Tomorrow, the beginning of our Crowd Wisdom program, will be another experiment in giving responsibility and power our Steinberg interns. We'll get together in the morning to share ideas on whatever topics the interns want to talk about.

The question I have needed an answer to for a long time is this: How can I help interns be productive and energetic at the beginning of the day? Our interns are great, and we already have a strong working environment, but the mornings usually seem to start off just a little bit slowly.

I keep a long mental list of problems, issues, and concerns, and I'm always on the lookout for solutions. (I suspect most managers and teachers do this.) I recently read a terrific article in The Atlantic entitled What Makes a Great Teacher?. The story is largely about Teach for America's efforts to discover what makes great teachers so great. They identify practices like walking around the classroom (instead of staying glued to the chalkboard) and having an established routine for each day, so students know exactly what they'll be doing next.

It immediately struck me that many of these insights are easily applicable to management. One of the practices that interested me was writing a Problem of the Day on the chalkboard every morning, and students who come in get right to work on the problem. Could I do something like this at work?

Interns often have great ideas that I'd like to flesh out some. Mark Averell, for example, suggested an internal website that would aggregate Sacramento- and Capitol-related news sources, tweets, legislative hearings, and district events. After he built it, he asked me for ideas of other resources he could add to the site to make it useful for interns. Other interns working on projects hit roadblocks, and come to me for ideas to get around the obstacle. I can make suggestions, but I would rather tap into the creativity and intelligence of all the interns in the office.

So, Crowd Wisdom! Each morning we'll get together to solve problems and share ideas for doing things. I've created with a list of things to discuss, and each intern can vote for the things they want to talk about most. Each intern has 5 votes, which they can allocate however they like between topics. Interns can add topics that they think other interns would like to talk about.

What will prevent this from becoming a traditional, energy-sapping meeting, or an artificial "motivational" pep-talk? Well, meetings in our office have never been the soul-numbing affairs they seem to be in other offices. We all seem to enjoy our meetings as opportunities to share what we've all been working on. This probably has something to do with the fact that my boss doesn't use meetings as an opportunity to lecture the rest of us - our meetings are used for sharing information and ideas. We'll use Crowd Wisdom get-togethers the same way.

We'll only meet for 10-15 minutes, and we'll focus on exercising creativity and taking action. Interns in our office are already excited about work (interns often ask if they can come in more often than they're currently scheduled), so I'm not worried about it becoming an artificial event. I think this sort of program wouldn't work if they weren't already motivated.

But I think the biggest reason I'm confident Crowd Wisdom will be a success is that it's another opportunity for interns to exercise their creativity and initiative. This event isn't about me; it's about the interns and their work. They'll choose what we talk about.

This will also solve another problem I've been having - I can't keep interns' to-do lists stocked, because they work too quickly! Mornings are especially dry, because it takes me a little while to pull together new tasks. Interns currently jump into working on their Ownership Initiatives, but this will give them the opportunity to work on something else in the morning in case their Initiative is on hold for some reason. Beyond this, it will also create a get-'em-started atmosphere in the morning as we convene around a shared problem to solve. This is as much about creating team spirit as it is about providing tasks for eager interns.

I'll post updates as Crowd Wisdom develops and evolves. Share in the comments if you have some regular form of morning check-in with your colleagues or subordinates to get things started in

Changes are taking place quickly here in the internship program! These are actually updates from a month ago, but things have been so fast-paced that I haven't had time to write about them until now.  

I used to be concerned about starting up intern mentoring (as I've mentioned before). The intern retreat we held convinced me that senior interns actually wanted to be relied on as experts. I was still worried that setting up interns to mentor each other might be logistically difficult.  

Well, I should have trusted more in the skills of my intern crew. When Ryan started up in early June, I told him to ask Mark and Jeysree (two senior interns) questions. Both of them were extremely helpful in getting him started. Besides saving me work, this had two unexpected benefits: I got to see how other interns did tasks (which allowed me to make corrections), and it built morale between the interns.  

Our first completely intern-planned ownership initiative was completed, as well! Jeysree and Mark carried out the first of the Community Office Hours successfully. Now that Mark and Jeysree will both be gone from the office, I'll have my first practice transitioning a project to a new set of interns.  

Last month I also started Jeysree on our first official Learning Project. The idea of the Learning Projects is that we will offer interns specific skills to learn, and assign them a project (e.g., an ownership initiative) that will force them to practice this skill. The ultimate goal is for them to become proficient at a new skill.  

Jeysree was working with the Prezi presentation platform (prezi.com). I haven't quite figured out a way to integrate learning projects, though - they sit a bit uncomfortably alongside the ownership initiative structure. Ideally they would mesh, but I'm having trouble finding ways to work them together. Perhaps I need to spend more time matchmaking between interns, skills they'd like to learn, and projects that could benefit from those skills.  

