Summer, Internship, and You – A guide to get PPO

About SUMMER

I wonder which one of these two is worse: sunburns or backache. If you have an internship this summer then you will have a solid opinion by the end of it.. If you ask me, due to my skin condition I just can’t tolerate sunlight, and given the way the Paris Agreement is being enforced it seems improbable for me to change my opinion for the next 10-15 years or so. I somewhat believe global warming reports are something that we should read sometimes, maybe global warming is one of the reasons for a significant increase in global climate anomalies. Though people seem to be more concerned about global warming, I believe we should be equally concerned about the effects of anomalies as well. Let’s hope this summer goes well. 

About INTERNSHIP

Now coming to the serious topic.. INTERNSHIP…  For many of you, the coming months may be your first internship in a corporate/business setting. An internship can be a confusing chapter that one goes through during MBA. Here I’ll try to help you focus your efforts during your internship. Go through the steps as discussed below:

Step-1: Get “The Big Picture”

You may feel that you have been assigned a random project with some vague objective. Your first task should be to find out how your project will exactly help the company in making money. Once you understand this, then only you will be able to articulate the problem statement, objective, expected deliverables in layman terms. You can use fancy jargon later.

Step-2: Prepare Project Charter

Based on the findings above, sit with your mentor and try to break down your project into steps that will help you to meet the objective. A good charter can be prepared only when you have a clear understanding of the big picture. A well-prepared charter will include the following sections in the same order plus some changes here and there based on your project:

Step-2.A: Problem Statement: The problem at hand the company wants your help for. This is usually a broad-level problem. It is ok to assume many people are working on it already.

Step-2.B: Objective: The task that the company wants you to complete. The objective in all likelihood is just part of the solution for the problem statement.

Step-2.C: Deliverables: Things to be presented at the end of the internship. These can be action items, insights, etc. 

Step-2.D: Scope of Work: Entails all kinds of activities/areas that should be considered work.

Step-2.E: Milestones: Break your project into smaller milestones. This will ensure you are moving at the desired pace. Not too fast to miss details. Not-too-slow to finish on time. Each milestone literally brings you closer to deliverables or should be a deliverable itself. If not, it is not a milestone.

Step-2.F: Methodology: Different tools and techniques you will use to reach each milestone. Restrict this to a few items only. You will not do justice to the quality of the project by using too many methods. Use a few properly.

Step-2.G: Stakeholders: List of stakeholders along with their role, designations, contact details. Give weightage to stakeholders by their roles. Insights from 100 customers may be insignificant compared to that of 1 area sales manager.

Step-3: Mentor is Champion but know your “Decision Maker” too

The internship is about peer learning, make the most out of your time in/out of the office by knowing about people. The most important aspect of this would be to identify people playing roles (decision-maker, influencer, gate-keeper, champion, etc) in your PPO journey.

• Champion: The person who will advocate on your behalf for PPO. In all cases, your mentor is your champion. Make sure he/she has full faith in your potential and intent to work in the company. 
• Decision Maker: The person who actually decides whether you get your PPO or not.
• Influencer: These are the people in a position similar to that of a decision maker and/or champion who can give positive and negative points about you during PPO process.
• Gate-Keeper: Someone with technical or positional power who can put end to PPO anytime during the process.

Step-4: When in Rome do as the Romans do

Be a person who others would want as a colleague. Building rapport in the early days of the internship will make your journey significantly smoother. While you do all the socializing and hangouts, make sure you do not lose yourself in the act. Being “too-smart” (cocky) or “too-dumb” (liability) is seen as an outlier. No need to underplay yourself. To keeps things clear:

Step-4.A: No one wants a dumb colleague, who can become a liability, and would consequentially increase their workload or may make their day from bad to worse. 

Step-4.B: You also need to understand that being too smart, often if not always, is perceived as over-confidence, regarded as not-so-serious-about-work, and someone comes as if you have doubts about the manager’s capability. This will put others in an undesirable but avoidable uncomfortable situation. Be genuine. 

Step-5: Always show a positive attitude towards work/PPO

During your initial days, your mentor may ask you, directly or indirectly, about your interest in PPO. Irrespective of what you think, give him a positive response. 

Step-5.A: A mentor who is confident about your interest in PPO is likely to put more quality time and effort into you for your own good.

Step-5.B: Mentors would be interested in helping those who value him, his time, and his work. 

Step-5.C: Plus, by the end of the internship, your mentor will have a better understanding of you, you will have a better knowledge about the company and its people. 

Hence, by being positive during your internship you will be in a much better position to discuss PPO towards the end of your internship.

Step-6: Be proactive, ask for help whenever in doubt

It is totally fine to know nothing at all at the beginning. Therefore, be proactive. 

Step-6.A: Be visible and be in touch with all the stakeholders across hierarchies on a regular basis. 

Step-6.B: People who know you a little more since the beginning will be more than willing to go an extra mile to help you with your project. But no one will be interested in spoon-feeding you. However, they will be more than happy to help you when you ask for it. 

Step-6.C: Seek people for advice on things you are confused about. It will help you to bring structure to your random thoughts as well. Make sure you leave a thank you note to those who helped you. 

