Group Discussion

BCPD

Group Discussion Techniques

Learning Objectives

Background

Types of Group Discussions

Key Skills required

GD Process Flow

Phases of GD

Use of language

Recruitment Process Flow

Final Interview

Sourcing

What is a GD ?

• Methodology - To gauge whether the candidate has certain personality traits and/or skills that it desires in its members.

• For Jobs that focus on Customer Interaction/Client Interface, Marketing and Sales

• The group of candidates is given a topic or a situation, given a few minutes to think, to discuss among themselves for 15-20 minutes

GD Tests you in…

Communication skills-Language Expression Ability to work in a team- Listening Skills , Attitude Leadership skills- Initiative ,Logical Thinking Reasoning

ability Body Language –Assertiveness, Flexibility Creativity-Ability to generate ideas Time Management-Precise and Specific, ability to

withstand pressure Awareness levels

Topic is chosen and the participants are given 2-3 minutes to prepare before starting the discussion

Types of topics

Factual Topics

Controversial Topics

Abstract Topics

Topic Based

Factual Topics

• About practical things, which an ordinary person is aware of in his day-to-day life

• About socio-economic topics• A factual topic for discussion gives a candidate a chance

to prove that he is aware of and sensitive to his environment.

E.g. The FDI policy of India, Tourism in India, State of the aged in the nation..

Controversial Topics

• Argumentative in nature. • Meant to generate controversy. • To test the maturity the candidate• Control over emotions by rationally and logically arguing his

point of view without getting personal and emotional.

E.g. Reservations should be removed Women make better managers India is going the Egypt Way Indian resources are utilized in the most optimal way

2G Issue politicized in India

Abstract Topics

• About intangible things• Topics are not given often for discussion, but

their possibility cannot be ruled out • Test your lateral thinking and creativity.

E.g. V vs A All that glitters IS gold The number 10

Case Study Tests …

An intensive and detailed analysis of a single project, program or situation

• Understanding of basic business concepts (eg, revenues and costs, suppliers and customers, market structure, etc) –Technical Knowledge

• Problem-Solving, Logical Reasoning• Analytical, structured-thinking • Business-oriented creativity and insight • Conceptualization Skills • Communication and presentation

A Case Study

Best Design Factory

Management team You work at Best Design Factory as a Service Delivery Manager. Your company is currently facing a Pump shortage and has put a temporary

limit on Pump sales: 2000 Pumps per customer per week. One day you take a call from Chandan Mishra at Tatva supplies. He’s a longtime customer who usually orders about 4000 supplies per week. When you tell Chandan Mishra about the temporary limit on Pump sales, he informs you that he’ll either get 4000 Pumps a week from you or he’ll buy 4000 Pumps from your competitor, Better Pump Factory. Argue for your team’s position, regardless of what you might do if you actually faced the situation in your own job.

Brief: You need to convince the management for relaxing the rules on temporary limit.

A Case Study Best Design Factory

Management team

You work at Best Design Factory as a Service Delivery Manager. Your company is currently facing a Pump shortage and has put a temporary limit on Pump sales: 2000 Pumps per customer per week. One day you take a call from Chandan Mishra at Tatva supplies. He’s a longtime customer who usually orders about 4000 supplies per week. When you tell Chandan Mishra about the temporary limit on Pump sales, he informs you that he’ll either get 4000 Pumps a week from you or he’ll buy 4000 Pumps from your competitor, Better Pump Factory. Argue for your team’s position, regardless of what you might do if you actually faced the situation in your own job.

Brief: You need to convince the customer support executives to talk in turn convince the customer. Your position is such that you cannot relax the rule on temporary ceiling on supply.

Group Task

• Participants are required to put in collaborative or group efforts in order to complete the task given to them

• Tests skills like Inter-Personal Skills, Team Skills, Behavioral Traits, etc

Group Task

Eg. Each group given a candidate’s profile to judge

for final selection. This profile lists 10 qualities of the candidate and as a group the task given to rate each quality. Additional 10 minutes to reach a final decision regarding the candidate’s selection.

GD Process Flow

Identify the Problem / Issue

Analyze the Cause and Effect

Generate Alternatives

Evaluate AlternativesGenerate the effect side of each alternative

Choose an alternative

Suggest the alternative and allow discussion

Phases of GD

Initiation / Introduction

Body of the Discussion

Conclusion

Initiation / Introduction

Helps to grab attention of the examiner Begin only if you have in depth knowledge Make an attempt at opening the discussion

Some techniques to initiate GD :

Quotation Shock Statement

Definition Facts & Figures

Question Short Story

Using QUOTES in GD

• Should the Censor Board be abolished? you could start with a quote like………. 'Hidden apples are always sweet'.• Customer is King, Sam Walton's famous quote: '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.'

