Event Participant Evaluation: Fill & Download for Free

What is the most disgusting thing you have ever had to terminate an employee for?I did not have to do the terminating, but I was involved in the investigation.B led a five-person Team. Team has a huge recurring Event that takes place three times a year. It’s one of those “all hands on deck” things that everyone in the office is involved in, but Team is responsible for the really important parts of the Event. Mostly everyone else just needs to show up. Most of the preparations are collaborations among Team members. This includes the Event publication, staging the participants, evaluation of qualifying criteria for the participants, distribution of accoutrements for the participants, etc. What it means is that Team members are going in and out of each other’s workspaces regularly, and the pace quickens as the Event approaches. M and T are members of Team. (If you think I’m being vague, it’s because I am.)M and T were collaborating on some element to prepare for the Event. M went into T’s office and saw something on T’s computer screen that was not work appropriate. T quickly switched apps on her computer to hide the inappropriate material. M told the Team leader (B) that she had seen something very inappropriate on T’s computer. B went up the chain to Asst. Boss, who notified Boss. Boss came to me as the most computer-knowledgeable person in the office to see if I could find anything on T’s computer. I had admin privileges on all computers in our office (Boss and Asst. Boss were also admins, but they weren’t sure how to search the computer effectively). Searching was not difficult and in less than 15 minutes I had found the inappropriate materials. It was videos.T, a married woman, was having a little something on the side. Apparently, T and her side piece liked to share videos with each other. When M came into T’s office, T was watching a video of her side piece masturbating. I also found video of T masturbating that she had shared with her side piece. She was doing it at work so that she wouldn’t get caught at home. T was immediately terminated.A week or so later, T sent Boss a letter pleading for a second chance at her job. I don’t think I would have had that kind of gumption. To make things worse, T was the daughter of an administrator in another department.

The calendar of the three institutes is a little bit different, since the summer placements, exams and final placements take place at different times (the difference is that of a week generally).Irrespective of that, the number of times the students get to visit their homes is substantially different in the first and second year. Let me explain you the scenario at IIM Ahmedabad.First YearIn the first year, the students have a given set of courses that they are taught in each term. There is no flexibility or choice that the students can exercise. The students have classes all 5 days a week, and occasionally on weekends as well. Moreover the fixed classroom timings are 8:45 AM to 1:10 PM, but sometimes there can be classes/sessions beyond this time which can end till 8–9 PM as well. Almost every course has a quizzes component for evaluation and these quizzes are surprise quizzes, meaning you won’t know on which day a quiz can occur.The major breaks you get in the first year are:the term break after term 1 (September end - October)the break after summer placements (around November mid)a small break after term 2 (December last week)and finally the end term break after term 3 and before the summer internship period (mid-March)Students can visit their homes during these times for sure, though many of them go on trips with their batchmates to locations around Ahmedabad (Udaipur, Daman etc.). Apart from the term breaks, there are long weekends at the time of Chaos (the cultural fest of IIM Ahmedabad) in last week of January and The Red Brick Summit (the management fest of IIM Ahmedabad) in September. Though there are various events that students attend during these feats, students can visit their homes if they wish.Apart from this, there is only a single day off for most of the major festivals like Diwali, Holi, Christmas etc. One cannot visit their home on these occasions without missing out on classes (courses have a attendance/class participation evaluation component as well) unless the occasion falls on a Monday/Friday, which may lead to a long weekend.Second YearAlmost all courses in the second year are chosen by the students through a course bidding system. They are provided the schedule for all the courses that are offered in each term and they can bid for the courses they wish to take, effectively making their own timetable. There are fewer surprise quizzes and one may not have classes on all the days of the week. Thus, students have a greater degree of control on their time in the second year. Some students may choose to take courses that start and end together in one half of the term itself, leaving another half of the term free for them to travel, go home, work on a project, do an internship or anything that they wish to.In general, students get ample amount of opportunities to visit their home.Hope this helps!If you found the answer helpful, you can follow my space The MBA Journey wherein you’ll get curated content published by students and alumni of top Indian B-schools. You can also ask me preparation related questions which I will answer in the space.

An excellently framed question.I too studied at an IIT in the period 1989-1993, when India was a closed economy, and beginning to open up. When I joined the IIT, I had a rough aim of securing a good job with a private sector engineering company, but as years went by, I discovered my inherent interests & aptitude, and changed course to become a first-generation entrepreneur.For you, the course of action should be:Undertake a serious process of introspection.Find out what are 3 or 4 things you would love to do consistently for many years, day in and day out.While doing the above, remember that a sense of happiness and satisfaction should automatically emanate.Make a list of everything you thus evaluate.Discuss with family, friends and those you trust.Check your background dispassionately - what a student does through schooling and college years is a reasonably good indicator of future potential in terms of entrepreneurship or leadership.Are you a dreamer who dreams building teams, products, processes from scratch? Are you a dreamer who dreams managing existing systems?Now the acid-test:Through the past 10 years of your education, did you conduct a lot of events, lead people, handle quizzes and debates, manage picnics and outings? Or were you a silent spectator in all these events, participating but not whole-heartedly? Or did you participate whole-heartedly, but dreaded the idea of organizing things?If you led such events and processes, you are a natural entrepreneurIf you never led any such event, it will take a lot of effort to become oneIf you participated whole-heartedly in events others conducted, and came on top, you are great civil service materialIf you have both these traits, we are in for a problem now!The finer sieve:Suppose you are extroverted, organise events well, and participate whole-heartedly. We will now raise the level of our game, to know the finer aspects.How important is money to you? Is driving a really fancy car crucial? Is owning every new top-end handset that arrives is important? Do you dream having a few crores in your bank account while you - without a worry in the world - focus on important things? OR does the idea of money not excite you at all? -- Obviously, if you are not at all excited by it, go for civil services. As an honest officer, you will make enough for a comfortable life but not more. As a dishonest officer (which I assume you won't aim to become), you will earn everything and lose your peace of mindHow important is success to you? Remember, if you are an entrepreneur in India, and you fail in a venture, the society can be really tough on you (not so in the USA, for example). Can you handle that situation? Or can you take pride in having tried? If you just can't handle failure, maybe building an enterprise is not for you. [ these things sound pretty childish while you are planning, but when rubber meets the road, the heat can be immense ]Do you have a future life-partner in sight already? If so, what does she/he feel about the kind of life you should be leading ten years from today? Remember, if you become an entrepreneur, your better half must support you through the journey.Monotony of work - Finally, some bad news. No matter which career you choose, there will be patches when you will have nothing to do but work that's regular, similar, horrifyingly boring. If you are imagining any career that'll offer something new with every sunrise, it's not happening.After all this, with reference to question description, some final inputs:- You will die one day. Can't escape that :) As a matter of fact, I will too. So the best we can do is to carry out our duties with a detachment that's royal, but not with an uninterested spirit.- If you asked this question in all sincerity, maybe you should go for civil services. A true-blue entrepreneur would not ask anyone for advice in these matters.- If you asked this question to let others do the (thinking) work for you, great! You are in for some great time as an entrepreneur. Smart guy!Finally, take the plunge, and go full steam ahead. All the best!