LEARNING LAUNCH – A reflection

Challenge:

I am a part of the placement mentorship committee in an MBA school that conducts preparatory  activities for first year students to get recruited in a mass placement process. This was scheduled to be  one of the largest placement processes in the country in the forthcoming months. The process is highly  competitive as also grueling to a certain extent. We observed, however, that students were not mentally  prepared to anticipate the problem, and perform under stressful situations. Thus, after intense  brainstorming sessions, visualization of scenarios, we came up with a few alternatives to address the  demand for a way to make students well prepared in areas of group discussions and interviews: put the  mental picture of the actual process in their psyche. Consequently we considered the idea of developing  a comprehensive one day mock session for a batch of 500 students. This kind of a large scale event, was  never seen before on campus, and although the problem hit right on the nail when addressing the  inherent need-gap, it seemed to the 11 of us committee members like a really daunting task, that could  go amiss quite easily. Thus, we really needed to test its viability- there came the idea of a learning  launch technique.

Selection:

I selected this topic because of the crucial impact it would have on the performance of more than 500  people, and the quality of candidates that the companies would get. A problem of this magnitude, if  implemented incorrectly can result in no value addition, and unnecessary waste of man-hours.

Application:

We had undergone the process of design thinking initially. So, we wanted to implements one learning  launch session to ensure whether the idea can bear fruition. The 11 of us divided tasks amongst  ourselves; and gave a timeframe of 3 days to come to be trained and prepared in the different verticals.  Herein, we wanted to test the assumption that lack of intensity and pressure were the only reasons for  students to not perform at best during the actual interviews. So we took a small sample of second year  students, who would be having placements in the next year to assess our assumptions. Although getting  them to do this process was the toughest part, we did ensure their participation through persuasion. We  ran a pilot of the process, and at the end had focus group discussions with the participants to determine  the value added from the entire process.

Insights:

We successfully tested our assumptions, and realized that the model works. The high intense sessions  did replicate the original day of placements, and helped candidates feel the heat to perform best. Based  on the positive outcome, we also decided that this was the event we wanted to conduct and narrowed  down our idea. But the session also enabled us to understand that pulling off the event is a huge task,  and that we needed high level co-ordination to ensure the event is executed smoothly. We realized that  it is crucial to implement the insights before and during full rollout.

Approach:

Given the fact that our committee had engaged in intense brainstorming sessions, we were, however,  not on a structured path of exploring the problem at hand. That is when I had attended this lecture

series on design thinking. I had come up with the idea of going through this design thinking  methodology and discussed it with the other members. We had an ethnographic understanding,  explored ideas by interacting with colleagues, even faculty members. But the most impactful area was  this learning launch stage. Soon, we are about to implement this idea, which will test the veracity of this  entire process.


LEARNING LAUNCH – A reflection Challenge : I am a part of the placement mentorship committee in an MBA school that conducts preparatory activities for first year students to get recruited in a mass placement process . This was scheduled to be one of the largest placement processes in the country in the forthcoming months . The process is highly competitive as also grueling to a certain extent . We observed , however , that students were not mentally prepared to anticipate the problem , and perform under stressful situations . Thus , after intense brainstorming sessions , visualization of scenarios , we came up with a few alternatives to address the demand for a way to make students well prepared in areas of group discussions and interviews : put the mental picture of the actual process in their psyche . Consequently we considered the idea of developing a comprehensive one day mock session for a batch of 500 students . This kind of a large scale event , was never seen before on campus , and although the problem hit right on the nail when addressing the inherent need - gap , it seemed to the 11 of us committee members like a really daunting task , that could go amiss quite easily . Thus , we really needed to test its viability- there came the idea of a learning launch technique . Selection : I selected this topic because of the crucial impact it would have on the performance of more than 500 people , and the quality of candidates that the companies would get . A problem of this magnitude , if implemented incorrectly can result in no value addition , and unnecessary waste of man - hours . Application : We had undergone the process of design thinking initially . So , we wanted to implements one learning launch session to ensure whether the idea can bear fruition . The 11 of us divided tasks amongst ourselves ; and gave a timeframe of 3 days to come to be trained and prepared in the different verticals . Herein , we wanted to test the assumption that lack of intensity and pressure were the only reasons for students to not perform at best during the actual interviews . So we took a small sample of second year students , who would be having placements in the next year to assess our assumptions . Although getting them to do this process was the toughest part , we did ensure their participation through persuasion . We ran a pilot of the process , and at the end had focus group discussions with the participants to determine the value added from the entire process . Insights : We successfully tested our assumptions , and realized that the model works . The high intense sessions did replicate the original day of placements , and helped candidates feel the heat to perform best . Based on the positive outcome , we also decided that this was the event we wanted to conduct and narrowed down our idea . But the session also enabled us to understand that pulling off the event is a huge task , and that we needed high level co - ordination to ensure the event is executed smoothly . We realized that it is crucial to implement the insights before and during full rollout . Approach : Given the fact that our committee had engaged in intense brainstorming sessions , we were , however , not on a structured path of exploring the problem at hand . That is when I had attended this lecture series on design thinking . I had come up with the idea of going through this design thinking methodology and discussed it with the other members . We had an ethnographic understanding , explored ideas by interacting with colleagues , even faculty members . But the most impactful area was this learning launch stage . Soon , we are about to implement this idea , which will test the veracity of this entire process .