Week 3 Reflection — Organizational Culture

At ILA, the culture is primarily laid back. The people who work at ILA are so deeply dedicated to the work that they do, that no one is too concerned about anyone else getting their work done. Because everyone is so passionate about their work, it is assumed that the work will get done. That said, there is sometimes a sense of urgency in getting work done. It seems to me that ILA is, in general, understaffed. I am blown away by how many members ILA has to organize, given how few full-time employees it has. So, while no one is especially concerned with other people getting their work done, every person who works at ILA works hard to make sure that the work gets done. 

I think that there are strengths and weaknesses to this type of company culture. One strength is that everyone is pretty independent in their work. While members of the staff work together on a lot of projects, no one is constantly checking up on one another. I think that this creates a positive work environment. As an intern, I work under the membership and marketing director, but have worked on projects with other people who work at ILA. I like that the culture is collaborative and laid back. Most of my interactions with the other staff members are pretty informal and relaxed. I think that this makes the work more enjoyable. 

One big weakness in this culture however is that sometimes I wish I did have a little more guidance on projects. It is assumed at ILA that everyone will just get the work they were assigned to do done. While I am self motivated, it is still only my third week at ILA and so I wish that I had more supervision on some projects to make sure that I am completing them to my supervisor’s satisfaction. 

Another weakness about this culture is, as I mentioned earlier, ILA seems to be understaffed. So, because everyone works so hard on their own projects, sometimes the communication between staff is lacking. So, sometimes my project assignments can be a little unclear, and as I said, I don’t always have a lot of supervision while completing these projects. 

Overall, however, I am very happy with the organizational culture at ILA.