Group Discussion

Or been a part of a football team?

These questions might seem awkward and absurd when talking about How to crack a Group Discussion to get into a top B-School.

But they are relevant to understand the nuances of a Group Discussion. Just reiterating the cliché that a Group discussion, or Group Discussion, as it is commonly called, is a group process or a team building exercise does not help students. As in a football game, where you play like a team, passing the ball to each team member and aim for a common goal, Group Discussion is also based on team work, incorporating views of different team members to reach a common goal.

A Group Discussion at a B-School can be defined as a formal discussion involving ten to 12 participants in a group. They are given a topic. After some time, during which they collect their thoughts, the group is asked to discuss the topic for 20 to 25 minutes.

B-Schools use the Group Discussion process to assess a candidate's personality traits.

Here are some of the most important personality traits that a candidate should possess to do well at a Group Discussion:

1. Team Player

B-Schools lay great emphasis on this parameter because it is essential for managers to be team players.

The reason: Managers always work in teams. At the beginning of his career, a manager works as a team member. And later as a team leader. Management aspirants who lack team skills cannot be good managers.

2. Reasoning Ability

Reasoning ability plays an important role while expressing your opinions or ideas at a Group Discussion.

For example, an opinion like 'Reduction in IIMs' fees will affect quality' can be better stated by demonstrating your reasoning ability and completing the missing links between fees and quality as:

'Reduction in IIMs' fees will result in less funds being invested on study material, student exchange programmed, research, student development activities, etc. Moreover, it costs money to attract good faculty, create good infrastructure and upgrade technology. With reduction in fees, less money will be available to perform these ,activities which will lead to deterioration in the quality of IIMs.'

3. Leadership

There are three types of situations that can arise in a Group Discussion:

~ A Group Discussion where participants are unable to establish a proper rapport and do not speak much.
~ A Group Discussion where participants get emotionally charged and the Group Discussion gets chaotic.
~ A Group Discussion where participants discuss the topic assertively by touching on all its nuances and try to reach the objective.

Here, a leader would be someone who facilitates the third situation at a Group Discussion.

A leader would have the following qualities:

~ S/he shows direction to the group whenever group moves away from the topic.
~ S/he coordinates the effort of the different team members in the Group Discussion.
~ S/he contributes to the Group Discussion at regular intervals with valuable insights.
~ S/he also inspires and motivates team members to express their views.

Caution: Being a mere coordinator in a Group Discussion does not help, because it is a secondary role. Contribute to the Group Discussion with your ideas and opinions, but also try and steer the conversation towards a goal.

4. Flexibility

You must be open to other ideas as well as to the evaluation of your ideas: That is what flexibility is all about. But first, remember: Never ever start your Group Discussion with a stand or a conclusion.

Say the topic of a Group Discussion is, 'Should India go to war with Pakistan?'

Some participants tend to get emotionally attached to the topic and take a stand either in favor or against the topic, i.e. 'Yes, India should', or, 'No, India should not'.

By taking a stand, you have already given your decision without discussing the topic at hand or listening to the views of your team members. Also, if you encounter an opposition with a very strong point at the 11th hour, you end up in a typical catch-22 situation:

~ If you change your stand, you are seen as a fickle-minded or a whimsical person.
~ If you do not change your stand, you are seen as an inflexible, stubborn and obstinate person.

5. Assertiveness

You must put forth your point to the group in a very emphatic, positive and confident manner. Participants often confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness. Aggressiveness is all about forcing your point on the other person, and can be a threat to the group. An aggressive person can also demonstrate negative body language, whereas an assertive person displays positive body language.

6. Initiative

A general trend amongst students is to start a Group Discussion and get the initial kitty of points earmarked for the initiator. But that is a high risk-high return strategy. Initiate a Group Discussion only if you are well versed with the topic. If you start and fail to contribute at regular intervals, it gives the impression that you started the Group Discussion just for the sake of the initial points. Also, if you fumble, stammer or misquote facts, it may work against you. Remember: You never ever get a second chance to create a first impression.

7. Creativity/ Out of the box thinking

An idea or a perspective which opens new horizons for discussion on the Group Discussion topic is always highly appreciated. When you put across a new idea convincingly, such that it is discussed at length by the group, it can only be positive. You will find yourself in the good books of the examiner.

8. Inspiring ability

A good group discussion should incorporate views of all the team members. If some team members want to express their ideas but are not getting the opportunity to do so, giving them an opportunity to express their ideas or opinions will be seen as a positive trait.

Caution: If a participant is not willing to speak, you need not necessarily go out of the way to ask him to express his views. This may insult him and hamper the flow of the Group Discussion.

9. Listening

Always try and strike a proper balance between expressing your ideas and imbibing ideas.

10. Awareness

You must be well versed with both the micro and macro environment. Your awareness about your environment helps a lot in your Group Discussion content, which carries maximum weightage.

Caution: The content or awareness generally constitutes 40 to 50 percent marks of your Group Discussion. Apart from these qualities, communication skills, confidence and the ability to think on one's feet are also very important.

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A group discussion can be categorically divided into three different phases:

i. Initiation/ Introduction

ii. Body of the group discussion

iii. Summarisation/ Conclusion

Let's stress on the initiation and summarisation:

Initiation Techniques

Initiating a Group Discussion is a high profit-high loss strategy. When you initiate a Group Discussion, you not only grab the opportunity to speak, you also grab the attention of the examiner and your fellow candidates. If you can make a favourable first impression with your content and communication skills after you initiate a Group Discussion, it will help you sail through the discussion. But if you initiate a Group Discussion and stammer/ stutter/ quote wrong facts and figures, the damage might be irreparable. If you initiate a Group Discussion impeccably but don't speak much after that, it gives the impression that you started the Group Discussion for the sake of starting it or getting those initial kitty of points earmarked for an initiator!

