The Hindu Business Line : Preparing for Group Discussion

Come January, and all MBA aspirants in the country start worrying about the second stage of the selection processes to the top B-schools in India; that is the group discussion (GD) and interview stage. This stage of testing is open only to those candidates who have been short-listed in the written round. So if you are one of those lucky (and needless to add deserving) candidates who is expecting calls from various B-schools, this is the time to start planning and preparing for this stage of selection.

At this stage, every candidate is required to go through a GD and an interview in which a candidate is assessed in terms of his/her performance in these processes and given a score. Most B-schools in India have a GD and interview round before they release the final list of candidates to whom they are offering a seat. However, there are some exceptions, notable among them being institutes such as Symbiosis which has more than one round of GDs and XLRI and IRMA which use only an interview.

The short-listing after this stage of the process is once again an objective process driven by the following:

Performance in the aptitude test, the GD and the interview

Academic track record and academic achievements

Work experience if any

Extra-curricular activities and achievements

Students often ask us about "the exact weightage" given to each stage of the selection process and our answer is that the weightage probably changes from year to year. What we know for sure is that the written test does have significant weightage even after selection to the GD and interview stage, and the GD and interview performance together has around 20 - 30 per cent weightage in the final selection and hence can have a significant effect on a candidate's chances of final qualification.

What exactly is a Group Discussion?

A group discussion or GD, as the name suggests, is a situation where a group of 6-12 people are made to discuss a given topic and arrive at some common understanding of the topic. In a typical GD, the group is given a topic, a couple of minutes to jot down their ideas, followed by 15-20 minutes to discuss the topic. The objective of the GD is to analyse the topic from as many angles as possible and try to work towards a framework for arriving at conclusions. It is not necessary, however, for the group to arrive at a conclusion. Topics for GDs can be broadly divided into three types:

Issue-based topics: These are usually topics of general or current interest including general, political, social and economic issues. Effective participation in these GDs will require a candidate to possess a fair level of awareness and understanding of contemporary issues.

Case studies: In these GDs, a small problem situation is described in the form of a small `story'. Invariably, case studies involve a protagonist who faces a decision problem. The information required for the decision is usually very sketchy in the caselet. The group is expected to understand all aspects of the information provided and evolve a methodology of arriving at the decisions required. Case study-based GDs do not require any prior knowledge. They are used by some institutes, most unfailingly by IIM-Ahmedabad.

Abstract topics: These are very general and sometimes puzzling statements, which have no particular reference to any situation or context. For instance, it could be "Red is better than blue" or "Dead yesterday - Unborn tomorrow". The objective in such discussions is to convert the topic into a few relevant and practically significant issues and discuss related issues as thoroughly as possible.

Parameters used

We understand that evaluation of a candidate's performance in a GD is based on the following:

The content of a student's participation. This essentially means the quality of the ideas put forth by the candidate.

Clarity of thought. This translates into the ability to think through one's own and other people's ideas.

Communication skills. Unlike commonly believed, communication skills does not translate into fluency in English. It is essentially the ability to get one's ideas across to others and receive ideas from others. It includes speaking as well as listening skills. The latter is tested in some GDs by asking some or all candidates to prepare a summary of the discussion

Leadership skills. Once again, this is a highly misunderstood aspect. Leadership skill does not mean the ability to control a discussion. Rather, it is the ability to take leadership of ideas and see them through to their logical conclusion through a thorough discussion. In the same group, it is possible for many people to display their leadership skills at different points of time.

Group behaviour. This essentially involves the ability to understand the dynamics of a group discussion and adapting one's participation for better performance.

How do you start your preparations?

The first and the most important aspect of doing well in a GD is to have the knowledge to talk meaningfully in the discussion. Hence, we always advise our students to start reading newspapers and magazines extensively. Watching informative programmes on TV is another way of being aware of contemporary issues. It is in this context that we often say that the effort students put in preparing for the Reading Comprehension section of the CAT will always help them at the GD stage also.

Obviously, the next skillset a student should pick up at this stage are communication skills. All the opinions you may have on a topic are of no use unless you manage to communicate it succinctly and clearly during the discussion.

The things to remember in a GD are:

Learn to communicate an idea in under a minute. Usually a minute of uninterrupted time is all you will get in each "participatory chance" you get in the discussion.

Five-six participations with new points and different angles to the ongoing discussion is considered a good performance in any GD.

Allowing other members in the group to talk and contribute ideas is as important as contributing yourself. Hence, learn not to be rude and dominating in a discussion.

Be open to new ideas coming from your group members. An ability to accept new ideas from others and extrapolate from a given idea to help the group get a better understanding of the topic is seen as a big advantage.

Few topics are ever in black-and-white where you can afford to take a stance and stick to it. In most cases, every topic and idea will have various shades of gray which you will need to discuss, explore and accept during the discussion. So avoid starting out your GD with a fixed stand in mind.

Remember that the aggression levels in a GD vary depending on the participants (and to some extent the institute to which you are fighting for!) and you will need to learn to do well in all kinds of GD environments — from noisy discussions to business-like discussions to calm discussions. Like at the written test stage, one piece of advice we give students — try and practise in as many GDs as possible. The more GDs you participate in, the more students you interact with in your practice sessions, the more your exposure to various GD environments, the better will be your performance. So start practising and all the best for this stage too.

(The writer, an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, is director of the Chennai center of T.I.M.E., an education and student training/ counseling organisation. She can be contacted at chennai@time4education.com)

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