The success of the learning projects idea may depend on whether interns are more attracted to a project because of the skills it will offer them, because of the project itself, or because of the people already working on the project. If the latter two are strong attractors, I may need to focus on assigning learning projects to interns already on projects, rather than trying to match interns based on skills they want to learn.

I just calculated interns' hours as full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. If you're not familiar with this, it means adding up all their hours per week and dividing by 40 (for a 40-hour work week), which can give you the equivalent number of full-time employees. So we have 16 interns right now, but only two are genuinely full time. All their hours together come to 4.78 FTE interns! I think it will be closer to 6 during July.

Here's a graph of my FTE intern management experience over time:

My interns, apparently, aren't as wild about initiative as I thought they'd be. It turns out they want a bit more structure.

We recently had an Intern Retreat - we got all the interns together to talk about how things were going, and to ask them to suggest improvements. A few quick findings:

• Everyone seems to really like the program - they had plenty of improvements to suggest, but hardly any complaints. I'm always open to complaints, so I don't think they were just biting their tongues out of fear.
• Interns like the freedom they're given to dream up their own projects, but also really want some preapproved projects to choose from if they just want to get started on something.
• Experienced interns really wanted more opportunities to act as leaders and help mentor newer interns. I've been wanting to start a mentoring program for a while, but feared that the older interns would view it as a hassle. Au contraire!

I'll write another post soon about the intern mentoring I've started up. I have also begun an Internships page of this website to describe what I've learned about starting and running an internship program. For now, I'll start with my biggest surprise, which was that most interns seemed to want more vetted projects.

When I dreamed up the idea of ownership initiatives, I thought the biggest appeal would be that interns could think up their own projects. One of the aspects of my job that I've always valued the most has been the freedom to initiate a project I thought would benefit the office, and I imagined interns would clamor at the opportunity to do the same. So I developed the ownership initiatives around the idea that interns would propose an idea, then investigate how to turn that idea into a feasible project.

Well, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that things don't always go as smoothly as I imagined. There are at least three things that stand in the way of my idealized vision:

• Many interns - even motivated, creative interns - don't come in with a good understanding of what sorts of projects our office will want to take on.
• Roadblocks, often completely unexpected, can derail good ideas, which is frustrating for interns.
• Most of our interns are energetic and don't want to spend weeks investigating a potential project before getting started - they want to get started now.

What interns need is a pool of vetted projects they can get started on immediately, which have been cleared of roadblocks, and which I know will further the cause of our office (providing assistance to constituents, and providing a communication channel between constituents and Senator Steinberg).

The ownership initiatives now have a slightly different focus. Instead of trumpeting the benefits of being able to work on projects that interns can design on their own, we emphasize the appeal of having ownership (responsibility and commitment) over a project. We help new interns find places on existing projects. I spend time making sure projects aren't getting stuck. What I still need to implement is a list of fully-vetted projects with notes on how to get started.

Beyond that, I talk to interns about ideas they may want to pursue on their own. I know that there are interns who want to design projects of their own, and I want to make that possible. But I also realize that not everyone wants to invent a completely new program; they just want the opportunity to contribute something of value for which they will be recognized.

Being effective and accountable requires that you be able to control your environment, and this sometimes means you have to manage your peers (or your boss) to make sure you get what you need.

I'm fortunate because my peers are all responsible, talented people who do good work. I know I can rely on them. Despite this, I still sometimes need to manage them a little bit to make sure I can deliver on my commitments. They manage me a bit, as well, if I haven't gotten back to them about something they need.

For example, I keep very good track of which response letters I've sent to Karen for review. If I haven't heard back on something for several days, I'll drop in her office and check up on it. I tell my interns to do the same thing with me - if they haven't heard back about a letter they sent to me, they should ask me what's going on with it, to make sure I haven't misplaced it or forgotten it.

The important thing, in my mind, is to keep track of what you depend on others for (whether those "others" are your subordinates, colleagues, or bosses). Hold them accountable to what they have committed to delivering to you. Do it in a friendly way, but let them know that you rely on them to accomplish your own tasks on time.

I once heard a story about a plant manager in a World War II airplane factory who radically increased his employees' production. The factory operated around the clock in three eight-hour shifts, and he achieved the improvement by writing on the wall the number of airplane engines completed by the previous shift. Each shift wanted to beat the previous shift's performance, and they worked harder to make that happen.

Whether the story is true, I don't know. But it illustrates an important point - that people want to do well, and it helps to show them how they're doing, and give them something to work toward. I personally believe that the competitive element is useful, but not necessary, for this point.

I heard this concept described another way recently. I was listening to a podcast about activism (I think on the excellent Big Vision Podcast, by Britt Bravo). The guest explained that people are often apathetic because they feel that their efforts are just a drop in the bucket. She said that drops can fill a bucket pretty fast, though. What's important is being able to see the bucket, and see all the other drops from other people, so we know we're making progress.