When you start a Group Discussion, you are responsible for putting it into the right perspective or framework. So initiate one only if you have in depth knowledge about the topic at hand.

There are different techniques to initiate a Group Discussion and make a good first impression:

i.   Quotes
ii.  Definition
iii. Question
iv.  Shock statement
v.  Facts, figures and statistics
vi.  Short story
vii.  General statement

~  Quotes

Quotes are an effective way of initiating a Group Discussion. If the topic of a Group Discussion is: Should the Censor Board be abolished?, you could start with a quote like, 'Hidden apples are always sweet'. For a Group Discussion topic like, Customer is King, you could quote Sam (Wal-mart) Walton's famous saying, 'There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company -- from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.'

~  Definition

Start a Group Discussion by defining the topic or an important term in the topic. For example, if the topic of the Group Discussion is Advertising is a Diplomatic Way of Telling a Lie, why not start the Group Discussion by defining advertising as, 'Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services through mass media like newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor'? For a topic like The Malthusian Economic Prophecy is no longer relevant, you could start by explaining the definition of the Malthusian Economic Prophecy.

~  Question

Asking a question is an impaction way of starting a Group Discussion. It does not signify asking a question to any of the candidates in a Group Discussion so as to hamper the flow. It implies asking a question, and answering it yourself. Any question that might hamper the flow of a Group Discussion or insult a participant or play devil's advocate must be discouraged. Questions that promote a flow of ideas are always appreciated. For a topic like, Should India go to war with Pakistan, you could start by asking, 'What does war bring to the people of a nation? We have had four clashes with Pakistan. The pertinent question is: what have we achieved?'

~  Shock statement

Initiating a Group Discussion with a shocking statement is the best way to grab immediate attention and put forth your point. If a Group Discussion topic is, The Impact of Population on the Indian Economy, you could start with, 'At the centre of the Indian capital stands a population clock that ticks away relentlessly. It tracks 33 births a minute, 2,000 an hour, 48,000 a day. Which calculates to about 12 million every year. That is roughly the size of Australia. As a current political slogan puts it, 'Nothing's impossible when 1 billion Indians work together'.'

~ Facts, figures and statistics

If you decide to initiate your Group Discussion with facts, figure and statistics, make sure to quote them accurately. Approximation is allowed in macro level figures, but micro level figures need to be correct and accurate. For example, you can say, approximately 70 per cent of the Indian population stays in rural areas (macro figures, approximation allowed). But you cannot say 30 states of India instead of 28 (micro figures, no approximations). Stating wrong facts works to your disadvantage. For a Group Discussion topic like, China, a Rising Tiger, you could start with, 'In 1983, when China was still in its initial stages of reform and opening up, China's real use of Foreign Direct Investment only stood at $636 million. China actually utilized $60 billion of FDI in 2004, which is almost 100 times that of its 1983 statistics."

~  Short story

Use a short story in a Group Discussion topic like, Attitude is Everything. This can be initiated with, 'A child once asked a balloon vendor, who was selling helium gas-filled balloons, whether a blue-coloured balloon will go as high in the sky as a green-coloured balloon. The balloon vendor told the child, it is not the colour of the balloon but what is inside it that makes it go high.'

~  General statement

Use a general statement to put the Group Discussion in proper perspective. For example, if the topic is, Should Sonia Gandhi be the prime minister of India?, you could start by saying, 'Before jumping to conclusions like, 'Yes, Sonia Gandhi should be', or 'No, Sonia Gandhi should not be', let's first find out the qualities one needs to be a a good prime minister of India. Then we can compare these qualities with those that Mrs Gandhi possesses. This will help us reach the conclusion in a more objective and effective manner.'

Summarisation Techniques

Most Group Discussions do not really have conclusions. A conclusion is where the whole group decides in favor or against the topic. But every Group Discussion is summarised. You can summarise what the group has discussed in the Group Discussion in a nutshell. Keep the following points in mind while summarising a discussion:

Avoid raising new points.
Avoid stating only your viewpoint.
Avoid dwelling only on one aspect of the Group Discussion.
Keep it brief and concise.
It must incorporate all the important points that came out during the Group Discussion.
If the examiner asks you to summarise a Group Discussion, it means the Group Discussion has come to an end. Do not add anything once the Group Discussion has been summarised.

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1. Always be the initiator and concluder of the Group Discussion then being a participant.
2. But if you are particaipant always try to be the most vianl/key participant.
3. put points firmly and always try to get others support too.
4. If you find that the discussion os going offttrack then never loose an oppurtunity to bring it back to straem this is the best point to score max.
5. Try to keep latest information on the topic .
6. be very polite , people may try to provoke you to to get more points but try to keep cool.
7. Most important don't wait for your turn to speak when discussion is on. Interrupt  politely if   you 

want to put forward your points.
8. Last but not the least keep a tab on the time given for discussion. score points by wrapping up    the discussion if you feel that the discussion is heating but the time is going to be over.
9. During conclusion, do end with the conclusion note. that shows your leadership quality.

Best scoring points are:

1. Initiation of discussion,
2. Always keeping/trying tokeep discussion on track
3. Conclusion on time
4. Your capability to keep your cool and listen as well as putting your points. Group Discussion    basically means searching your team player, leadership, communication capability. 

                   

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