is all based
on who you are, how you were reared and where you were raised. University consulting has brought many peoples from
all over the United States into an organization that is still learning itself
how to function. The employee handbook
and orientation program would be the best idea for new employees to understand
what is expected of them from the company.
By making them sign the code of ethics in the handbook and reading each
section so it is clear what ethical decisions the company adheres to and which
it doesn’t.
The externship has been great in that learning about policies and
framework for making ethical decisions in the business world. Making ethical decisions is something every
company should have in place for all employees, new and old. Ethical decisions are very important because
not everyone in the world has the same view of what is right and wrong. It depends many times on how you were reared
and what country you are from. “Simply stated, ethics refers to standards of
behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in
which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens,
businesspeople, teachers, professionals”, (Santa Clara University, 2014).
The first thing to giving each
employee the knowledge of what ethical framework the company is has is through
an employee handbook. Every company big
or small should have an employee handbook that holds information on many
topics. According to the Small Business Administration, “A well-written
handbook sets forth your expectations for your employees, and describes what
they can expect from your company”, (SBA, 2013). The current job has the section called,
“Standards of conduct”. Ethics can vary
based on many factors and that is why standards need to be set with each
company to show people what standards mean for this business. By making each employee go through an
orientation program before they are brought fully into the company, gives you
an opportunity to make sure they are the right people. This could be useful for University Consulting as they grow and bring in new
customers.
The orientation program is set to
not only show what the employees will be doing but give them the handbook and
make sure they have read it. Some
companies even make quizzes or tests to show they have read and understood the
material. This also helps because if the
employee later does something unethical, you have proof that they read and were
aware of how the company views its standards of conduct for possible
termination.
This all works for bringing on new
employees but in a company that has been in operation for a long time, sometimes
decisions have to be made that affect many.
Decisions that may affect many with ethics it is always good to ask
people for advice. “A formal code of ethics can help you and your employees
make decisions more quickly by conforming to a set of rules to which everyone
agrees”, (David Ingram, 2013). Most
people would tell you it is better to ask for advice before making a huge
decision, and then later find out you made an unethical decision that could
affect many. This is why most companies
of any size have a Human resources department to assist in making the right
decision. University Consulting could definitely use an
employee handbook along with a great HR department to help with any issues that
might arise. With this own experience
this happened during the winter break at University.
Organizational Structure, Management,
& Leadership
The experience of how management, structure and leadership affect the
organizational performance of a company is of great importance to many to see
how they will do in the company. To be
good at management doesn’t mean you can also be good at being a leader. According to small business, “Employees who
believe they have a direct owner-style relationship with the organization often
find ways to improve their attitude and productivity”, (Vitez, O, 2013). If employees believe their position is to
help the organization with a good leader, then usually this means good things
for the company. The employees will work
harder to do great work and make improvements that help the company. This is one thing that was tried to use with University Consulting, that the employees (interns)
are shaping the future of the company.
Structure is needed to succeed in
any company as you need roles for each person and understanding of who is
responsible for what tasks and abilities.
Management is needed for success in business because it offers a path
for people to know who is in charge and that those people understand the plans
for the company. University Consulting has some great leadership and
one is Chris, we spoke with regard about a situation and that both understood
he was vice president but we made himself available which is great. Being a great manager isn’t always easy as
there are many demands on you to perform and bring in revenue for the
company. Chris gave his time and we both
came to an understanding of what we needed to move forward. Having respect for a manager like Chris
because he was approachable; he listened and responded with guidance not
criticism.
“Basically, how productive you are
is a direct result of the training, development and encouragement you receive
from your manager — and how productive your manager is as a worker”,(V Giang
January 29, 2013). This comes from
business insider and explains a lot of what managers need to know and
understand. Your team is only as good as
you provide them with training, development and encouragement. This is how managing in my current job as a
department head of about 25 people. Try
to encourage rather than criticism, develop rather than put down. If you want good production out of your team
you need to be not only their manager but a good leader. This is difficult for many to hold both
because many think being a manager is a leader.
A leader is someone that not only tells you what to do but can show you,
give you examples of how and why, and then shows you the next step in the
process. Someone you want to work for
because of how they treat you and provide guidance into your training and
motivation to do more for yourself and the company.
