Case Study

Meet Cristiana. She is a 500-level student in Engineering at Imo State University who has been selected for a 2-month remote work trial with Newcastle Partners, a prestigious consulting firm in Bristol. Alongside three other candidates, Cristiana is vieing for a permanent position.

The interns are supporting Newcastle Partner's work on a proposal to lead the design of a new city park. During the first week, Cristiana and her peers are asked to read a report on potential locations for the park. Cristiana reads the report carefully, taking detailed notes of its recommendations and her questions and opinions.

During a discussion of their reading, the manager Michael asks each person for their impression. When it's Cristiana's turn to speak, she shares her opinion in a low and mumbled voice. Throughout the conversation, when asked for her insights, she speaks so softly that Michael and peers frequently ask her to repeat herself. Her points are sometimes lost in the confusion, and the team struggles to gauge her understanding and contributions. She only speaks when asked, so she is an infrequent participant in the conversation.

Michael assigns Cristiana and another intern Emeka to collaborate on a deep-dive into one of the potential locations, and report their findings the following week. When Cristiana and Emeka get on a Zoom call to collaborate, he finds it difficult to work with her effectively. Though her video is on, she avoids eye contact and looks away from the camera. When it comes time to present to Michael, Cristiana relies heavily on her notes, and reads through her portion of the presentation.

After a couple of weeks, Michael decides that Cristiana's communication skills are too significant a barrier to her effective performance. Though her technical analysis has been strong, she is holding back team discussions and synthesis. Plus, he has concerns about how she would perform in client-facing meetings. At the end of the third week, Michael explains these issues to Cristiana and asks her to leave the program.

Cristiana is shocked at this outcome, and cannot understand why it happened. She has worked diligently, and her analytical skills match or surpass those of other interns who remain.

Coach Cristiana

❓ Imagine you are Cristiana's friend and she explains the situation and her shock at the outcome. What would you tell her? Add your thoughts in Slack