So the important thing is to provide some context, and show people what other people are working on, so you know you're not the only one working on something.

It was with this in mind that I printed a graph of our progress with our response letter backlog. My intern team does a great job of writing letters, but I think the seemingly-endless assignment of response letters must wear down on some of them. To use the metaphor from above, I wanted to make the bucket more visible by showing how many responses we had left. We have been making steady progress through our backlog, so I figured showing our team how we're doing would give everyone a bit of hope - we are doing well, and we're almost done!

I printed out a graph and showed it to the three interns in today, and asked them all to think about how we're going respond to everyone. I explained that I would show the latest graph every day to keep people aware of where we stood. I had expected a few more letters to come in, but was surprised to have nine letters in my inbox in the next half hour! What an effect!

We'll see whether this sort of effect is sustained over the long run, or if it is only a short-term boost that only occurs the first time I show someone the graph. But I have hope that it will really help give people an understanding of where we are, and remind people to focus on what they can do to help us get to our final destination.

I think, talk, and write a lot about interesting new projects I want to work on here at the office, and new leadership practices I want to implement. But I always have a focus on the basic, core tasks we're supposed to be doing here.

We're a Senator's district office. Our core task is to respond to constituents questions and concerns, and assist them with problems when we're able. Despite my past and continued excitement about the ownership initiatives, the bulk of interns' time is spent responding to letters and resolving casework. The bulk of my time is spent similarly.

And this is as it should be. I foresee a day very soon in the future when we are completely caught up on all our responses and casework, and we can spend more time and energy on proactive engagement with constituents. But while we still have response letters to write, it would be remiss to work on other things instead. We can't serve our constituency well if people can't expect a timely call back or response letter.

Between yesterday and today I have responded to a large number of lists and individual letters, and all the metrics I track (to measure how well we're getting back to constituents) are heading in the right direction.

I think this is what happens when lots of companies and organizations become really successful - it isn't that they don't focus on the core tasks, or that they neglect the basics. It's that they figure out how to address those tasks effortlessly, and have resources to spare on exciting new ways to go beyond what everyone else is doing. I believe we can be a trailblazing district office, and I'm excited to be a part of this!

When I first started managing interns, both in Senator Steinberg's office and for the Davis Dollars Community Currency, I had to get over my reluctance to assign work to interns. I felt that I didn't really have authority over them, since they weren't being paid.

I finally wrapped my head around the fact that people volunteer or intern because they want a good experience, and a manager who's afraid to tell an intern what to do will ruin that experience.

That's not all - as a manager, you have to be ready to fire an intern who isn't working out. Just because they don't get paid doesn't mean you have to keep them on forever. Keeping someone who isn't helping your office wastes your time and lowers morale on the part of other interns.

Keep track of intern productivity
Any good manager should keep good track of his subordinates' productivity, but people managing interns sometimes don't think of themselves as "real" managers. Face it - you're a manager whether your subordinates are paid or not, and you need to do a good job.

Tracking productivity is less about knowing when to crack the whip and more about knowing when and how you can help your subordinates be productive. Studies have also shown that most people quickly lose interest in a job if they get the impression their manager doesn't care what they do, or whether they do a good job. Show that you are paying attention, have high standards, and believe your subordinates are capable of meeting those standards.

Is it your fault?
If an intern isn't productive, first make sure there isn't something you can do to help the intern be productive. As a manager who is still learning a lot about how to manage and lead people, I realize that if someone is ineffective under my supervision, there's probably something I can change to help them be more effective. Sometimes you're actually at fault (i.e. you have neglected your duties, and as a result the intern is ineffective). Other times, you're doing things well, but by giving the intern more support or resources, you can help them out.

In any case, look first to yourself, and seek some small change that can make the intern effective, before firing them. (See below for suggestions based on why the intern is ineffective.)

Lazy? Or Incompetent?
I've dealt with a number of interns who didn't quite seem to work out. Some are lazy or unreliable; others are simply incompetent. (The vast majority of the interns I've managed have ranged from good to excellent, though.) You need to be aware of whether you're facing a motivational problem, or a problem with the intern's abilities.

It's easiest to help an intern who just lacks a certain skill. Often a little training, a bit of mentoring from another intern, or a change in job duties will help this intern become more effective.

I always maintain a list of varied tasks, and set aside easier tasks for interns I know are less skilled, or who are still learning the ropes. I also talk to interns about their strengths. One of our interns who was a very poor writer turned out to be an excellent caseworker, and it would have been a huge mistake to fire her, or force her to spend hours trying to improve her writing.