Using QUESTIONS in a GD

• Do not ask a question so as to hamper the GD flow.• Asking a question, and answer it yourself. • Any question that might hamper the flow of a GD 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?'

Using SHOCK STATEMENT in a GD

• Best way to grab immediate attention and put forth your point.

• If a GD 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 GD 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 approx 30 states of India instead of 28 (micro figures, no approximations).

• Stating wrong facts works to your disadvantage. • For a GD 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 utilised $60 billion of FDI in 2004, which is almost 100 times that of its 1983 statistics."

Short story

• Use a short story in a GD 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 GD 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.'

Discussion Etiquette

Do’S• Speak pleasantly and politely to the group. • Respect the contribution of every speaker. • Remember that a discussion is not an argument. Learn to

disagree politely. • Think about your contribution before you speak. How best

can you answer the question/ contribute to the topic? • Try to stick to the discussion topic. Don't introduce

irrelevant information. • Be aware of your body language when you are speaking. • Agree with and acknowledge what you find interesting.

Don't

• Lose your temper. A discussion is not an argument. • Shout. Use a moderate tone and medium pitch. • Use too many gestures when you speak. Gestures like finger

pointing and table thumping can appear aggressive. • Dominate the discussion. Confident speakers should allow

quieter students a chance to contribute. • Draw too much on personal experience or anecdote.

Although some tutors encourage students to reflect on their own experience, remember not to generalise too much.

• Interrupt. Wait for a speaker to finish what they are saying before you speak.

Acceptable ways of interrupting somebody else, so that I may make my point?

• I agree with you but ….• I feel that what you are saying isn't universally

true ..."• Yes, I agree with your idea, and I would like to

add on to it …"• Yes, I think you are right when you say that, but

could you clarify what if …" • We have many viewpoints I would like to state..

Language contd…

• May I supplement?...

• May I intervene?.....

• May I add to that? / May I suggest?....

• There can be another angle…

• While supporting what you said, I would add…

• With your permission, sir, may I sum-up the discussion?....

Positive Task Roles in a Group Discussion

• Initiator • Procedure facilitator • Opinion seeker • Opinion giver • Clarifier • Social Supporter • Harmonizer • Tension Reliever • Energizer • Compromiser • Gatekeeper • Summarizer

Negative Roles to be Avoided

• Disgruntled non-participant • Attacker • Dominator • Patronizer • Clown

Look how the participant in this situation loses her cool and reacts to her co-participant’s attitude:

AMIT: (with a smirk on his face) You know, I agree with all this women’s liberation thing but you see sometimes, women take this liberation thing a little too seriously. I mean, a baby needs her mother more than her father. So, a woman will have to compromise and may be even give up her job after she has a baby. Men can’t give up their jobs and sit at home and take care of babies… it doesn’t help.

A participant is shown to be responding by saying this in an intensely emotional and angry tone. She looks very agitated and is seething with anger.

PRIYA: You are such a chauvinist (narrows her eyes while saying this). You think children are only the responsibility of the mother and not the father? Tell me, what is wrong if men sit at home and look after babies? You think a woman’s professional career is not important to her. What if she too wants to become rich, famous and important in life? Why should she alone put a break in her career because of the baby?

SITUATION 1

Source : Personality Development and Soft Skills

Barun K Mitra Oxford Univ Press 2011

Picture this situation where one person in the group tries to dominate another.

ANURADHA: I don’t think Global Warming is going to kill us all. Those who create rumours, always try to exaggerate the facts. Even in the past predictions have been made about the end of life on this very earth. And what can you do to tackle global warming? Can you stop moving in cars, flying in planes, running industries, using mobiles, air conditioners and all that we cannot survive without? (Looks at a participant sitting on her left and adds) I don’t think what you are saying is practical. I don’t think we need to create such a fuss about global warming.

Look how the same argument can be said in a better way:

SURBHI: Recently, I read an editorial in The Times of India that global warming may not be as disastrous as it is projected to be. The author had also quoted instances when such predictions were made in the past about bigger disasters but nothing of that sort happened. That, of course, is one point of view. There are others who have a completely different opinion. Therefore, we simply cannot brush aside all this concern in a whiff of over-confidence. I think we need to carefully analyse how drastically we have to change our life-style in order to be able to live up to the demanding adjustments and sacrifices if at all we have to stem the tide.

SITUATION 2

Source : Personality Development and Soft Skills

Barun K Mitra Oxford Univ Press 2011

Sample GD Evaluation Sheet

Microsoft Office Word Document

Click Icon by Escaping from PPT

Happy Discussing !

Video