If you're reading this blog, chances are you're thinking about how to start your business career off right, how to get the best internship, how to impress your first employer, and how to have fun while you're doing it all. The following advice is meant to help you once you have secured your internship or entry level position.
Follow along as we help Jim "The Intern" Junior manage up and make the best of his internship experience!
Perspectives
The Manager's Perspective
Jim is my resource
Jim is my student
Jim is my mentee
Jim is my friend
Jim's Perspective
I am here to build lasting professional relationships
I am here to learn
I am here to experience the real world
I am here to make some money
As you can see, there can sometimes be clashing priority structures and expectations. In a short term internship of 10-15 weeks, this will definitely lead to moments of dissatisfaction for both Jim and his manager. This leads to the first method of managing up:
Clearly define expectations and goals at the beginning of any new work experience.
Time Management
Jim gets to work one morning and checks his to-do list and plans out how he will get everything done by the end of the day. But then he checks his email and finds that his manager has assigned ten more tasks for him to get done. It is not unnatural to feel slightly overwhelmed by a situation like this. The best way to deal with this situation is to discuss the priority level and deadline that should be given to each task or group of tasks. Reallocate your time, and work accordingly. Going a step further, you can use the second method of managing up:
Manage your manager's time
This means that you should take initiative in setting up time to work with your manager and assign supporting tasks to your manager (or other team members) that can help you make progress on your work load.
Anticipate
Learning and practicing this skill takes time. Anticipation means knowing what your boss wants before they ask for it. When your actions pleasantly surprise your manager, he/she knows that you 'get it.' Anticipation also means finding opportunities to contribute to other team members' projects or even other teams' projects. This shows that you can handle your normal work load AND you are eager to learn more. So the third and final method of managing up:
Understand the scope and purpose of your work to the extent that allows you to anticipate the next steps
Thanks for reading!
More Resources:
http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2006/11/03/7-ways-to-manage-up/ [Career Blogger]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjd-pghNkYk&NR=1 [Role Play ]
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