Making the Most Out of Your Internship

As the semester comes to an end, my classmates and I will each embark on our summer internships. This is something I am extremely excited to do because it really will be the first big step into my professional career. I had a lot of ideas about where I wanted to go and ended up picking an organization that I really didn't expect to choose. I connected instantly with my preceptor and an alumni who also works at the organization and am excited for all of the opportunities they have to offer. I came across an article in the Harvard Business Review called "6 Ways to Make the Most of Your Internship". Right off the bat, author John Coleman states,

"These experiences can be tremendously valuable, providing young workers the opportunity to build skills for their resumes and meet people who are working in their preferred industry. Increasingly, they are the likeliest route to full-time employment and are even offered year-round rather than only during summer months. But they can also be difficult adjustments for young people who have little to no experience in professional offices. It can be hard for someone to stand out and make the right impression during a three-month stint spent adapting to such a new environment."

 While I have had a lot of work experience, as I was employed as soon as I turned 16, I do not have a lot of experience in a professional office. My experiences mostly revolve around retail and restaurants where the environment is much more informal. I am hoping that I will be able to acclimate myself into the professional environment very quickly.

His first tip is "start with relentless punctuality". As someone who absolutely dreads being late, I do not see this being an issue for me. I am somewhat concerned getting my body/sleep schedule in sync with a typical work schedule on top of the time my commute will take me. Coleman also quotes an exective that mentions that "summer internships are for a short, defined period of time, so give it 100%." Our internships are only around 10 weeks which is just a little more than two months. I think that showing up on time shows both respect and dedication.
Second is "complete each task with excellence". This seems pretty obvious. You want your work to speak for itself.
Third is "take on more work without being asked". Luckily, this is something that has been drilled into me in each of my jobs. As a hostess, I often do things that really are not in my job description, but make the jobs of those around me easier. All year at my on campus job I am constantly the person picking up extra shifts or working in departments or areas that I am not familiar with. This has both helped my time management and has allowed me to not be afraid to try new opportunities just because they are not my responsibility or I am not familiar with them.
Fourth is "be resourceful". One thing a lot of the seniors stressed was keeping a notebook with questions or topics you were not familiar with. Coleman quotes an executive who discusses how asking too many questions can make it seem like you have not even attempted to find an answer by yourself. I think there is a balance between knowing when you need to ask for help and constantly asking for it instead of doing your own research first.
Fifth is "ask questions -- good ones". For me, asking questions shows you're engaged, whether that be in an interview, in class, in a meeting, or during a conversation. In the context of an internship, I feel that this is especially important when meeting with your preceptor. My goal for the summer is to "be a sponge" and soak up as much knowledge as I possibly can. Asking questions from a real professional is one of the best ways to do that. Coleman also suggests that when you hear a colleague ask a great question, write it down and consider what made it a great question. This tip can definitely help strengthen the quality of the questions you ask.
The sixth and final tip is "build professional relationships". Again, this seems pretty obvious. Networking is essential in a lot of professional careers, health administration is absolutely one of those careers. Relationships make experiences more memorable and strengthen professional development. Coleman also suggests learning from the great relationship-builders in your organization. It is often easy to spot the person in a company that has great relationships and I think there is a lot to learn from these people.

John Coleman makes a lot of valid points in this article. My key takeaways were giving it 100% all of the time, making sure you are asking the right questions, and trying to find answers yourself first instead of always asking for help. He states "doing only what's expected of you isn't enough to be noticed." This is a good rule in any position. Being a versatile employee and the person that often looks to go above and beyond is a good position to be in.

