Monday was more self-study training on the ins and outs of PwC. I received instruction on my first bit of client work, which will be a personal tax return for a high net worth individual.
Tuesday through Thursday consisted of PwC's Knowledge Sharing Experience. Using PwC information resources, my team was tasked to figure out what services we could offer to the IRS and our other clients in relation to the Obama healthcare bill. Then we were to create a presentation (a pitch) which we would present to the partners as part of a competition.
The teams were a mix of tax and audit interns, which not only increased the diversity of the group, but also help to build relationships across lines of service. With that being said, things got rough. In my previous experiences with group work (both in the military and college), I would find that my team mates weren't as capable as I was. This would inevitably make me the leader of these groups and ultimately make me responsible for the quality of the work we did. Here at PwC, I found that all of the people in my group were as capable, if not more so, as I was. This created a lot of friction as we were all used to smoothly taking the lead during group projects in our respective school. To put it simply, we were big fish in small ponds where we came from. Now were we in a pond populated entirely by big fish.
The first day was a complete waste. Everyone had different ideas on how to proceed and since our instructions were so vague, there was no framework for us to lean on in determining our operating procedure. I then realized that this was as much a lesson in group dynamics at PwC as it was about the IRS issue that was given to us. I reached out to my career coaches and got some advice on how to get the group on the same page. As the clock ran down on the first day, we finally called a truce and agreed on what direction we would steer our presentation in.
The second day of KSE was amazing. I was used to carrying my team. I'm sure everyone else was used to carrying their teams as well. When we were put together and on the same page big things happened. We divided the presentation into three specialty sections so that we wouldn't waste time researching a portion that someone else was covering. My team would tackle this issue on three fronts:
1. The IRS would need to enhance its information systems and data management procedure to handle the increase in data responsibilities.
2. The IRS would need to increase and educate its current staff to process the new information as well as deal with new privacy issues.
3. Our clients would need to be educated on the new tax issues while making sure there would be no conflicts of interest by working on both the IRS and client sides.
The quality of work that was produced was amazing, as well as the speed that we cranked the work out at. It was one of my only true team experiences and I was very proud of the technical document and the presentation that we produced. Also amazing was the fact that PwC had the capability to service the IRS and our regular clients on all of the fronts that we addressed. It really emphasized why PwC provides "professional services" and not just an accounting firm.
However... despite our best efforts we came in 3rd place out of 11 groups. It was a testament to the quality of the interns we were in competition with.
