Designing and Managing a Virtual Internship Program

The COVID-19 crisis has posed unprecedented challenges to the business world. Organizations are already struggling with business continuity, workforce management and talent acquisition as all these now are to be taken care of remotely. Over the last few months, the entire market scenario has drastically changed and it looks like it will remain so for a while. And now, with the arrival of summer, there is one more challenge which the companies need to address – managing virtual internship programs. There are a number of companies that believed remote work would be the future, long before the crisis began, and have a proper infrastructure in place. But there are many others that are still adjusting to this new normal. Several companies already have a list of selected interns and now they are wondering how to engage them remotely. Or, some were about to launch an internship program this summer for the first time and now they have no clue how to make it work. This is especially true for small businesses which now must rethink their strategies to recruit top talents as interns, remotely, so they can consider them adding to their talent pool in the future. It isn’t very tough though. A few changes and some creative problem solving could easily help you develop an effective virtual internship program. Here are a few tips to help you design one.
  1. Communicate Responsibilities and Compensation
You cannot just assign anything to your remote interns and expect them to complete the task. Clearly define and communicate the work they need to do and the number of hours your company expects them to devote. Assign tasks according to their capabilities and be thoughtful about helping them develop their skillset. Interns are usually college students without any negotiation experience and many accept offers even if the companies are underpaying them. Be a considerate employer and decide on a compensation based on their skillset and task assigned. Nurturing a good talent in the right manner would pay off in future.
  1. Remote Onboarding
Your remote interns wouldn’t get the formal team lunch or handshakes during onboarding. This calls for making their onboarding experience rich. Develop an effective onboarding process to make them feel integrated right from the start. Companies need to evaluate and identify the gaps their remote onboarding process has and must use tools and techniques to improve every intern’s experience as a new member of the team. Encourage your virtual interns to interact and put forward their queries. Some companies also rely on providing them with access to the company resources and social media site to learn about the organization before they start working. Also, provide them with learning opportunities so they can work on their professional skills.
  1. Make Your Interns Feel Valued
When an intern is working remotely, they have no idea about your team dynamics or work culture. Even if you have an amazing work environment, they wouldn’t be aware of it. As a mentor, you need to instill the team spirit in your intern. An essential aspect of managing remote interns is making them feel like they are an important part of your team and help them bond with other members. Team building activities like a welcome email or a team video call could be helpful. Involve your team and brainstorm effective virtual internship program ideas.
  1. Fix a Schedule
Many interns are college students and if you expect them all to be available in the usual office hours for discussions or work, that might not be possible. Some of them may have classes during that period of time. Discuss with them and fix a schedule when your virtual interns can coordinate with the team on a regular basis. Maintain clear communication, inform them about changes if any and try sticking to the schedule as much as possible.
  1. Assign a Good Mentor
A good mentor is essential for helping the interns grow their knowledge and skillset, especially when they are working remotely. The mentor needs to develop a good professional relationship with them. Nurturing the talents of your interns can be beneficial for your company in multiple ways. A good virtual internship program is a great way of brand building and attracting top talents. Also, you can later hire your intern as full-time employees in which case all your efforts put in the virtual internship program would contribute to developing a powerful workforce.
  1. Provide Continuous Feedback
When interns work remotely, there are high chances of them running out of motivation. It’s important to understand the working style of your interns, what they like or dislike doing, what kind of challenges they are facing and how they could be helped. Identify the areas where they need to improve and provide regular feedback to them. Also, the feedback must be given in a way that keeps them motivated at work.
These tips would certainly help you in managing a remote internship program effectively but as an organization you also need to think what suits you the best. Analyzing your company structure and requirements would help you better understand how to tailor your program for best results.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Small Business Management Made Simple:Tools, Tips & Techniques for Successful Business Management

Image
OVERVIEW Many business owners and managers have excellent product ideasthat could be very profitable.   However, their enterprises are not as successful as they could or should be.  This is typically due to their lack of a basic understanding and foundation of the tools and techniques needed to successfully manage a business.  This webinar is a summary of simple tools and techniques needed to be successful at managing a business. It also offers helpful hints and bits of wisdom included in thespeaker’s published handbook – Small Business Management Made Simple! This handbook is based on his 30 years of business management, ownership and business coaching experience. How To Start Own Business WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND The handbook and webinar were developed with the business owner/manager in mind.  It covers all the significant items needed to succeed in business, based primarily on personal experiences and knowledge acquired in the actual management of various business ente
Read more

SharePoint Site Owner – Setting Up and Managing Your SharePoint Site

Image
OVERVIEW Microsoft Office SharePoint  has become the standard way for companies and organizations to share relevant info and files with other people in the company and with people outside of the company as well. In this webinar, you will learn how to set up a  SharePoint  site and manage it well. how to set up a sharepoint site WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND So, your company has switched over to Microsoft Office SharePoint. Maybe some people in your company have set up their own sites. And then, your boss tells you that you are going to be in charge of your department’s SharePoint site. What do you do? Where do you even start? This webinar will show you how to set up a SharePoint site and manage it as well. If you are in charge of Microsoft Office SharePoint or SharePoint site permissions, or if you are going to be, you need this SharePoint administration training. AREAS COVERED Microsoft SharePoint overview Screen tour Adding logos and colors to your site Adding u
Read more

Coronavirus Risks and Opportunities - Ensuring Safe Business Operations in Compliance with the Updated Laws

Image
  OVERVIEW This webinar will provide an overview of measures that businesses can take to reduce their vulnerability to further disruption by COVID-19 and similar illnesses while they protect workers and other stakeholders such as customers, and also contribute to public health by "flattening the curve." The good news is that there is a wide array of proven off-the-shelf countermeasures such as social distancing, workplace controls, and face masks that impede the spread of contagious diseases. OSHA has already released authoritative guidance that is likely to be embodied in a formal standard later this year, but proactive organizations can have most of the requirements in place before they become mandatory. Many jobs can be performed remotely which eliminates the risk of contagion completely, and also reduces costs of a physical presence such as office or classroom space, and commuting and lodging costs. Organizations must also reassess supply chain vulnerabilities to forc
Read more