Finally, the first
hurdle CAT, if not an audacious seize, is at least out of the way. Now let's
frame our modus operandi for the next phase i.e. Group Discussion.
First let's have a glance at the structure of Group Discussion of a good B-Schoo .
Participants
: 10-12
Average Time : 25-30 minutes
Assessment :
Personality Traits
In order to
put up a decent performance and positive
impact in a Group Discussion, knowledge about the personality traits that the
B-Schools look for is desirable. So let's go for it right now.
Teamwork & Team Player:
Teamwork is the ability to work together towards a common vision, is the
ability to direct individual accomplishments towards organizational objectives.
It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
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. Lacking
this skill will definitely hamper your chances of getting into a top B-School.
Logic & Clarity of Thought:
Your Logic plays an important role while expressing your opinions or ideas in a
Group Discussion.
For
example, an opinion like "Increase in the number of IIMs will help more
students to get quality pedagogy" can be better stated by demonstrating
your logical ability by saying: "Increase in the number of IIMs,by
providing quality education to more students, will definitely encounter brain
drain besides which our nation will take the pride of creating professionals
required by the top class companies". You can also counter statements like
quality of education will deteriorate by saying "The hike in the fees will
definitely meet the costs to attract good faculty, create good infrastructure
and upgrade technology".
Leadership: "The pessimist
complains about the wind, the optimist expects the wind to change but a leader
adjusts his sails". Let's be more clear on this.
The following are the 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.
Here a leader is the
one who acts correctly and makes the Discussion where participants discuss the
topic assertively by touching on all its nuances and try to reach the
objective.
Remember that a
leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.Hence merely
doing the moderator job doesn't mean you possess leadership qualities. Here are
the qualities of a great leader:
• A leader, no
matter how hard-fought the issue, never gets personal. He never says or
executes anything that may come back to haunt him on another issue
• A leader does his
homework. He is very well aware of the fact that he can't lead without knowing
what he is talking about
• A leader uses his
abilities and power to persuade, not to intimidate
• Great leaders are
almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and
doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand."
So try not only to
contribute to the Group Discussion with your ideas and opinions, but also try
to steer the conversation towards a goal.
Assertiveness: There are many
definitions and ideas on what assertiveness means. Enjoying your rights,
expressing your feelings, asking for what you want, stating your views - with
integrity, honesty, directness, respect for others is the definition that is
relevant to you and your circumstances in the Group Discussion.
As an assertive
person, you must be able to handle the following situations in a Group
Discussion.
• an aggressive
person doesn't listen to your views/needs, so you need to make them listen
• an unassertive
person doesn't express his views, so you need to encourage them to express
their views
• a
passive-aggressive person avoids any real dialogue, so you need to engage them
in the discussion
A person's
leadership skills are often gauged by his Assertiveness.As you can see in the
adjacent image, a leader is one who strikes a balance in this quality.
Possessing either a low or a high assertiveness is considered to be a negative
personality trait. So remember to put forth your point to the group in a very
emphatic, positive and confident manner.
Participants often
mistake assertiveness for aggressiveness. The basic difference between being
assertive and being aggressive is how our words and behavior affect the rights
and well being of others. Aggressiveness is all about enforcing your point without
paying attention to the opinion of the other person, which may hamper your
team's targets and goals. An aggressive person can also demonstrate negative
body language, whereas an assertive person displays positive body language.
Think Outside The Box: Thinking
outside the box means to think creatively, unimpeded by orthodox or
conventional constraints.
Thinking outside the
box requires different attributes that include:
• Willingness to
take new perspectives.
• Openness to do
different things and to do things differently.
• Focusing on the
value of finding new ideas and acting on them.
• Striving to create
value in new ways.
• Listening to
others.
• Supporting and
respecting others when they come up with new ideas.
Out-of-the
box thinking requires an openness to new ways of seeing the world and a
willingness to explore. Out-of-the box thinkers know that new ideas need
nurturing and support. They also know that having an idea is good but acting on
it is more important.
In a Group
Discussion an idea or a perspective which provides a scope for entirely new
dimensional discussion is always highly appreciated. If you are able to come up
with an innovative idea and put it across convincingly, such that it is
discussed for quite sometime by the group, you can take it for granted that you
have done quite a decent job in that discussion.
