Solving problems and improving leadership: miscommunication struggles

May 21, 2020

I am two weeks into my remote internship at the Law Offices of Haytham Faraj. Thus far, I have learned a lot about myself, the workforce, and the way this internship will work. Along with this, I have identified some problems that can be solved and struggles concerning leadership at the firm. The world is at a very tricky place, because no one knows how to go about their lives normally. This has been something I can tell my supervisor is really struggling with.

Upon the beginning of my internship, we decided that we will work together to figure out how to make my internship as meaningful as it can be. However, I am realizing we are two very different people, which leads to an operational issue. I wake up every day at 8:30 on the dot ready to take on my day, whereas my supervisor sends me emails at 1 in the morning after I am fast asleep and sets our earliest phone calls for 11 am. This makes communication and teamwork tricky, because often I am waiting on a response from him to continue on. Leadership requires compromise and this has not yet been reached. As a student studying leadership, I would identify this problem as the team not being on the same page. Confusion and different levels of understanding leads to less effective work and a lack in efficiency. With insights into the important of teamwork and collaboration through my various studies of leadership, it is important that we both figure out a way to better adapt to each other’s lifestyles.

Another problem that I have noticed is that I have not yet talked to anyone but my supervisor. There are only two other employees at the firm besides him, which may make that difficult, but I believe that working at least with the other attorney could be beneficial for the whole firm. When not having communication with as many people as possible, I believe the firm is not living up to its best potential. In leadership, there needs to be as many relationships formed as can be, which is simply not happening right now. I do believe we are all trying to get used to being remote, and I still have 12 weeks left of my internship to figure everything out, which I am thankful for. By working together and compromising, leadership at this firm would be enhanced, and everyone would be better off than before.

Every organization has things that they need to work on, and I believe the Law Offices of Haytham Faraj needs to address their communication and teamwork. As a leadership major, I can suggest these things to my supervisor and continue to learn a lot from my remote internship.