When your boss is not around

I wanted to share with you what really happens when the boss has been away for three weeks, and what happens when you need to get back into the swing of things... 

Hello fellow readers! 

Since the last blog things have changed, as they usually do. For one, the boss is back. Since Barbara's treasure hunt in Poland for the mysterious Gold Train, she has brought back the sense of urgency, methodical chaos and rigor into the workday. The storm has hit (but in a good way)! Emails still linger, yet are no longer the only activity of the day, which I'm happy about. Yet what was happening here while she was away is a different story. 

In a day of an intern, we're under constant supervision. Colleagues, managers and the boss keep us busy and engaged throughout our times in the office or in the field. So what happens when the boss is not in the office to pull you in all sorts of directions? 

In a nutshell...  
...it gets quiet and the intern doesn't get that many responsibilities. Another thing that happens here is the process of writing, newsletter layouts, resizing photos and content creation all become less hectic. A writer's way of going about reaching a goal is to either logically outline what they're going to be writing about, how they want to structure it, or to prefer the tangled version of putting a newsletter together. Depending on how people around you influence your writing process, you might find it contagious and adopt this alternative pathway to successfully reaching your intern goals. 

Two ways of reaching your end goal

As the radio filled the silence, I had to do something during these doldrums. This being a work experience when things get quiet you have to take some initiative to ask for tasks you can do, how you can further help out, and keep asking plenty of questions. 

Never a Dull Moment? 
Speaking with other interns who are at different placements, I hear another story; they are always busy, loaded with work and completely overwhelmed - wondering when the day will end. Of course every place is different, and all our bosses and supervisors have different approaches to teaching and exposing us interns to the fast-paced world of PR, communications, events management, in-house work and consultancies. 

Coming in every week and not knowing what to expect is nervously exciting, so when you can accurately predict a bland day ahead, you'd want to make it better and turn it around. I don't know how you feel about this, but I'm sure we'd all rather be busy bees than wilting workers. 

Keep on Moving
Of course while Barbara was away she kept in touch, and her right-hand go-to assistant Siobhan was in the office, which gave us the chance to work together a lot more and enjoy the less-manic office vibe. So just because the boss isn't here doesn't mean you can slack off; if anything it gives you the chance to keep improving your skills, prove yourself to other co-workers and keep moving in a productive direction; even if responsibilities don't pile up on your desk. 

Booth sales sheets, Pink Ribbon Ball flyers and inspirational team posters

While Barbara was away, I had time to dedicate myself to an ongoing email frenzy and think about how to turn this into a useful blog post. I realised that any tasks that we do as interns serves a larger purpose, even if we can't see that at this very moment. Once it all comes together and we enjoy the hard work we'd put in, we realise that all those menial and repetitive things on our to-do list were not as terrible as we previously remembered them to be.