Flexibility: "Who says golf
can't be played with Apples?"..If this is your attitude then you are the
one for the game.Absence of this quality makes you a friend to no person in the
Group Discussion. Besides emphasizing on your idea you must be open to all the
other possible ideas as well. In brief you should consider all the possible
dimensions of the issue.
Never ever start your
Group Discussion with a stance or a conclusion.
Say
the topic of a Group Discussion is, 'Should Dravid retire from Cricket?'
Some
participants tend to get emotionally attached to the topic and take a stand
either in favour or against the topic, by saying 'Yes, he should', or, 'No, he
should not'.One should always avoid this because by taking a stance, you have
already given your decision without discussing the topic at hand or listening
to the views of your team members.
Initiative: I am very much aware
of the fact that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more
doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a Group
Discussion, especially when your team is absolutely conscious of what you are
saying. This is a high-risk high-return strategy. But if your mind can
visualize the outcome of your idea then you can start the action called
"Initiation".
Bear
in mind that you have to initiate a group discussion only if you are well
versed with the topic of the Group Discussion. There's no point in fumbling or
giving up on your initialized idea as quickly as someone makes a statement
contradicting your opinion. If you initialize a Group Discussion and fails to
survive on your idea at regular intervals, then you are in serious trouble. As
the saying goes, "CONTENT IS KING",
you must be proficient in the topic of the Group Discussion.
Remember, that the act of
"Initiation" creates the first impression of your abilities so be
sure that you are not going to loose this chance by putting any inappropriate
point.
Persuasiveness: You should act like a shepherd who always
tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same. You
must possess the ability to analyze and persuade others to see the problem not
only from your point of view but also should be able to persuade them to
analyze it from multiple perspectives, of course without contradicting straight
away their ideas and opinions. It is obvious that when you have nothing
interesting or important to say you are not meant to persuade your team
members. Remember that what you're doing is putting into professional play the
way that you relate to other team members, the way that you analyze, the way
that you would convince your team members to do what you want, which has a lot
to do with listening, with humility and a sense of yourself.
The best way to persuade others is with your ears by listening
to them.
Communication Ability: This is
the key skill in order to exhibit all the qualities that we discussed till now.
Communication skills doesn't mean public speaking, which according to me is an
art of diluting two-minute idea with two-hour vocabulary. You have to
understand that the key factor here is listening. In a group discussions it is
greed to do all the talking but not want to listen at all. In fact seldom it
happens that a bad listener is good at communication skills. Good communication
does not mean that you have to speak in perfectly formed sentences and
paragraphs. Try to use simple and lucid language to explain your ideas and I am
sure you will be accepted by everyone in the group. In order to communicate
effectively, one must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive
the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with
others.
Sometimes,
in a Group Discussion we may come across some participants who use their Holy
Vocabulary Skills in order to show-off their knowledge (not in the topic but in
the language) forgetting the fact that everyone in the Group Discussion has
already done a decent job regarding this aspect in the written exam. So you
need not worry about them as they are already accumulating points, of course
negative points.
As Plato said, Wise men talk because they have something to say,
fools too say something. So find out what you are before the facilitator finds
it out for you….
Conceptualization:
Conceptualization is the use of particulars that has come into the discussion
to bring to light within the mind a generalizable idea. The act of
conceptualization is the act of thinking quickly about the ideas exchanged and
seeing beyond existing ideas and applying them to summarize the group
discussion.
At the end of the
discussion, you could probably summarize in a few sentences that presents the
overall perspective. You may not be able to do it in every group discussion,
but you must have the ability to do this when the situation demands.
So, I completely
understand that it is not easy to exhibit all these qualities in a GD, but at
the same time you must be able to keep these things in mind and get into
practicing some group discussions before you go to the D-day fight.
There are always a few typical questions like "Why
MBA?" "What are your long-term and short-term career goals? How MBA
will help you achieve these goals?" "Which specialization you would
like to opt for and why?" You might be asked questions about any drop in
education or a sharp fall in marks at any stage - you should be prepared with
the answers beforehand.
