Can you thrive in times of chaos? It is a useful skill, you know. You will be surprised how often individuals break down when exposed to different stressors. In the middle of all the high-demand, high-stress environments, individuals (even in a team setting) are responsible for making high-stakes decisions that often have major financial, strategic, implementation, or policy consequences, sometimes even life or death consequences. Stressors can range from time pressures, hunger, incomplete information, sleep deprivation, noise, and improper resources. Team members such as interns, contractors, and the executive leadership team of Praescient Analytics hone in on this skill when we hear the knock on the door of opportunity.

Intern row is a diverse group of individuals that make up an exceptional team (ready for hire by the way). Each one of us has a diverse background that brings in unique skills and perspectives to produce quality results. But we are also eager to drink from the fire hose and do whatever is necessary to learn more about something that we might have remotely no knowledge about. That’s part of what makes the culture at Praescient truly wonderful. As interns pursue federal or private careers, the opportunities to learn new skills on the job are vital for our growth. We do our best to reduce stress. Good thing we have a fully stocked kitchen ready for our cravings and caffeinated needs!

When the Government came knocking, we were prepared…when more tasks piled out, well…we could not stall and we went straight to work to make sure we were prepared for the rest that came next. A few weeks ago, we had to reconfigure a conference room with 30 computers to a ready to use team developing round table for our computer engineers for another project. Setting up the room to meet the needs of the engineers and configuring the setup to be tech ready took some time, but we made sure to configure it all so that the engineers could get straight to work. Another time we had to stop our projects and assist in head hunting capable individuals of performing a task-order on a project that we had to deliver. Who would’ve thought we would pick up these skills along the way?

There are times we are all working on different tasks from non-profit challenges, federal RFIs, OSINT projects, private emerging technology research, or business development….”ALL HANDS ON DECK!” A new task is distributed to intern row when the executive leadership team needs additional help from us. With respect of the various stressors involved during this chaotic moment, the key for thriving is to mix organization, time management, flexibility, and teamwork.

Intern Row uses a large white wall as a white board and other software to plan out strategic and tactical objectives to keep us organized. We are able to track our progress and use the board as an opportunity for goal setting and visualizing what we have to do. Effectively managing our time throughout the days we are in the office helps get our objectives completed and allow for opportunities that do not have time allotted. This eases the stress of when new objectives need a quick turnaround. Working together helps divide tasks and allows for information sharing to complete the objective. Teamwork is necessary in these environments because we know we can all rely on one another even when things get chaotic.