Solving Problems by Asking Questions

I have genuinely been enjoying my time with Mahony Dagman Inc., but as with any internship experience, I have identified areas that could be improved. When I started interning with the company, I began at a pivotal time of adjustment in everyone’s personal and professional lives. Maureen and Mohammad were transitioning to homeschooling their 7-year-old son while also balancing a new work schedule. When I first began interning, we originally established that I would work with Maureen on Wednesdays and with Mohammad on the other days of the week. But, quickly we realized that with many other things happening in life, it wasn’t easy to stick to that schedule. Sometimes I will find myself working from home or in the office with a lack of direction. I will be asked to add to a database or complete research, but with little specifics. I have found the solution to this issue is that I need to take initiative with asking for clarification. Once I ask for specifics I will receive the direction I need and I continue asking questions until I feel like I have enough clarification to complete the tasks.

In addition to the occasional ambiguity of instruction, I entered the company in the middle of projects already established and in the works. So, sometimes when I learn my tasks for the day, I’ll understand what and how to complete my tasks, but won’t have a full understanding of its purpose. For example, I have been helping curate a database of artists for a future exhibition. But, while I understand I need to include artists with environmentally-related work, I wasn’t informed what organization the list was for, the overall purpose of the list, or where the exhibition was going to be. After working on the list for a few days alongside Maureen and having conversations relating to the database, I started to slowly learn the purpose of the list. I would continue to ask questions to not only better my ability to make my contributions, but also to have a better understanding of what I was contributing to. While the information is confidential, I felt I could compete the tasks better since I had a better understanding of what I was contributing to.