Group Discussion Flow

Basic concept of Group Discussion

Group Discussions are meant to judge the knowledge/communication skills, inter-personal abilities and group behaviour of the candidates. The moderaters look for verbal and non-verbal clues, clarity of thoughts, leadership traits and other inter-personal attributes of the candidates. Since during the time of Group Discussion, every aspirant is under the scanner of the moderators and evaluaters, please keep in mind that you don't display  even slightest of negative thought or gesture. The moderators have just  have only 20-25 minutes to judge the  group of aspirants which are unknown to them.  Thus, even a slightest display of negative attribute or gesture may be percieved as a flaw in your personality by the moderators who are unknown to you and are interacting with you for the very first tme.

• If you are not well informed about the topic, you need not to speak first. You should start the discussion and show your leadership only when you have utmost clearity about the topic. If have doubts or are not clear about the GD topic it is advisable to listen to a few peer members and then give your views. Half baked and unclear thoughts spoken just for the sake of speaking or participation can backfire. They can downplay your performance.
• Always be a good listener and listen patiently what others are saying. Be attentive while others are speaking, and if possible don't try to speak while somebody else is making a point. Group behaviour is not just about speaking or giving your own views, it is also about accepting the ideas of the others. It is a good idea to quote others when you speak while supporting, criticising them or building up a point.
• Be natural and talk normally. Avoid using flowery language, just to grab the attention of the moderator or to sound intellectual. Avoid using terms that you yourself are not clear about. At times moderators ask the same in the interview. Be yourself- it always gives the best results.
• The panel observes meticulously as to who takes the lead, who has deep knowledge, who encourages others, who has the leadership qualities and team spirit. The panel assesses your contribution, so be positive. Try to follow through on the point you want to make, and express your contentions clearly, concisely in an assertive way.
• At time it might happen that you come up with an idea which is unacceptable to the group or your peer members find it absurd. Do not panic at that time. Retreating form your words and ideas is also an art. But keep in mind the retreat should be graceful. 
• Avoid arguing haughtily; be polite while presenting your views. Don’t make personal comments. Support and praise others’ viewpoints when they merit it and avoid making fools of them, Stay calm and composed. Above all, listen attentively.

Attention

In a group Discussion, the candidates are rated and evaluated on the basis of their initiative, leadership qualities, enthusiasm, co-operative attitude, knowledge on the topic, analyzing power, communication skills and team spirit attributes. Have co-operative attitude and demonstrate your team spirit, that is, taking others along. Unwarrantedly domineering behavior may negate your chances of success. Listen calmly and speak to the point.

Generating Ideas for Group Discussion

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As the content and fresh ideas are life and blood of any Group Discussion, at times many aspirants get confused regarding the idea generation. The aspirants many a time fail to understand the framework in order to generate relevant ideas for the discussion. In the absence of a sound framework, no doubt the apirants can generate ideas through brain storming, but many a times they end up with irrelevant ideas. Throwing irrelevant ideas in the Group Discussion can backfire and prove detrimental in the eyes of the evaluators. Since time to think and speak is limited in the Group Discussions, it is advisable to follow a sound framework to generate ideas.

Framework

The following three framework work in almost all Group Discussions:

1. Stakeholders Analysis
2. Keyword Approach
3. PESTLE Approach

Stakeholder’s Analysis

Stakeholders can be defined as the all the living beings including person, group, organization, animals, plants etc that has direct or indirect stake in an event or action. Or in other words stakeholders are all those entities that would be affected directly or indirectly through an event or action. For example consider the case “Saving Our national animal, Tiger”. In such case the following are the stakeholders:

1. Tigers
2. The other animals who are related to tigers in one way or the other like deer etc
3. Forest ecosystem
4. Forest authorities
5. Tourists who come to see the tigers
6. People dependent on tourism industry related to tigers like forest resorts, jeep drivers
7. Poachers
8. Forest dwellers
9. Tribals

In Stakeholder Analysis the following steps can be useful:

1. Identifying the stakeholders
2. Identifying the stakeholders that would be benefitted by the action or idea that you are proposing
3. Identifying the stakeholders that would be at a loss by the action or idea that you are proposing
4. Evaluating benefits v/s loss
5. The ways to maximize the benefits
6. The ways to minimize the losses
7. Conclusion

For example in this case you come up with an idea that to Save Tigers the Tourism in the core areas must be banned.  Now you can follow the above steps and generate the ideas to speak.

