Format :1
DO's for a GD:-
1. SPEAK - very important
2. Be a good listener
3. Address the whole group, not a single person
4. Initiate & Begin - BUT only if u have a good point
5. Utilize the lull - speak when others r quite
6. Be Involved
7. BE Coherent
Don’ts for a GD:
1. Don't be INERT
2. Don't be too AGGRESSIVE either
3. Avoid one to one discussions
4. Don't Rush
5. Avoid Hindi
6. Don't Interrupt Abruptly - to calm down say
“You are right..............but I think ..........."
GD - Points Marked on:
1. Audibility: Communication skills, Sell urself
2. Analysis: supported by facts & examples
3. Content: Obtain by good reading
4. Team Work
5. Demeanor: Body Language counts,Don’t sit cross-legged
6. Leadership: People should listen and agree to u
GD Types:
1. Factual: Disinvestment, India's GDP,Software scenario
2. Controversial: Foreign Indian-PM
3. Abstract: The Blu Dot, Girl
4. Case Study: 1> a situation is given, we have to find a solution to the problem existing
2> order things according to priority and give reasons
5. Group Task: Important for EVERY ORGANIZATION
Necessity of a GD:-
1. Clarity of thoughts.
2. Team spirit.
3. Listening skill.
Points to be remembered for a good GD.
1. Body language.
2. Thinking a few minutes before starting of a GD.
3. Don’t feel anyone is better than you.
4. Don’t mix your personal emotions in GD.
5. continues with your ideas. Don’t let it down when any body try to stop in chaos period.
6. Select a different point of view; stronger one that attracts other eyes and idea.
7. Never blame anyone there. Don’t talk to one person talk to all of them so that there is a pleasing atmosphere.
8. Lend your ears to every one’s point of view and timely attack them considering all.
9. Don’t look at conductors.
10. Speak slowly and confidently.
11. Tell a lie confidently but some relevant data so that you could not be caught.
12. Never contradict yourself.
13. Always support the IIMA guy; may be that is you.
14. What ever is the topic don’t leave fighting; something about that you always know.
15. Never conclude the topic, until it is asked to do so.
16. Fight for speaking, snatch chances.
17. Be precise and have a strong point to speak.
Different parts of a GD: - (considering a 15 minutes GD).
- Chaos period. (1-2 minutes).
- Generating ideas. (7-8 minutes).
- Building on ideas. (5-6 minutes).
- Conclusion. (rarely comes; ½ - 1 minutes)
Tips:-
Tip1:
Brushing up on your general awareness is a must. Being aware of current affairs and issues and happenings, which affect our lives, however remotely, shows a well-rounded personality. Interest in one's environment is an essential quality for a manager, as only when he is well informed about all the facets is he able to take correct decisions. Make a habit of reading newspapers like TOI and Economic Times and general interest and business magazines like Frontline, Outlook and Business India.
Tip2:
Being aware of current happenings is not enough. One must also form opinions on those happenings and issues that arise. Think about what you feel about different issues, say, terrorism. Write down your thoughts. Ask yourself why you feel that way, what are the premises underlying your thoughts and beliefs. Also question whether your point of view is based on facts, or on opinions and hearsay.
Brushing up on your general awareness is a must. Being aware of current affairs and issues and happenings, which affect our lives, however remotely, shows a well-rounded personality. Interest in one's environment is an essential quality for a manager, as only when he is well informed about all the facets is he able to take correct decisions. Make a habit of reading newspapers like TOI and Economic Times and general interest and business magazines like Frontline, Outlook and Business India.
Tip2:
Being aware of current happenings is not enough. One must also form opinions on those happenings and issues that arise. Think about what you feel about different issues, say, terrorism. Write down your thoughts. Ask yourself why you feel that way, what are the premises underlying your thoughts and beliefs. Also question whether your point of view is based on facts, or on opinions and hearsay.
Tip3:
The process of opinion formation is incomplete without getting inputs from others. Get into the habit of discussing issues with your friends and family. Hear multiple points of view. Listen, question and argue. Express your opinion. If you are proven wrong, accept it with good grace. Modify your opinions as you go along. This will help you clear your own thought process plus it will get you into the habit of discussion.
