Page 3 - LeadershipLine_July2022

Managing Your Summer Interns

It’s summer break for college students, and that means your office may welcome the
arrival of a new crop of summer interns.
If you’re in an office where interns aren’t present two-thirds of the year, it can be
a tough adjustment to manage an intern during your already busy schedule. Good
management and a positive approach to working with summer interns can lead to
increased productivity for your department, as well as a crucial experience for the
intern and a potential future employee who understands the ins and outs of MIL.

» Give Them a Good Welcome. First impressions are » Encourage Questions. It’s important to foster
everything. When you’re welcoming interns to your an open environment where they feel comfortable
organization, you want them to feel comfortable and and will look to you for help solving problems and
valued. working on assignments.

» Treat Them Like Full Time Employees. Interns » Schedule Regular Check-Ins and Provide
may not be earning a salary and benefits like full-time Feedback. While this is a good tip for any manager
employees, but they deserve the same respect. and their employees, it is even more important for
» Encourage Them to Problem-Solve. Working in working with interns. Internships are often a person’s
a new place can be daunting, especially as an intern first office job, so having regular check-ins to see how
trying to learn your company’s processes. But once they are doing and providing feedback will help them
they’re onboarded and getting the hang of the daily adjust to the job at hand faster and make them feel
routine, you should encourage them to work on their more like a member of the team.
problem-solving, leadership, and critical thinking.

» Challenge Them with New Projects and Tasks. If
you want to get the most out of your summer interns,
it’s best to assign a variety of tasks, rather than
repeating the same tasks. Let them get involved with
some of the tasks you do and ask them to give input
on projects.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

According to a Gallop poll, 88 percent of highly engaged team members feel appreciated compared to only 13
percent of unengaged team members. Feeling appreciated and valued lifts you up and creates loyalty. Make it a
priority to notice what your team members are doing right. What behaviors and attitudes do you take for granted
from your team member who always brings positivity or creativity to each meeting? What characteristic makes the
client seek out a certain team member over and over? Recognize and take the time to tell that team member how
much you appreciate his or her ability to look outside the box for a creative solution. Be specific to help reinforce
that behavior and to ensure the team member knows you recognize and value their contributions.
Did you know Spring and summer SAD symptoms that are specific to summer-onset seasonal affective

disorder, sometimes called summer depression, may include:
» Trouble sleeping » Weight loss » Increased irritability
(insomnia) » Agitation or
» Poor appetite anxiety