Hot Water

Today I really screwed up at my job. I apparently did not look meticulously enough at the schedule as I should have and had no idea that I was scheduled to work tonight. Because I didn't know this I switched shifts with another co-worker and ended up unknowingly double booking myself for the night. I went in early and put in some extra work to do some repairs that would benefit us for the night even though we will be done in 24 hours. I had another co-worker covering for me while I played in my hockey game, and when I finished I opened my phone up to a missed call and a text from my boss. I had no idea why he would be calling me. I then opened up his text and found out that I was supposed to be at a different facility than where I was.
To give you a little background knowledge, we often run (as we are right now 3 sports). People who come into my position are promoted from being a referee of any of our 3 sport tracks. Often supervisors work the majority of their shifts in the sport that they were promoted from. As this week is the final week and most crucial part of playoffs, I thought there was no possibility I was even scheduled for another sport. This mistake has been made by other co-workers of mine and I actually totally covered and solved myself this same situation in the fall for someone else, which fortunately for him and unfortunately for me my boss doesn't know about. He was able to find someone to go out to the field
I take a lot of pride in the work I do, that is why I blog about it so often. I really feel that what we do at Intramurals and organizationally at Campus Rec really does have an impact on a lot of students' college experience. So I was extremely upset at myself for making this big of a mistake especially at a crucial time for both sports that were involved. My boss asked if we could meet tomorrow to talk and I have thought over multiple times what I'm going to have to say. While this isn't a crisis situation, I actually learned some tools through our crisis leadership presentation that I can relate to this. A lot of our in class scenarios began with us fully taking ownership for the crisis. Fortunately, I don't even have to lie that this is entirely my fault, because it is. But at this point all I can really do is take ownership for it and make sure it doesn't happen again. But I am worried I will have to walk a very fine line, depending on my repercussions, between defending myself and the extensive number of great things I have done this year and just laying down and taking whatever my boss decides to throw at me. I have done a lot of things for my group this year and stepped up often when others wouldn't. I feel that my work speaks for itself. I just hope that my boss knows how hard I work in my position, so that I don't have to do a lot of defending, and that one mistake doesn't discredit how much work I have put in for the last 12 months.
Admittedly I am also pretty curious to see how my boss handles this. I made a truly genuine mistake, but I am both up for a promotion and in the running for Supervisor of the Year which will be awarded Friday. He does have a reputation for being lenient and a very small record of punishing people. But I still did make a stupid mistake. I am, lets not say excited, but eager to examine his leadership techniques. So will he know that I genuinely slipped up and recognize how much hard work I have put in for 12 months? Or will one night taint everything that I've done up to this point? Stay tuned I guess.

Beginnings and Endings

After reading Jess's reflective post about the end of the semester nearing us I found myself getting really nostalgic about what we have accomplished this semester. The first few weeks I think a lot of us were extremely apprehensive about being in a class with a structure that is unlike anything we have ever been exposed to. Being a thoroughly unstructured person, I had no real reservations about these changes. Reading what Professor Bonica had planned for us motivated me to want to jump in head first into everything that this class could offer me intellectually. I started off very early on this portfolio and have tried to maintain my pace since. The environment we created has facilitated the best learning environment I have ever truly experienced. The climate has changed exponentially since our first day in the epicenter of every Health Management & Policy major's world, Pettee 114. We have been vocal about what has worked and what hasn't. Every section our presentations have gotten better and better and I have seen everyone open up a little more each time. I have learned just as much from the presentations that we have prepared as I have from each one of my classmates. I have had the pleasure of getting to know each of my classmates, and Professor Bonica, to a point that I did not anticipate. Our discussions are extremely open and I have never worried about saying the wrong thing or being judged. They have kept me engaged in every single class and often made me reflect about our material outside of class. They have made me reflect on my strengths and weaknesses, my tendencies, my character, and my core values. This class has not only benefited me intellectually but it has pushed me to grow as a person. I really value the connections that I have made with each and every one of you and how much we have accomplished and grown. In the business world I have heard the saying many times: "its not what you know, its who you know." While I do think what you know and who you are are still important, I know that I have connected to some pretty great people who will be great professionals in a few years. I know that our futures hold bright things for each of us.
As this class nears its end, we will also have some important beginnings. This summer we will have the opportunity to examine the material we have discussed in a real professional setting. I only wish that I had an opportunity to take a class like this after having real professional experience. Lastly, I would like to thank Professor Bonica for his radical ideas and for allowing me to have this experience. This class would truly not be possible without you and I have learned so much from you this semester. I know I will use the knowledge this class has given me far beyond May of 2018. I look forward to giving my third and final presentation and the feeling of accomplishment that I will have when we turn in our finished primer.

