Group Discussions: Process and Purpose

Group Discussions:  Process and Purpose 

• A GD (Group Discussion) is forum where people sit together, discuss a topic with the common objective of finding a solution for a issue or  analysing an issue that is given to them as a topic.  
• The group members are expected to discuss the topic/issue and try to arrive at a consensus/conclusion within limited time period.  
• The purpose of the Group discussions is to evaluate certain attributes of the candidates that are otherwise difficult to identify and time consuming to assess. Thus Group Discussions are instruments to access various attributes and traits. 
• In any managerial role the decision making and execution of tasks cannot  take place in isolation. 
• A manager in every capacity has to essentially deal with a team or a group to get the goals to be accomplished in an efficient manner. 
• An individual's skills and attributes are very different from his tendencies to interact, socialize and react to various external and internal stimuli in a group or team. 
• While the written test checks the individual skills and capabilities the group discussions are the litmus test for individual's behaviour as a team player. 
• In Group Discussions apart from the flow of original thoughts and ideas it become very important that the way they are communicated  and the ability of an individual to assert  well her/his idea in an acceptable manner.

Group Size

• The is no criteria or thumb rule to decide the group size. 
• The group size varies vastly from institute to institute in most cases it ranges from eight students per  group to fifteen students per group.  
• The most pupular group size in majority of institues consist of 10 to 12 members. 
• However some Management Institutes have had even 20 or more students in their group discussions. 
• Aspirants must not panic if they face a very large group size in the group discussions the moderators are normally experienced persons who have the ability to judge the performance of every member of the group even if it is a large one.

Discussion Time

• Normally the time given for the discussion is about 15 to 20 minutes but here again there can be variations in some cases the group discussion may be terminated much earlier or it can be extended to 30 minutes or more.  
• However the time given or required for the group discussion does not depend on the group size whatever is the size of the group 15 to 25 minutes is what is normally given for a group discussion sometimes the moderator may not pre-specify the amount of time to be given, in such cases the candidates should try to ensure that they make substantive contributions within the first 10 or 12 minutes.

Cracking Group Discussion 

How to crack the Group Discussion and reserve the seat in the top most B-Schools? This is a question that every aspirant must have encountered. Well, the attributes to crack Group Discussion can be categorised into two i.e. Procedural Part and Knowledge Part. The following table gives the detail about the two:

S.No	Component	Procedural Part	Knowledge Part
1	Core Ideas	Communication Skills, Interpersonal Skills, Group Behavior, Assertiveness	Analytical skills, ability to think clearly, crtical thinking, awareness about the current happenings in and around the world
2	What needs to be displayed?	One must project herself/himself as a team player and display leadership qualities	Command over the topic of discussion and analytical skills must be displayed to the evaluator.
3	Dont's	Avoid being over assertive with other members and  respect  the ideas of others	Avoid being hypocritical when it comes to analysis  of topics and do not try to overshow your knowledge.
4	Helping Skills	Command over the language, adherence to basic group manners.	Command and knowledge of current events,issues and news.