How to manage interns successfully

12.03.2019 at 12:54 h

Galena CEO at SpareFare.net

4

Hi everyone! I am the CEO of a travel startup and we are about to welcome our second trainee into the team. I am wondering about the best approach I can take when managing them. I do not approve of micro-managing people, but do you think trainees might need such a close level of supervision due to lack of experience? I also want to give them a lot of freedom, but also do not want them to start slacking off - any ideas how to approach this in a balanced way? 

Answers

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Lilyana Business Psychologist

2

I can talk on this for hours but the basis is - ask them. Ask them what they prefer - do they like being autonomous or do they want you or someone else to be there for them and help them. Of course at the beginning they will need full support because everything will be new to them. So give them that needed full support at the beginning and you will also get a sense of who they are, what kind of work ethic they have, etc. Once you know that you will know what they prefer and how to best manage them. But again the basis is that everyone is very different and you have to have individual approach to each I think. :)

Nyama Go

1

Quite a good answer - I like the people-centric approach in it. Being interested in their preferences and learning their needs BEFORE imposing our management style. One thing I'd disagree, though, is the advice to 'give them full support'. Nothing teaches better than being thrown in the proverbial deep end of the pool :) Support - yes, but far from 'full': ample opportunities for discovery and self-learning are essential in an intern scenario (and are also in line with the company's economic priorities, which are different from the case of new full-time hires for the long run, where investment in their development is critical).

Lilyana

0

Thank you for your comment! I agree with you 100%, that's why I said "at the beginning they will need full support", not throughout the entire internship :) If you look at Situational Leadership for instance there is a certain leadership style to use in accordance to the level of competence the intern has at any given moment, it's very helpful, and I do think open communication is key to establishing how to lead and manage interns.

Michael Company Rep

1

You need to fill their time as much as possible because interns generally wouldn't be able to fill it on their own. If they don't have a variety of tasks and things to do at all times they'd generally end up slacking off I think, and those are often people that have quite a lot to do outside of work as well, so you might have them working on their uni stuff while at work..

I honestly think micromanaging an intern is the best way to go about his/her training, as it will ensure they actually learn what you need them to and remain productive in the meantime. If you're certain you don't want to do that you might want to give them projects with clear deadlines or checkpoints, so they have some sort of control mechanism.

Consider that they are also compeletely new to the company and often have no idea what's going on, so until they sort of learn the ropes they won't be able to contribute much except what you directly assign them with. 

I don't really have much experience training interns, I'm approaching this from the perspective of someone who's been an intern at many companies and saw the different methods, and I compared my learning curve and contribution according to that

Nikola

1

Give them the freedom to define their own project how to help the organization. Make it a game and give prices. After all they are not slaves, so let them have fun

Vikram Head Customer Success

0

1. Implement an agile-goal setting framework like OKR

2. Set the training agenda for them. You or someone run that agenda

3. Set the cadence of review and feedback between manager and new joiners every quarter

Nyama Go

0

This sounds like a good action plan for freshly hired full-time employees, but interns are not exactly that. Both their own needs and the company expectations are different from the case of new joiners for the long run. Their predetermined short presence in the company does not justify the investment required in the actions you describe.

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