Reputations

One place I believe I developed a good reputation was among my co-workers this summer.  I had an internship, and worked with about 15 people (give or take depending on the day) on a daily basis.  Some of the things I tried to do every day to help develop and maintain a good relationship with my co-workers were as follows:

I was always on time.  This was very important to me, I think when someone is always on time they display a certain level of reliability that’s necessary for a working relationship.  Also, its can be disrespectful to be late to a meeting which can hurt a relationship.  One can also appear unprepared if they are consistently late.  This also includes getting my work done in a timely manner, which I tried to finish before any deadlines I may have been given.  

Another thing I always tried to do was be respectful, polite, patient and friendly to everyone I interacted with.  One thing I really liked about my work environment is that everyone was like this as well.   Almost everyone in my office was very easy to work with, and willing to give advice and offer help where they saw the opportunity. 

Lastly, I always tried to volunteer to take on more work or help anyone with theirs.  I think it’s important to display a strong work ethic, and this helps build a strong relationship with your co-workers.  Working hard is rewarding and people appreciate the offered help.  I definitely did whenever one of my co-workers would do this. 

Thinking about times where I might stray from this behavior, I believe I would be tempted to not be as friendly if I didn’t enjoy the company of my co-workers.  If someone was rude or disrespectful to me I would be inclined to not treat them as kindly.  If I didn’t believe my hard work/help was being appreciated, and that my manager would never notice any added effort, than I would also be inclined to not perform as well.  Luckily, I did not have to deal with these situations and thus did not have to risk my reputation by behaving in an unfavorable way. 

Triangular Principal Agent Situation

This past summer I worked as an intern for a consulting firm.  I was placed on a project building an agent portal for an insurance company, and through this I was able to experience a triangle like arrangement.  There were around 30 people working on the project: those who worked for the consulting company, those who worked for the insurance company, and contractors.  Who had hired the contractors also varied; the consulting company hired some, while the insurance company hired others.   This created an interesting dynamic on the project (which I’m sure is present in most situations like this, where a consulting company has come in to help on a project).  

            The views, opinions, and goals of the higher ups in the insurance company were most important, as they were the ones with all the money on the line for this project.  However, sometimes the best way to achieve those goals would come into question.  There were several instances over the summer where a small disagreement might be had in determining what was most valuable for me to do that day, and this happened to a larger extent with the developers on the project.  Managers would occasionally debate about what they needed from each employee.  For myself, sometimes it wasn’t exactly clear who I should listen to.  While the head of my QA team was an insurance company man, the head of the project and the person I interacted with more was from the consulting company.  Since the head of the QA team was in Florida, sometimes he was a little out of touch with exactly what was the most efficient thing for me to be doing, and my boss in Illinois might have me do something other than what he asked.  These situations arise when something comes up that my boss knew I could handle while still (eventually) completing what the QA lead had asked of me.  Luckily, my situation worked out fine.   

            More communication would definitely be a good way to resolve the tension when there is a question of how the agent should preform.  Sometimes the principal’s may not wish to waste time by coming to some kind of compromise, but in the long run a confused agent may just become stressed out and less efficient.  If principals are good at compromise, this makes things a lot easier.