What exactly is a Group Discussion
What Exactly is a Group Discussion ?
Group Discussion is a most effective method to judge an applicant s personality.
It is a technique to judge the leadership and team member capabilities of a candidate for the job.
As the name suggest Group Discussion means a discussion among a group of persons.
The group will have 6 to 10 members who will express their views in a general manner on a topic of current issue assigned to the group by the inveigler.
The abilities of the members of the group is measured within a time frame of 30-40 Minutes.
In today's context, the Banking Industry and / or any organizations are interested in team players rather than individual members. During the Group Discussion, the panel closely evaluates the applicants potential to be a leader and also his/her ability to work in a team. Generally the organizations are mostly interested in such candidates who will inspire to lead and succeed and hence, one has to be a good team player.
Mostly the organization will divide the candidates into groups of 6 to 10 members and conduct a group discussion among them, followed by a personal interview with each candidate separately. In general group discussion, a situation or issue for eg. From a business-related or a more general topic like any of the current affair or any of the social cause, ( List of Most Likely Topics is added at the end of this article ) is provided to the group as a short write-up, and each candidate is given five or ten minutes to read the situation and formulate his/her thoughts or views. Then, the group is asked to discuss the issue for a time frame of 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the size of the group, and preferably come to some conclusions. In some cases each of the candidates is asked to sum up his / her views within a minute at the end of the discussion.
We had observed that most of the Group Discussions end up resembling a fish market and lots of chaos. The credit goes to many coaching institutes which gives away the so called TIPS to their students. The candidates are often propagated by some MYTHS about Group Discussions.
Lets us discuss some common myth ( ????? / ??????? ) and their remedies / solutions to understand this more clearly
Myth No 1 ) Demonstrate leadership qualities :
The very first myth is that the person who initiates the discussion is really demonstrating his/her leadership qualities.
NOT TRUE
If this was so simple then everyone in the group would like to initiate the discussion and the result of which will end in a big chaos. The leadership qualities actually come from a patient and sensible participation during a group discussion. Not just by starting first, but by the way a candidate with leadership potential is able to bring the group together, often to his/her views and inspire the group's confidence in him or her.
The Candidates, who work with the group, accommodate diverse viewpoints from the group members and assert themselves without aggression score high. The GD panel is testing
o whether you understand the topic well,
o are able to present your point of view in a logical manner,
o are interested in understanding what others feel about the same subject and
o are able to conduct yourself with grace in a group situation.
Points to remember :
Think analytically
Respect other people s views
Listen to others carefully
Keep patience
Myth No 2) Speak More
The second myth is that the person who speaks more during a group discussion is the one who would score the highest.
NOT TRUE
"Speaking just for the sake of speaking is noise". So, don't create noise in the GD, instead make some useful and resourceful contributions to get noticed in the discussion.
It is this mentality about speaking more and most in a group that will fetch you good marks, which certainly will lead the group discussion into a hopeless fish market. In the worst scenarios, two or three candidates end up speaking simultaneously without listening or paying attention to each other.
Communication or discussion is necessarily a two-way process that involves both speaking and listening, in fact more of the latter. Speaking without paying attention to the views of others often shows up the candidate in a very bad light and badly affects his/her chances. You can perform better if you do sensible talk and there is sufficient meat in what you say. Excellent communication skills are the essential qualities of the modern day manager. He/she should have listening and articulation skills. This is exactly what the GD panel is looking for. Train yourself to be a good listener. Practice the habit of structuring your thoughts and presenting them logically. Writing essays on a variety of topics can help in developing thought process.
Points to remember :
o Speak smoothly
o Talk sensibly
o Listen well
o Have a two-way communication
o Have patience and let the other member show his viewpoints to the group
Myth No. 3 ) Showing Oratory Skills / Public speaking skills
The third myth is that group discussion primarily evaluates the oratory skills / Public speaking skills of candidates.
NOT TRUE
Just because of this belief, some candidates even launch into mini speeches during the group discussion to impress panel members. While the invigilators are looking out for good articulation from aspirants, they are not actually looking forward to their public speaking skills. To understand how to do well in a group discussion, one should keep in mind the basic purpose of the group discussion in the evaluation process.
Through a group discussion, panelists assess if a candidate can
really think on his/her own,
present his views on an issue in a short time,
express himself/ herself clearly, and
argue his/ her points persuasively in a group.
The evaluators will also try and observe how each of the candidates behaves in a group - whether the person is willing to listen and take into account others' view points, his/her body language, and whether the candidate is reasonably considerate and tolerant of others.
Myth No. 4. ) Dominate other group members
Many candidates think that dominating other group members will attract more attention from the Group Discussion panelists.
NOT TRUE
Actually the reality is the candidates who work with the group and accommodate diverse viewpoints and assert themselves score high.
Never forget the Bank Organization is expecting you to be a part of a team and also manage it if needed. GD is probably the ideal situation to judge your team skills and how well you work with the team. Do you listen to others? If you are a good team player, the other members of the team will be able to connect with you. This will be evident to a moderator even amidst the chaos that marks a typical GD.
Myth No.5) Candidates who scored less in academics will score less in Group Discussion
NOT TRUE
Many examples are there which proved that low or average scoring candidates have scored much better than high scoring candidates. This all depends upon the candidates analytical and communicational skills.
The Banking organization is looking for candidates who have
analytical skills,
team skills,
communication skills,
decision-making skills and
ability to handle stress.
Students should learn to apply their analytical skills to solve problems and make logical arguments. Start thinking of getting to the how and why of issues.
Generally in a GD, the students participating demonstrate their characters as Scientist, Salesmen or Tailor. Scientist is the one who has new ideas and tries to say it but is not able to present it properly across table. Salesmen are the one who take the ideas of scientist and present it as their own. Their presentation of content is good but knowledge is not that good. Tailors are the one who have no clue about the topic but they speak about it by combining 2-3 people s ideas.