It is possible to help an intern improve skills, but there is only a certain amount anyone can learn within a short period of time, and if an intern appears to be plateauing at a level of skill that isn't satisfactory, consider having them work on other tasks.

One of our interns, whom I'll call Clay, was incompetent at everything we assigned him. His writing quality was poor; he was uncertain and tremulous on the phone; he was inattentive to detail. If the intern truly isn't good enough at anything you need them to work on, or if they are so poor that they would be a liability to the office, you need to ask them to consider taking a job or internship elsewhere, where they can learn the skills necessary in this office. Your interview process should prevent these sorts of interns from getting into your office in the first place, but if one does get in, don't drag your feet. Holding off will not do the intern any justice, and it certainly won't help your office. Asking a well-intentioned intern to move on can be difficult, but you should do it as soon as you recognize they can't be of help. You can suggest that they may still be interested as a volunteer for events or projects where you need people for unskilled help, if you think they want to stay involved somehow. In Clay's case, it was a huge relief to our entire office when we finally asked him to move on. Your office should help interns learn new things, but you should get rid of an intern who isn't also helping your office.

Unmotivated interns
Dealing with unmotivated interns is an entirely different animal. As before, first make sure that the intern's attitude isn't a result of your own management habits. If they're disengaged because you never check up on them, that's your fault; firing them won't solve anything, and you'll continue to produce disengaged interns.

If you are showing attention to the intern's work, but this doesn't solve the problem, it's time to have The Talk. Speak to him in private, and explain that while you have a high opinion of his abilities, he hasn't been coming through with results. Ask him if there's anything you can do to help him be more effective.

Most interns are embarrassed to have The Talk. They know they aren't being productive, and they'll usually agree to shape up. Not all interns who promise this actually will, however, so it's important to extract a concrete commitment to be more productive. I spoke to one intern, who I'll call Alfred, after a couple of weeks of being unproductive. I was still a new manager, and this was the first intern I had had to confront. (I should have confronted him earlier.) He was extremely embarrassed, and had been so unproductive that I told him I'd assign him tasks along with the amount of time I expected they should each take. This way I would be able to notice immediately if Alfred was slacking off.

If an intern shapes up, you may be able to loosen any restrictions you put on him. If he doesn't, fire him immediately. Alfred didn't improve at all, so I spoke to him again and asked him to leave the office.

I feel like our office's intern program is on the verge of a growth spurt. We usually have between 4 and 16 interns, maxing out over the summer (see this graph). But I feel we're on the verge of being able to take on a lot more. I came to this realization yesterday after a series of interviews with prospective interns, and after talking to my district director, Susan, about our program. I left the office feeling elated and empowered.

Interns in our office do great work. In the past, they've enabled us to do a better job of things we already do: writing response letters, assisting constituents with casework, organizing district events. But with the start of the Ownership Initiatives and the leadership development program, our intern program will start to take on an entirely different character - it will allow us to do things we have never been able to do. We'll be able to proactively reach out to constituents (more than we already do); we'll partner with organizations to run health or safety or environmental programs; we'll put on educational workshops; we'll help neighborhoods organize. This is the vision of the intern program that motivates me.

I still need to grow as a manager and leader to make this vision a reality. I feel that I'm on my way down this path, but we also need to be thinking about what factors limit the number of interns we can handle. These are the factors I've been thinking about:

Space/resources: Our office is pretty big, but we do have a finite number of desks and computers. We'll have to figure out ways to fit more interns in here, or find ways for them to do work outside the office. We have a wireless network, so interns could work on laptops. We have a couple of other offices interns might fit into, but only after they've had significant experience in this office - this program works in part because I can help train interns. This brings me to the next limitation...

My ability to manage interns: I'm not quite at my capacity yet, but I may reach it yet, and I really need to ramp up the leadership development aspect of things if I really want this program to take off. I need experienced interns to be able to lead newer interns - I can't be the bottleneck through which everything must pass.

Our ability to find work for interns: As I see it, this is only an issue as long as we have interns working on our existing functions (letters, casework, events). As we develop the ownership initiatives program, more interns will just mean more projects we can take on. This will depend on successful leadership development, though.

The capacity of other staff members to help handle the interns: I do the bulk of the intern management, but other staff members play important roles. Karen reviews every letter after I review it. At the moment she feels well below her capacity, but as we have more interns, this may change. I can try to address this by having interns mentor other interns, and check each other's work before sending it to me, which will hopefully lead to a higher level of quality by the time it reaches Karen. This may decrease response times, though. Staff also do some managing when I'm away at class. This can be addressed somewhat through leadership development - interns can lead each other. It will also help when interns have more self-directed projects - at the moment, I assign them tasks, and once they've finished those tasks, there isn't much they can do. With self-directed projects like the ownership initiatives, they can come up with their own tasks.

I'm ready for our program to take off! I'll keep writing as things develop.