You may be wondering what a Team-Based Internship is. This course is designed to help you experience a professional internship project with a real company or organization (hereafter called a company) in a team setting. You will be assigned a team and a company sponsor that will give you a project and/or problem to solve. You will spend the next 14 weeks working with your team, company sponsor, and instructor or TA Coordinator to complete this project. The course will end with each team providing professional results to the company sponsor and honest feedback to their teammates and mentors.

Team Formation: Outcomes Based on Interaction Level

Student Level

Understand how a project-based internship works, what is required to complete a project successfully, and what is required to achieve a passing grade. 

Professional-in-waiting Level (All of the student-level outcomes, plus) 

Start to gain work experience that will help you better define your impressions about your major and potential work environments you want to pursue.  

Professional Level (All previous level outcomes, plus)  

Start making professional contacts.  

Additional Keys to Success for Team-Based Internships

For those who are working with a team in this internship (or a work team in your future career), our main focus is for you to succeed. If you should regularly do the following items throughout your project, you will increase your probability of success.

Over-communicate

• Over-communicate with team members, company sponsors, and your team Professor/TA/Mentor.

• Recognize and value differences in cultures, approaches, and capabilities of teammates and sponsors.

• Support your teammates to under-promise and over-deliver.

Challenge Yourself to Grow and the Team to Grow Together

• Try to do new hard things every week to grow your personal skills and help your project succeed.

• Try to do new hard things every week to grow your personal skills and help your project succeed.

• Learn new approaches and try new things in order to work with difficult people effectively.

• Recognize and value differences in cultures, approaches, and capabilities of teammates and sponsors.

• Identify opportunities to make an impact on your project that can become a resume, CV, or portfolio bullet.

• Don’t impose your ideas on others but find ways to collaborate to find synergies that create a better solution than any one person’s ideas can create.

Commit to Act in a Professional Manner

If you wish to participate in a Team-Based Internship, you will need to commit to meeting the following team internship requirements:

1. Commit to being prepared and completing the required work hours.

1. Prepare for each phase of the Team-Based Internship by reading the assigned chapters of the textbook during the designated weeks of preparation (there are only 8 weeks that have assigned reading).

2. Complete at least 70 hours working on your team project for your company sponsor.

3. Complete all of the Canvas Assignments, which are all intended to help you succeed in your team-based internship project and your future professional career.

2. Be prepared with adequate technology needed for virtual meetings with the team and sponsor. 

1. Have adequate computer, laptop, tablet, or phone equipment capable of attending international team and sponsor meetings and whatever project work is required in the internship project.

2. Have Internet/WIFI availability for 2 to 3 meetings per week with teams and sponsors and Canvas assignment submissions.

3. Commit to weekly meeting attendance necessary for team-based internship.

1. Make time available for 1 to 2 team meetings per week (30 to 60 minutes each).

2. Make time available for one company sponsor meeting per week (15 to 60 minutes each).

3. Commit to attending a Kickoff meeting, a Midterm Report meeting, and a Final Report meeting during the semester.

4. You will commit to attending all team/sponsor meetings if possible (absences from meetings should be rare and only for serious problems).

5. All time spent in team or sponsor meetings will count toward the required 70 work hours for your internship.

4. Commit to showing professional behavior at all times during the internship.

1. Treat the internship as if it were a paid job (It could possibly lead to a paid job)

2. You may have people from many countries and cultures in your internship, please recognize cultural differences and treat everyone with respect and sensitivity.

3. Attend all scheduled meetings and follow proper meeting etiquette:

• • • Show up on time for the meeting.
    • Come prepared with all assignments completed prior to the meeting.
    • Be prepared to show written documentation for all completed assignments at the meeting.
    • Come prepared to verbally report to the team or company sponsor.
    • Come prepared to actively participate in all discussions and brainstorming sessions during each meeting.
    • For each sponsor meeting, the team will have an agenda of who will speak/report and a plan to avoid “dead air” (an awkward time during the meeting when a question has been asked and no one is responding or a topic has been completed and no one starts the next topic).
    • Every job requires you to be able to express your ideas in a clear, organized, and relevant manner. Practice prior to the meeting to be prepared if necessary.