Week 1

I am slowly learning and growing accustomed to the organizational culture at my company. Although at a national level, my company feels very cooperate and structured, at my office, in Boulder Colorado, things are very chill and laid back. Dealing with HR and finishing training modules is a very different experience than interacting with some of my co-workers, including senior level employees. Especially in the first week, there is an assumption that at work an employee, especially an intern, should always look busy regardless of the actual assignments we have to complete, however I’ve found that my office prioritizes getting work done when it needs to be, and not faking looking busy just for the sake of it. Especially during my first week, I’ve had a lot of down time after finishing assignments, and several co-workers have encouraged us to leave the office for a walk, or take breaks with other interns, whether it’s just chatting in the break room or playing a game of ping pong. Our office also hosted a happy hour for us to introduce us to more people at the office, especially those I normally wouldn’t interact with as part of my daily job. As part of our intern training, we have weekly conference calls with senior employees, and our latest one this week was about communication at work. Although there were several key takeaways, the biggest one was that everything is on a case-by-case basis. The way I interact with one boss can vary drastically with how I talk to another, and the same holds for other co-workers and clients. Some of the highest ranking employees and clients can actually be the most laid back, and some entry level employees may be formal, it all depends on reading the person and getting a sense of their personal style. When dealing with clients, I’m already learning how to phrase different things depending on who I’m addressing. Many of the technologies we evaluate in the energy sector are great for rate-payers and the environment, but often reduce profits for utility companies. Thus, it is very important to align my consulting reports with the client at hand and try and present the information in a non-biased fashion if I’m not sure who will be reading the final report. Finally, I’ve really enjoyed the dogs people bring into work, which also builds onto the casual environment at work and gives me another excuse to take a short break which helps with my productivity.