Building Relationships

Today I attended a professional panel focused on health care finance where we had 4 professionals talk to us about their careers and current policies. One of the biggest things that stuck out to me was when Dr. Bonica asked the Assistant VP of Finance about the stigma that so many people who work in finance are stuck behind their computers crunching numbers all day. I really didn't anticipate that her response would be that this is not the case, and the biggest part of her job is building relationships. Another woman who worked in insurance and the CEO of a small critical access hospital both agreed that this skill is essential to their job. The CEO came from a background of law enforcement and said that the reason he was an effective hospital CEO was because of emotional intelligence and his ability to connect with people.
This made me think back to my job and the skills that it has instilled in me. When asked in my job interview why I thought I would be good for the promotion my answer was that I had built extremely strong relationships both with my peers, my supervisor, and with those who I oversee. What drew me to my current position was how tight knit of a group we are. There are smaller subgroups in my position, grouped by what sports track you are on. And when I was answering why I would be successful at being a program coordinator I was able to speak to how good of relationships I have within my organization. I speak openly with my supervisor most days that I work. He has been there for me to rely on for any support and I have been there for him to keep day to day operations running smoothly. We often have bounced ideas off of each other for ways to improve our program or how to better train our officials. My sports have had the fewest amount of issues the entire year and I am certain that is because of how well my colleagues and I work together. I think that knowing how to build relationships is a hard skill to teach but I am very fortunate enough to be in an environment that has fostered such good connections in my life. The connections I have make my work more efficient and enjoyable.
The idea that your character and EQ may be more important than your IQ is an idea that we have been discussing all semester. Hearing that from professionals in the health care industry really reinforced that idea for me.

Lessons on Teamwork from Miracle

For our topic of Many, Logan and I will research teamwork. I really couldn't be more excited about our topic because I think that it is universally important no matter what job you are in. I have been on teams my entire life, starting when I was four joining my town's youth hockey program. Since then, between 3 different sports, I have been on countless sports teams on different levels (youth, high school, college Division 1 and club). Every single one of these sports teams along with the other organized teams I have been on in my life has been extremely unique. When I think about a good example of a great team, I automatically think of the 1980 Olympic Hockey team. If you've ever seen the movie Miracle, this is the team I'm referring to. Admittedly I've seen this movie enough times to quote the entirety of it so I am not even sure where to start for those of you who have not seen it. It even features Ralph Cox, a UNH alumni that was cut from the team at the last minute.

 

The team is comprised of players from all of the most competitive colleges in the country, which means many of them are rivals. Their biggest issue in the first half of the movie is even being able to tolerate each other let alone actually work together. In the picture shown above, the players are gathered in a circle. Cox actually says this because he knows whatever school he says hes from hes going to make an enemy. Eventually they actually come together to be a family. The big turning point in the film is this scene : Miracle on Ice. When they are pushed to their breaking point, they finally come together for one common goal, to play for the USA instead of as individuals. While most team environments may not have a goal that is easy to rally around (like winning a gold medal for your country) what I took away from this team and this movie was that having a defined goal or purpose is essential for any team. People knowing why they are there and what they are working towards creates motivation and creates a common bond among team members. If you haven't seen this movie, I would very much recommend it as it shows the journey of one of the greatest teams the world has ever seen.