Step-7: Avoid office politics, unnecessary gossiping

Existing employees would be tempted to influence you in one way or the other. Gossiping about XYZ people may damage your PPO prospects. It is fine to hang out and have fun, but make sure you do not make negative/personal comments. Irrespective of your project outcome, negative feedback of this sort is a definite NO-GO.

Step-8: Avoid negativity – Do not whine about work

Treat work as work. The ability to derive satisfaction out of work is something that most of us, including me, are struggling with on many days. Let it be any platform, do not whine about work. It establishes your negative image. People will perceive you as a loser. No work will bring you satisfaction unless you put your heart into it. Be happy.

Step-9: Carry the right gears

Carry a daily diary (A5/A6 size preferably) and camera (smartphone). Sounds simple but in real life literally, all of us struggle to complete things on time for a number of reasons. Maintaining a diary will help you to keep a track of your work. Many times people around you will give you beautiful small key inputs which until noted down will be forgotten. 

Step-10: Marketing and similar projects

Make sure you opt for accommodation in a locality that minimizes your daily travel time. Qualitative data must be backed with quantitative data. Hence put equal emphasis on both of them. 

Step-10.A: Estimating relevant target market size alone will be a big plus to your project. 

Step-10.B: Start with secondary research, then interviews, then survey. For surveys, preferably use 2 to 5 mins one-page forms only. It can be distributed quickly, filled easily.

Step-11: Realistic deliverables

Many companies have their own way of doing any work. They usually are looking for a person who can come to the same conclusion as they did. If you can, then they will look at your approach. Arriving at the same result without a structured approach is not appreciated. Discuss your problem, approach, and recommendations with your mentor, people from concerned functions & divisions. Their input will provide valuable insight into what you need to do.

Step-12: PPT is important

For interns, final review dates will be scheduled by giving priority to the availability of mentor, panel, and office space. Hence you may have to wrap up your project on extremely short notice (this happens quite a lot, happened to me as well). Plan your final presentation flow well in advance. Keep your PPT template and structure ready.

Step-13: Prove money value of your time

Probably you already know how money grows/decays over time. However in an internship, you will have limited time, what you need to prove is that your time has significant value to the organization. For this to happen, the person deciding your PPO should see the “money value of your time” spent on the project. For this to happen you need to know how you have contributed towards the company’s problem, towards identified solutions, and towards the given project. If you stay in touch with people around the office you will understand how each person contributes to the growth of the company.

Step-14: Alignment and Fit with the organization

This is a much softer aspect that is critical but not worked on during an internship. Your project must be aligned to the company’s objective, which translates into:

Step-14.A: Company Objective: Your project’s deliverable should be aligned to the vision (objective) of the person in the leadership role

Step-14.B: Division / Function / Department’s Objective: Your project’s deliverable should (hypothetically) help the division / function / department’s head to make at least one actionable decision

Step-15.C: Mentor’s Objective: Your project’s deliverable should help your mentor in at least one of the following

• decrease his/her workload
• increase his/her scope of work
• increase his/her performance
• clear one of the task from his/her tasks list

Step-15.D: Culture Fit / Company Fit: Your natural / adapted work ethics should overlap with the company’s working culture. There are instances when people deliver but still are not offered PPOs because their work ethics are drastically different from that of the company. In such cases, please understand that both employees and the organization will not be happy with each other in the long term.

Step-15: Balance

It’s a job, not life. Do not forget to eat healthily. Call your dear ones every once in a while. Go out, have fun, explore places, make friends. Do not die working day-in-day-out. Learn to deal with it. Work sincerely, smartly. Do not act bossy on subordinates, neither do feel intimidated by your boss, mentor, or client. 

For Freshers: Yeah it may seem boring but that’s how it is. Relax and cheer up. Have fun.

About YOU

Now that you have read and hopefully grasped whatever I’ve written, let’s focus on the last bit, which I believe you can start working on right now itself. 

Presentation Skills

This is something that needs constant effort and feedback to become perfect. A constant agony expressed against interns by business leaders is one’s inability to present thoughts through compelling stories with relevant visual depictions. I strongly recommend you to read this book on how to create memorable visual slides. Read it a couple of times before the start of the internship. Now go look back to the links on “global warming reports” & “global climate anomalies” that I’ve put in the “About SUMMER” section of this article. Scientific Reports require a deep understanding of the subject before they are presented to political/national/corporate leaders or the general public who many times understand not a dime of science, plus their default inclination is towards maximizing monetary returns (principal-agent problem). Hence rigorous research despite evidence in form of facts and figures require excellent storytelling skills, visualization techniques. 

Story Telling

As an intern, you are supposed to bridge the gap between – you who know reality and others who can act to change reality. You must ensure you work upon your storytelling methods and have a strong grasp of data visualization. The next thing you should work on is how you deliver your presentations. There are thousands of videos on Youtube, if not millions, on how to improve your speaking. I’m adding a link on Develop Your Speaking Skills by Conor Neill as it worked for me. Start working on your presentation skills now to reap the exponential rewards/benefits in the future.

Last but not the least

Be in control of things that matter. Stop worrying about things that don’t and/or cannot be controlled. But be wise enough to know the difference between both.

Wish you all good luck. Enjoy your internship.