The keyword approach

The emphasis of this approach is to expand the meaning of each word and expression and then correlating it with the central idea. For example consider the topic “Culture of India is better than that of the western world”. As per the key word approach, you need to discuss the meaning of each word and expression as:

1. Meaning of culture
2. Components of culture
3. What is Indian culture?
4. What is western culture?
5. The basic difference between these two culture
6. Components and criteria for defining a “better culture”
7. Conclusion

Therefore in keyword approach every keyword is looked upon as a separate entity and its meaning and essence are defined. Compiling those meaning and essence the conclusion for the Group Discussion is drawn.

PESTLE Approach:

The PESTLE Approach is an analytical approach which addresses the issue from the following prespective:

1. Political
2. Economic
3. Socio-Cultural
4. Technological
5. Legal
6. Environmetal

Types of Group Discussions

Types of Group Discussions

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Although the topics for Group Discussions can show high variation but on the basis of structure the Group Discussions can be broadly divided into two categories. These categories are:

1. Topic-based Group Discussions 
2. Case/Article based Group Discussions

​Topic based Group Discussions

In the topic-based Group Discussions, the group member discusses a topic that is typically in the form of a statement or an idea. By the end of the discussion, the group should strive to arrive at a consensus-on the issue or the solutions that are required by the moderators. The topics of the this category can be further sub divided into three sub categories i.e.:

1. Current Topics
2. Argumentative Topics
3. Abstract Topics

​The following are the details of these sub categories:

Current Topics

These are the topics which are based upon the current happenings in the world.  These are the kind of topics where knowledge would play important role vis-a-vis the creativity of the aspirants. In such topics you one must some prior knowledge about the topic to be able to speak on the topic. 

The current topics can be from from any of the following areas:

1. Social
2. Political
3. International Affairs
4. Economics
5. Environmental
6. Legal
7. Technical

​ The topics from the above areas are generally those which were in news in the recent past. Thus a candidate of ordinary intelligence having normal awareness  and sensetive about the current happenings would be famalier with such topics. Typically these are related to the socio-economic and political milieu prevailing around us.

The knowledge, analytical skills as well as critical thinking are the most important attributes that can help an aspirant to score higher is topics.

Examples:

1. Indo US relation: The changing paradigms
2. Justice much reach to the poor
3. Ramification of corruption on Indian society

Argumentative Topics

These topics are one which are controversial in nature. These are the topics wherein the individuals would have different set of opinions and perceptions about the topic. These topics are generally given to create difference in opinion among the aspirants. Thus in these kind of topics apart from the aptitude the emotional intelligence and conflict solving abilities of the aspirants are also judged. The extent of openness to the divergent ideas is also evaluated in these kind of topics.

Apart from the knowledge and analytical skills, the logical flow of thoughts and ability to influence group behaviour are crucial attributes to score high in such kind of topics.

Example:

1. Should reservation be extended to the Private Sector?
2. FDI in Retail will destroy Indian Economy
3. Are female managers better than the males?

Abstract Topics

Abstract topics are not related to any particular subject. Unlike the first two sub categories knowledge plays a very limited role to discuss such topics. These topics are generally open ended and give full scope to aspirants to apply their common sense, imagination and lateral thinking. Discussion of these topics can be very nebulous. Sometimes candidates feel that the topic is very simple but as the discussion progresses the participants find it difficult to discuss. On the other hand, at times the topic looks very difficult but the discussion proceeds smoothly. By nature abstract topics lend themselves to varied and widespread discussion. However participants who make the grade in such GDs are the ones who set clear boundaries as to what needs to be discussed. Abstract topics can be best discussed using appropriate examplification.

Examples:

1. Twinkle Twinkle little star
2. Red
3. An Elephant

Case/Article Based Group Discussion

In case studies, a short description of a situation (called a case") is given to all the participants. The case will typically be a problem situation that requires a solution. The participants have to study the case, analyze the problem and then discuss their views about the possible solution to the problem with the other members of the group

It is important to read the case very carefully and aspirants must not miss even the slightest detail as every single detail can be crucial for giving solutions. 

The sloutions given by the aspirants must be sound holistic, credible, feasible and real. The solutions must incorporate the interests and needs of all the stakeholders mentioned in the case.

Till CAT 2003. the IIMs were using either topic based or case-Based Group Discussions. CAT 2004 saw students who received calls from IlM K being given recent articles of topical interest that had appeared in newspapers and magzines. These articles covered a wide range of areas right from current affairs, politics, economics, technology, etc. The participants in the GD were given 4 to 5 minutes to read the article and were then asked to have a regular Group Discussion of around 10-15 minutes on the article.

IlM Ahmedabad has been giving case studies as a part of Group Discussions every year without exception for more than twenty years. IlM Indore, which is a fairly new institute, has also been giving case based Group Discussions as a part of their selection process. No other institute has been giving case studies as a part of Group Discussions regularly. However, they could always do so in future.