The process of opinion formation is incomplete without getting inputs from others. Get into the habit of discussing issues with your friends and family. Hear multiple points of view. Listen, question and argue. Express your opinion. If you are proven wrong, accept it with good grace. Modify your opinions as you go along. This will help you clear your own thought process plus it will get you into the habit of discussion.
Tip4:
While discussing, learn to check your temper. Maybe you'll find others holding view which are abhorrent to you. But remember that they have a right to their opinions. Everyone does. Learn to respect their points of views even if you don't accept them. It shows maturity on your part. This will be a good training for controlling your emotions, which is of utmost importance in a GD.
While discussing, learn to check your temper. Maybe you'll find others holding view which are abhorrent to you. But remember that they have a right to their opinions. Everyone does. Learn to respect their points of views even if you don't accept them. It shows maturity on your part. This will be a good training for controlling your emotions, which is of utmost importance in a GD.
Tip5:
Practice: Try and mobilize other people who are interested in GDs and simulate GDs. Get someone who has been through GDs before to observe it and give you feedback on your performance. It is better if the group consists of people who you don't know too well
Practice: Try and mobilize other people who are interested in GDs and simulate GDs. Get someone who has been through GDs before to observe it and give you feedback on your performance. It is better if the group consists of people who you don't know too well
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Format :2
Organizations have always been in search of selecting “right man for the right job”. But it need not always be for employment and organizations are not always the conventional organizations from industry.
What is important is to accept that achievements beyond individual capacity are possible with only with Teamwork. This is best understood when we realize that the total is always greater than the sum of its parts. But this requires that the team members complement skills; enjoy compatibility and a common commitment.
In fact a group is a set of individuals who work together for a common task and share common values despite having different skills. Experts, to learn more about the individual than is evident from the bio-data, use psychological tests, aptitude tests or even the personal interviews, often rely upon the group discussion process. If collective achievement is the goal or a necessity, then the collective efforts are simply unavoidable.
But working in the groups is not that everyone finds easy. Even the most competent people have proven to be worst team members. Take for example the musical concert. All individual experts cannot necessarily produce music. If the teamwork is lacking, we will get “noise” and not music. Highly skilled/trained people, who fail to work together, fail to produce music. Another very convincing example is Indian cricket team. If the world renowned and acclaimed players cannot perform as a team, then India (or for that matter any team) will usually lose the match. Have we not experienced this often?
A group is expected to produce greater results than what the individual can. For the group to be effective, we have to therefore, ensure certain qualities in the team members.
The group processes are fluid and the individuals participating in the group situation may be carrying individual agendas. We have to be conscious of these two fundamental facts.
A group discussion must have clear purpose/s to achieve. These could be defined beforehand or will have to emerge.
The purposes of the group discussion could be:
1. To find a solution.
2. To develop newer perspectives.
3. To contribute further knowledge.
4. To brainstorm on the given topic.
5. To evolve a strategy to meet the given situation.
6. To share experiences.
7. To take a decision.
8. To create common commitment.
9. Or any thing else.
While short listing suitable candidates is the main purpose of a group discussion situation in matters of selection & recruitment, the main areas of observations are structured around the following:
1. Evaluate performance of individuals without intervening.
2. The ability to martial useful and convincing arguments.
3. Interpersonal communication skills.
4. Value addition to the group processes.
5. Knowledge and skills deployed to get others to see and accept own viewpoints.
6. Generosity and receptivity towards the viewpoints of others.
7. Ability to maintain decorum in the discussion and to ensure that members of the group who are otherwise not very communicative also get involved in the discussion.
The common experience:
In a group discussion situation concerning selection, it would involve discussion of any topic, as may be given or as the group may be asked to select. The observer’s role is to NOT intervene or interfere, but to closely watch all that is happening in the group processes and to draw objective inferences about each participant in terms of selection criterion that have been pre-set by the organization.
In a selection situation, as far as possible, aid, assist or guide the group processes are not available, but the group is allowed to perform freely. This approach helps the observers to understand the demonstrated skills of communication, dialogue, marshalling convincing arguments, demonstrate convictions, knowledge, grasp, quality of thinking besides resilience, receptivity, reciprocity
What the observers’ value is the participant’s skill in identifying/promoting/assisting and adding quality. Value addition is most critical of all that is observed.
As a participant one has to know that the path to success in the Group Discussion is dependent upon many of the following traits.
