Week 3

For consulting projects I have quickly learned the value of networking within the office to get on exciting and fun projects and teams. Often, when a project is proposed for a client, the head director is in charge of selecting the team who will be tasked to work on the project. Creating connection to these individuals, whether it be work related or not is extremely valuable to which projects you get selected for. For some of my work, I am given relative freedom for when I want to work on it and how I want to get it done, as long as deadlines are met, however, for other work there are more strict procedures for getting things done. I enjoy both collaborative and independent work at my internship, both of which come with pros and cons. Independent work allows me the freedom to research and write reports about what interests me in the market, however this work can often feel isolated and removed from implementation. With group work I feel that my contributions have a direct impact, however, I am limited in scope on what I can say/do. As I begin to navigate through the pros and cons of these different kinds of work, I also familiarize myself with different leadership styles. Some of my bosses are very chill and laid back, however they also value and reward hard work and effort so it’s important to not always take their attitude as a sign that I can be complacent and just do the minimum to get by. I think that the laid back system leads to a work environment where people feel less stressed and thus more productive. The fact that breaks, even long ones, are encouraged actually motivates me to do more work when I am at my desk, as opposed to a company where they want you to simply “look busy” all the time, which often leads to inefficiency. Given the ebbs and flows of work loads as projects come in, this means that if there happens to not be a lot of work at a given time there is no pressure to stay late or keep busy, however, when the work does come in, the expectations rise. The accessibility and relaxed nature of all leaders leads to followers who don’t feel embarrassed to ask questions and who want to contribute ideas in meetings. Overall, I feel that the organizational structure uses leadership roles for logistical challenges, however the leadership/follower dynamic does not seep into other aspects of the office culture, fostering an open and flexible environment and motivating innovation at every level.