Due to COVID-19 and the rise of remote working, law firms and all other established businesses have had to change the way they get work done.
This includes how they manage interns. How you approach managing an intern remotely is a lot more different that managing an intern when you can see them every day in the office.
Just because you won’t be working in person with your intern, they can still get the full work experience without actually being at the firm. Here is how you can manage your legal intern from afar.
Make Sure to Have a Clear Line of Communication During the Training Process
It’s always important to have a clear line of communication with your intern, especially if he or she is doing the internship remotely.
You should make it clear that they can always reach out with any questions or comments they have. They may feel more intimidated to do it while working remotely, as they are unable to tell how busy or not you may be.
This is especially the case during the first couple of weeks of the internship when you are training your intern. In person, you can get a feeling if they are confused and it’s a lot easier for the intern to speak up if they have a question.
So, make it clear at the very beginning and let them know that they can feel comfortable to speak up if they are confused or have any questions.
In addition, virtual training is a little bit more challenging than in person. Make sure to spend more time with the actual training process, so that your intern can get as much knowledge as they can.
Have Regular Check Ins
You should check in with your intern every so often, especially during a remote internship. Have regular weekly or bi-weekly regular check ins to see how they are doing with your tasks, like you normally would when you were in the firm.
Throughout the work day, send them a couple of messages to see how their day is going. It can be easy to let time slip away and not say anything to them for a day, you want to give them their space to get their work, but you want to always let them know that you are here for any assistance.
Get Them Involved in the Company Culture
What stinks about a virtual internship is that interns are missing out on what it really feels like to work in a law office. Just because they are missing out on the in-office experience, you want to make sure they can still be involved in the company culture.
If you have an online company chat system like Slack, make sure to get them an account so they can talk to other members of the firm. If you do fun virtual activities like game nights or happy hours, encourage your interns to join them and participate.
Virtual lunches are another great way to get to them better too. By having your intern involved more in the company culture, it will make them feel like they more a part of the team.
Make Sure to Get Feedback from Them
More likely than not, 2020 will be the first year where you have managed a remote intern. With the way things are going, it certainly won’t be the last.
It’s a learning experience for everyone, not only for your intern but for you too. There will be some bumps along the way, so it’s important that you make your intern feel comfortable for them to give feedback to you, both in real time and at the end of their internship.
Their feedback and insights can help make any future remote internship much smoother for everyone involved.
The entire team at eGenerationMarketing has been working remotely during all the craziness. If you haven’t used a lead generation service before or you want to increase your current lead volume with us, please give us a call at 617-800-0089 and we’d be happy to answer any questions that you may have.