1. Organized thinking.
2. Analytical Ability.
3. Fluency in communication.
4. Willingness to listen.
5. Dominance.
6. New Ideas.
7. Persuasion.
8. Knowledge content.
9. Building comfort relationships.
10. Earning Acceptance.
11. Leadership potential.
12. Expression.
13. Choice of words.
14. Patience.
15. Commitment to task.
16. Inspiring Confidence.
17. Rapport building skills.
18. Conceptualization skills.
19. Ability to handle abstractions.
20. Value Addition.
Myths about Group Discussions:
1. One who speaks first wins: WRONG. Being first is not the most important thing in group discussion. Whether you speak first or otherwise is not the issue. What you speak is important.
2. One who speaks most wins: WRONG. It is not the quantity, but the quality that matters. Your verbosity can be quite boring. A few meaningful contributions will go a long way. So be obsessed with your ability to value addition.
3. One who speaks the loudest is heard and therefore wins: WRONG. Loud speech suggests tendencies to dominate and intolerance towards others and what they wish to add to the group process. This may amount to depriving the group from benefiting from other viewpoints.
4. Domination in a group situation is a sure indication of leadership: WRONG. No one likes overbearing leaders, as they tend to suppress anything that does not match what the leader is attempting to force the group accepting his own viewpoints. This defeats the very purpose of group process.
5. Coordinating and balancing the group processes is valued very high: NOT NECESSARILY. Intelligently handled, it can get you noticed, especially when the group processes are going haywire. That would be an act of maturity. But this kind of maturity does not always help you to win. Your enthusiasm in the process, the value addition and your skills in generating consensus within the group count in a material way.
6. Summing up the discussion either at the end or periodically wins: WRONG. This is a very useful strategy. But one can not depend upon it alone. So long as you are able to ensure the forward movement of the group towards the goal, other things fade into significance. However, even in this path, quality your contributions and your ability to win acceptance from the group without destroying the group field are of utmost importance.
What should individual participants remember?
If you are keen that you must stand out in group discussion test, then first internalize the points made herein, but a few tips given below will help you build a success strategy.
1. Be friendly: We are ourselves receptive to whatever our friends may have to say. If the members of the group perceive you as friendly, the chances are that the group will lend their ears to you. But do not put on an appearance of friendliness. Be genuinely friendly!
2. Listen: While it important to make valuable contributions tot he discussions, it is equally, if not more important to listen to what other are saying. The members feel included and become cooperative. So, it is a good plan to listen, to support when necessary, compliment when a good point is made by anyone and thereby win their support without actually asking for it.
3. Be generous in praise: Acknowledging good contribution spontaneously will go a long way in building bridges. Each of us likes to be praised. Unless you give, you don’t get, remember? But don’t be pseudo in your approach. Do not dilute your compliments by adding conditionalities. In praise never be condescending towards others.
4. Never express disagreements without suggesting alternatives: Do not avoid stating reasons for your views especially when your views could possibly generate misunderstanding. To say that you do not agree with something and not stating the reasons for your disagreements is sure to generate hostility to even the good points from you.
5. Confine to dignity in speech and conduct: Your language, tone, tenor, expressions, and gesticulations all count. Tact is superior to force, especially in a group situation. Tact is persuation and force is compulsion.
6. Repartee is better than sarcasm: But are you equipped to carefully handling these two skillfully. If in doubt, leave them alone, otherwise, the repartee could land you in trouble. But handled expertly, it can win you a lot admiration from the members of the group.
7. Control your negative responses even if you thought these were justified: While positivism breeds positivism, negativism comes back in double measure. Again, you must be genuine and authentic. If your positivism is perceived pseudo, then you are sure to be in trouble.
Group Discussion is a very useful scrutiny in assessing if the participant could be an effective member in a group. Like in any testing, the selectors may make mistake in judging, but do not like to be fooled and this they can easily detect. Even if you are able to hoodwink the selectors, in the reality of the situation you might prove to be an obstacle to achievements of the organizations or of the group that you may be part of and vitiate achievement possibilities.
Respect the process, give your best to the process. If you are a genuine person, then the tips herein will help you improve your performance, but you may ever be able to use these to create the make-believe. Sooner than later you will be found out to your irreparable loss.
But getting through the Group Discussion scrutiny is not impossible. Sincerity and genuine efforts based on study, thought and dedication will lead you on to success.
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Format :3
GENERAL GROUP DISCUSSION TOPICS
