Team Dynamics and Leader/ Follower Relationships in the US House of Representatives

This is my second summer working for the congresswoman and it is safe to say that my experience this summer is extremely different. For one, the route for communication has changed largely due to the fact that I am working from home in St. Louis instead of on the Hill in D.C. Instead of receiving tasks from all of the Legislative staff, I am instead directed by the legislative assistant assigned to Healthcare and Financial Services. Most of the tasks that I am completing are very structured and there is a sort-of path to having my write-ups and research approved by my boss who then has it approved by his boss.

Overall, the office is very close and friendly. This summer they asked me to return as an intern along with a boy that worked in the office with me last summer. Because of the nature of the work, it would have been extremely difficult for them to train new individuals who were unfamiliar with the different software the office uses. There are only seven full-time employees in the office and all but one of them are under the age of 30. The office is made up of people who have interned for the congresswoman in the past, all of whom are from St. Louis and are mostly all from my high school, so everyone is extremely helpful whenever I have questions. With everyone being close in age, it sometimes makes it difficult to separate work and professionalism from friendships. This has been increasingly difficult since the office prefers texting over emails.

It has also been challenging to not have the staff physically around to answer different questions that I have regarding constituent concerns. Instead of getting up from my desk and walking 5 feet to the legislative staffers who are experts in certain topic areas, I have often found myself researching for hours on end a topic that the staff would have otherwise been able to send me a quick memo on had we been in the office together. I think it would be extremely helpful if we were to have some sort of shared folder with memos regarding hot-bed issues, legislation, and policy briefings so that the other intern and I would not have to search for these resources.