Transcript GROUP DISCUSSIONS

GROUP DISCUSSIONS
Agenda
 Introduction & Methodology
 Essential components of group discussion
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Personality manifestation
Communication skills
Knowledge
Leadership
 Role Players
 Positive and Negative traits
 Myths regarding group discussion
 Suggestions
 Success in a group discussion
 Practical suggestions
 Generating ideas for discussion
Introduction & Methodology
 Group discussion is used as a variant of personality test for
evaluating several candidates simultaneously.
 It is simple, easy, time & cost effective.
 Group of candidates
Essential Components for Group
Discussion
Four essential components of group discussion test are:
 Personality manifestation
 Communication skill
 Knowledge
 Leadership
Personality Manifestation
 The various components of personality can be summed up
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thus
Dress
Body
Tone and Voice
Countenance
Manners
Communication Skills
 Communication refers to sharing of ideas, facts and opinions.
 The process of passing information from one person to
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another.
A bridge between people
Effective communication is a salient feature of a group
discussion.
An idea can be appreciated only when it is expressed
eloquently and effectively.
A leader, an administrator, a manager or an erudite scholar
must posses the skills to put across an idea in the clearest
manner.
Contd..
Communication Barriers
Effective communication is often distorted by certain barriers. In a
group discussion, three kinds of barriers exist
 Personal Barriers
 Prejudice and bias distort independent thinking
 Develop rational stance and empirical approach to matters
 Physical Barriers
 Stammering, weak voice, mannerisms, physical debility, etc.
 Either take care or another trait should hide the barriers.
 Lack of active listening
 Stop talking, Be patient, Be attentive, Empathize with speaker, Control your
temper.
 Semantic barriers
 Bad choice of words, poor organization of ideas, etc.
 Have good knowledge of general topics, Develop spoken language skills.
Knowledge
 Knowledge is power
 Knowledge of subject backed by common sense will help you
deal with any situation and win laurels
 A systematic reading of books, periodicals, etc in various
areas is recommended
 Talks and speeches of experts will also help a great deal.
 Keen observation and travelling also helps.
Leadership
 Man is gregarious by nature and each group has a leader
 Qualities of a leader
 Functional Ability – Ability to work in exemplary manner. It
involves several elements
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Knowledge
Energy
Emotional Ability
Objectivity
Empathy
Communication Skill
Integrity
Moral Courage
Contd..
 Coordination Ability – Leader is the master of the art of getting
along with others and getting the best out of them.
 Social Ability – Ability to adjust with other individuals in the group to fit
in harmoniously
 Motivation – By creating a rapport with other individuals a leader can
arouse a desire in others and motivate them.
Role Players
 A candidate must play various roles in a group discussion.
They are
 Initiator – An individual who initiates the discussion
 Informer - An individual who have sound general knowledge on
any given topic
 Illustrator - An individual who can elaborate points of others,
make them relevant and develop his own opinions
 Coordinator – An individual who can harmonize the dissenting
members of the group
 Orienter – An individual who displays the skills of organization
Positive and Negative traits
Positive traits
Personality
Communication
Skill
knowledge
Leadership
Smartness
Fluency
Depth
Initiative
Cheerfulness
Clarity
Range
Tolerance
Enthusiasm
Logicality
Keenness
Coherence
Curiosity
Effectiveness
Participation
Team spirit
Analytical ability
Persuasiveness
Decisiveness
Coordination of
thoughts
flexibility
Contd.
Negative traits
Personality
Communication
Skill
Knowledge
Leadership
Shyness
Incoherence
Ignorance
Intolerance
Sluggishness
Muteness
Lack of ideas
Unfriendliness
Diffidence
Fumbling
Superficiality
Selfishness
Timidity
Aggressiveness
Mental power
Rigidity
Rudeness
Distracted
Nervousness
Amorphous
Indifference
Vagueness
Tonal poverty
Indecisiveness
Incoherence
Lack of analytical
ability
Isolation
Myths
 You Should be Aggressive
 You Should Speak More
 You Should Speak in Favor
 You should Cut Down Your Opponents
 You Should Make Others Agree to Your Point
 You Should be an Individual Speaker
 You Should Project Yourself in Style
Suggestions
 Be smart, neatly dressed and confident
 Listen actively
 Take initiative
 In case of interruption, do so gently
 Modulate your tone
 Think and organize your ideas
 Be ready to admit your mistakes. Do not react, shout, or bully
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others
Be cooperative
Never try to bluff
Maintain consistency in opinion
Practice group discussions
Success in a group discussion
 Be Assertive
 A Patient Listener
 Right Language
 Be Analytical and Fact-oriented
 Accept Criticism
 Maximize Participation
 Respect Other Speakers
 Show Leadership Ability
 Be Precise
Practical suggestions
 Topic Selection by the Participating Group Itself
 Participate actively while selecting a topic
 Suggest a topic that generates most points
 Should One Take a Stand either in Favour or against the Topic
 Either of the stand can be taken or be neutral
 Handle the situation intelligently and express your views clearly
Contd..
 How and when to Join Participation in the Discussion
 At your earliest convenient chance
 When the noise level of speaker is low
 When a speaker reaches his exhaustion point
 When a speaker is at a confusion point
 When the speaker is weak and soft-voiced
Generating ideas for discussion
To generate ideas on the topic concerned is a very pertinent
problem. Following 3 methods are helpful
 CAR – Concept Analysis Response
 CPA – Concerned Parties Approach
 MPA – Multiple Perspectives Approach
Concept Analysis Response
 Every topic has a concept behind it and the concept is hidden
within keywords
 Analyze the keywords to unfold the concept
 Analysis of keywords may include
 Advantages
 Disadvantages
 Contextual Importance
Concerned Parties Approach
 Most of the topics concern several parties or groups
 Approach the topic from the point of view of concerned
parties to clarify the implications of the topic
 Assess, explore, analyze and evaluate the topic with respect
to concerned parties points of views
Multiple Perspectives Approach
 Every topic has several dimensions and several points of views/
perspectives
 Explore the implications of a topic from
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Social
Economic
Cultural
Political
Technological
Biological
Spiritual
Ritual etc. perspectives
 Looking at the topic from some of these angles will help generate
lot of ideas
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