Problem Solving

The firm already runs at a format that is most efficient, although the challenges may be hidden from me. As interns, we don’t often interact with people from outside our office. Hundreds of people work everyday in this building, but they operate in silos. At the consulting firm, cooperation across disciplines is necessary to fulfill projects for their clients. However, there is a marketing team on the same floor as me and I rarely see them. Marketing takes up half of the floor that I work on and I find it strange that I only encounter them in the coffee room. Perhaps more interaction is needed there in order to build cross-department relationships, or perhaps those relationships already exist and I don’t see them as an intern.

Nevertheless, I find it remarkable how efficiently this company operates. There’s always a small group of people working on a project at once and the administrative assistance seem to have a good handle on who’s doing what. Maybe having small groups work on all the projects isn’t the best approached because different writing styles or organizational techniques could conflict. Although, I haven’t seen a situation where stylistic differences can’t be overcome. One of the other interns and I frequently collaborate on projects, but we always work out how we want to format and in what manner we want to organize our information from the beginning.

I am having a hard time thinking about ways in which the firm could improve its leadership/work structure beyond suggesting that they clarify their leader hierarchy, which may not even be desirable. There has not yet been a moment where I’ve found myself frustrated with disorganization or lack of communication, but if these problems appear then I’ll be sure to write my suggestions for improvement here.