Cultural Literacy
Cultural literacy is something that most people don’t understand but if
they did would see how important it is to who and what we are. After getting more information about cultural
literacy you can see why it is important to know our history and the people and
events that made it. There used to be a
segment on Jay Leno where they would walk the streets asking people about
events and people and most had difficulty identifying people that most should
know. This is something that any person
should see and understand is wrong. Some
people were asked was Idaho part of the US or questions like when did Pearl
Harbor attack happen? It was so
surprising to see that many people had trouble with these questions. “In other
words, you can't solve problems unless you have the relevant knowledge to do
so”,(Jonathan Wai, May 23, 2011). This
explains so much about our learning as a society today. You always here older people say our
generation doesn’t understand how it was.
That is true because most children today can work a laptop or an IPAD
but can’t pass an easy math test without a calculator.
Hirsch had some good points because
cultural literacy is so important and he is right our schools are failing our
students. According to Santa Clara University, Schools have emphasized
"skills" and "child centered experiences," without teaching
content “.”(Santa Clara 2013). They are
more worried about getting kids to pass the course rather than content. This plays in everyday life including at the
work place because some people come from different backgrounds and
cultures. If you ask someone at your
work about ethical behavior and what is right and wrong, you might be surprised
on what they say. A test in my current
company and asked some of my tech’s who our founding member of our company
was? It was asked 10 techs and none of
them could answer it. We told them that
the history of our company was on our company website. Cultural literacy also plays a factor when
you have people of different ethic, age and country backgrounds. Someone here from India would have little
knowledge of our history, just like we would have little knowledge of their
history.
The business world is complex and
to add so many people of so many different backgrounds, education levels, you
can’t expect there to be always consensus on issues. At University Consulting there is the same affect
because of you people of all levels working on a start up with little contact
and only electronic communication. This
has been interesting because usually for a business you have people in the next
office or somewhere close. Here we have
people all over the United States interacting to make something work for this
company. My generation knows things
about American Idol, reality TV shows, etc.
Someone like my old supervisor might know more about other items from an
earlier time than me. This doesn’t make
us different but our upbringing makes us just a little different.
Cultural literacy is important because it also ties in with the ethical
atmosphere of the company. If you don’t
understand where people are from you won’t understand why their ethics are
different than yours. It is so important
in this global economy that you know about your own culture along with that of
others to make sure decisions won’t affect someone in the wrong way. The day of companies dealing only with their
own ethnicity are long gone. In today’s
market and evidence in our own company of University consulting is that people are from
everywhere in this world and understanding where and how they will work in your
company is of great importance.
CHAPTER III: CONCLUSION
Individual Testimonies
Matthew H. Bass
The
externship program is great because it gives students the opportunity to apply
what they have learned. The experience
at first was not the smoothest but it did get better as more information was
provided that made the experience better.
In all the externship could be rated as a success if you look at the big
picture rather than looking at the first two weeks. The first two weeks were probably summed up
in one word, Confusing! The confusing
part was just due to lack of communication, which was better over time.
As more of us
spoke up about the experience and how it was not what we signed up for, the
managers did see the need for change and improvement. As the weeks, progressed communication got
better along with the understanding of our role in the company. The projects also started off slow in the
sales and marketing department and part of that was due to our manager. She liked to just assign projects without really
asking if it was something that could be handled by one person or needed
assistance. After the next manager was
in place things went much better as a few changes were made to improve the
department. The best change that
happened was going away from the Adobe classroom to the teleconference which
helped with hearing everyone.
The experience
could be helped by the addition of an orientation program that could help new
interns know and understand what will happen within the company. Because everything is online it helps to send
the package out at least a few weeks before they start the externship. This would help reduce confusion and keep the
students interested in this process.
From the dialogue in the discussion posts the next batch of interns had
the same problem. Therefore, it is even
more clear that something needs to change when bringing on the new
interns. The orientation package that
has been spoken off all during this paper is sorely needed as the continuation
of problems needs to stop if this company ever wants to get off the
ground. The skills gained during the
externship are one of patience and communication. By having better patience with people who are
not just like myself, has led to better understanding of how people work or lack
thereof. You cannot clone yourself so
you need to practice patience with people who might see projects and
communication different from yourself.
Being a manager
this externship has helped in making the process and procedures work well in
the company as a whole. The best
experience that was had dealt with conflict resolution. This is probably the hardest topic for people
to handle as it usually deals with upset people. This was handled great with the help of the
vice president Chris who spoke on the phone at length to why communication is
integral to our success as a company.
The conflict was resolved and it helped in my own experience as a manager
in a company. This course should be
offered to all students at University as a way to apply most that
they have learned. Especially those in
the business administration program, this experience was one that has shaped
and molded the learning’s from the past two years into one great experience.
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