MECE Framework for Structured Thinking

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MECE FRAMEWORK for STRUCTURED THINKINGCRACK
Scenario-based Case Interview Questions
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Recruiters conduct online screening tests to
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What is the MECE Framework?

• MECE stands for Mutually Exclusive
  Collectively Exhaustive
• It is a problem-solving approach that forces you
  to list down all possible options without double
  counting.
• The Problem Statement is written down first. You
  must choose your words carefully while writing
  this down to ensure that there is no ambiguity in
  understanding the problem.
• The Options to solve the problem are then listed
  down in a tree-like fashion. The options must not
  overlap (Mutually exclusive) and no option must
  be missed out (Collectively exhaustive)
• Once the tree is built, the pros and cons of each
  path in the tree is discussed until the optimal
  solution path is decided.
• MECE is popular among business consultants to
  solve problems and communicate their solutions.

The optimal solution path
Problem Statement
Option 3
Option 2
Option 1
Option 1-A
Option 1-B
Option 3-A
Option 3-B
Option 3-C
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MECE Illustration 1 A business case study
Problem Statement My restaurant is not profitable
Increase Revenue
Reduce costs
Increase of orders
Increase menu prices
Reduce salary expenses
Reduce raw material expenses
Reduce rental costs
Fire redundant workers
Shift to a less pricey neighborhood
Change the vendor
Better storage facilities to avoid wastage
Marketing promotions
Change cuisine/ theme
Shift to a mall to get more foot traffic
Once a MECE Tree like this is built, each option
can be analyzed for feasibility. The optimal
solution can then be chosen.
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MECE Illustration 2 Situational Interview
Question
Situational Interview Question One of your team
members is not delivering their work on time and
you are worried that as a result the project will
not be completed before the deadline.
If the issue is very drastic, raise it with Mgmt.
Ignore the issue. It will probably be fixed on
its own.
Solve it internally. Chat with the teammate to
understand whats wrong
Increase your teammates productivity
Increase productivity of others in team to
compensate
Increase productivity of the concerned employee
Personnel change
Realign delivery expectations
Offer tutoring on problem areas
Offer help with personal/ professional problems
Rebalance the workload to align with your
teammates strengths
Get everyone to chip in and do a bit more while
your teammate is going through a tough period
Recommend Training Programs
Personal leave as necessary to get personal
issues sorted out
Change this person to some other project that he/
she is more interested in. Bring in someone else
for this project.
Feedback sessions/ Disciplinary warnings if needed
Drop low priority features from the project
Postpone the deadline
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MECE Illustration 3 Software Project Mgmt
Software Project Mgmt Interview Question You
have identified that the customer requirements
cannot be delivered on time. What do you do?
Increase productivity of the team
Add more resources Risk See the Man Hour Myth.
New employees take 2-3 months to ramp up
Realign delivery expectations
Training Mentoring Downside Training takes a
few months to have impact
Change development methodology to increase
productivity
Take shortcuts during the development cycle to
save time Risk Quality will suffer. Not
Recommended
Push people to work harder with incentives (team
outing). Risk Burn out
Extend time for delivery Risk Customers may not
be happy
Drop low priority items from backlog but ensure
delivered items are high quality and tested
end-to-end.
Both agile and test driven development together
is also possible.
Switch to agile. Continuous delivery with testing
can increase productivity by keeping QA always
engaged (In waterfall, QA gets engaged only
towards the end). Feedback is also incorporated
early to avoid time wasted on corrections.
Use Test Driven development. Define interfaces
clearly based on requirements and have QA develop
test cases against those interfaces, while
developers write code to satisfy interfaces.
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Using MECE Framework in a job interview

• The MECE Framework is a structured approach to
  problem solving that is useful in answering many
  types of job interview questions.
• Before staring on the solution, focus on defining
  the Problem Statement using a clear, unambiguous
  sentence.
• DONT just use the MECE Framework within your
  mind. Use it to communicate that your thought
  processes are actually structured. Draw the MECE
  Tree on paper or on whiteboard during the
  interview.
• Once you have drawn the MECE Tree, engage the
  interviewer on different solutions that are the
  leaf nodes in the MECE Tree.
• Ask questions to get more context to see if this
  solution is applicable.
• Discuss pros and cons of each solution with the
  Interviewer.
• Always think out aloud to ensure that you and the
  Interviewer are on the same page.
• If the Interviewer offers any hints, always take
  those hints and make corrections to the MECE
  structure as necessary.
• After you have arrived at the final solution,
  conclude with a quick summary. The summary should
  restate the problem statement, describe the pros
  and cons of various alternatives considered and
  finally state the solution that you would
  recommend.

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CodeGround Online Testing Platform is an online
assessment and evaluation system that helps
Recruiters conduct online screening tests to
filter candidates before the interview process.
CodeGround Recruitment Tests can be used during
Campus Recruitment or screening walk-in
candidates. CodeGround supports Aptitude Tests,
English Communication Skills Assessments and
Online Coding Contests in C, C, Java, PHP,
Ruby, Python and JavaScript. CodeGround also
supports asynchronous automated interviews.