Lightning Does Strike Twice

This semester we are enrolled in a class called Health Research I, essentially it is a data analytics class. Every other week or so we turn in a problem set, which is a small project that encompasses one topic of the class. This week we worked on forecasting and had been warned in the past that this was the problem set that ended up having the most output and also would be much easier to start early when learning the different forecasting techniques. I got started on it as we went along each method and then unfortunately, lost the entirety of my data around 10am on Wednesday (the day before it was due). This was mostly my own fault for forgetting to save my progress as I went along. I pretty much locked myself in my apartment and ended up getting back to where I was. Then again, at 9pm, my computer shut down. Of course I didn't learn my lesson and again didn't save my progress. I panicked and knew as soon as I turned my computer on I would be back to where I was at 10am. I ended up staying up until about 2am to finish the problem set and lost most of my sanity in the process. However, I was the most productive during this time. This got me thinking about procrastinating. While I did not intentionally procrastinate, I may as well have. I was wondering why I was the most productive the closest to my deadline. I may have been more productive because I had already forecasted this data twice so I had my bearings at this point. I have become much better about procrastination since high school but I remember the cycle of putting things off then scrambling to be productive in the last night. Now, I tend to start things much earlier and try to get ahead of my assignments.
I found an article on Business Insider about how procrastinating can make you more productive . A professor from Stanford University talks about his use of "structured procrastination". He says "

'Procrastination means not doing what you’re supposed to be doing,' he says. 'Structured procrastination means you don’t waste your time. When you’re avoiding another task, you do something else instead.' " I thought this was a really interesting concept. Putting things off to the last minute is really never a good strategy, but I think if you take something away from his strategy it should be that if you really are avoiding one project, at least get your work done on another one. Don't just sit and watch Youtube videos or scroll through Facebook. He also made the point that as long as you weigh your priorities you can still be efficient. Every person works differently when it comes to time management, the most important thing is finding a strategy that fits your personal style but still is a strategy that gets your work done on time and with a high quality. This is a very different way of time management from anything I have ever seen but I found he did make some good points.
At the end of the day I learned from this experience 1. I hate working right before a deadline so procrastination is just not for me 2. SAVE YOUR WORK multiple times as you go along on big projects 3. If it comes down to it, you will still be able to meet your deadline so just work hard and be productive.

 

Final Thoughts on Listening

I really enjoyed presenting on yesterdays topic. The presentation itself actually got me thinking about listening even more than my research did. While presenting, I noticed something I'm sure a lot of our professors deal with on a daily basis, the way electronics can create such a barrier for listening. I noticed throughout our presentation a lot of my classmates on their computers or from time to time, phones. While other classes computers may be essential, they really aren't in ours. I must mention that I certainly have also done this in our class more than I would like to admit. But I wondered how our class would have gone if we had asked everyone to put their technology away and actually actively listen. With how much participation we had, I think that everyone listened much more than I had realized. But there were certain people that stuck out to me that were really giving the presentation their undivided attention. Going off this in the future, I am definitely going to strive to keep my technology away during this class and follow the example of my other classmates. I think that participation is really the way to get the most out of this class whether that is in class or through this portfolio. I don't think that banning technology necessarily creates a class full of active listers. However, I feel it is our responsibility as students to not allow technology to be a barrier to learning and participation. 
Telephone was definitely my favorite activity of the class. I was actually kicking myself for not realizing this was a great listening activity earlier in my research. I also loved this video of Dwight learning active listening. I learned a lot about my own habits through my research. My mind tends to work extremely fast so when I am listening to a friend telling a story I tend to interrupt with clarifying questions because I like to have all of the information and if I don't ask when it comes to mind, I will forget the question all together or just focus on the question so I don't hear the rest of the story. Clearly this is a bad habit and something I need to work on. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed presenting this topic and will work to use my knowledge to become a better listener.

10 Steps to Effective Listening

Today I read an article from Forbes called 10 Steps to Effective Listening while doing research for my presentation. I think that listening is possibly one of the most important skills to have. Being an effective listener is essential for communication. There is also nothing that annoys me more than people who are terrible listeners. When working tonight, I asked someone a specific question. Because they likely didn't value our interaction and were clearly not listening, they answered another question that I didn't even ask them. One thing I really liked from this article was that it mentioned being present. This is something I strive to always be. I think that this is important in listening and just in day to day life. If you are too busy at work worrying about your issues at home, how can you be productive? The same goes for a conversation. If you are stuck in your own head thinking about something else you are not fully engaged in the conversation. It also mentions keeping an open mind. You can learn something from everything you meet. I remember in class someone saying "everyone is an expert in something". We all walk different paths and have different experiences and through listening to others we can gain new perspectives. I've really enjoyed my research so far and am excited to present to the class.