What is Group Discussion? GD Importance
WHAT IS GROUP DISCUSSION?
A Group discussion, familiarly called GD, is an indissoluble part of the selection process. Be it Business Schools or be it companies! GD is a process wherein the candidates are supposed to present their viewpoint verbally on the given topic. Usually, 10 candidates on average participate in a Group Discussion.
The sitting arrangement for a GD is ideally a circle or a semicircle. Once the topic for the GD is disclosed by the panellists, the candidates are given 3 to 5 minutes to think over the topic and jot down their points. Once you get an indication from the panellists, the real game starts!
In further 10-15 minutes, you are supposed to speak and listen actively. In a GD, it is not always important how many times you speak, what is important is how relevant you speak!
Why Group Discussion is important?
Now let’s understand why GD is given so much weightage in these competitive fields. Group Discussion helps the panellists to analyze the following traits in the candidates:
Communication Skills
Good command of communication forms to be an integral part of the business world.
Communication skills not only give you an opportunity to share the information vividly but also lead to developing good relations with people.
Body Language/Gestures
Your body language never lies. If your hands are crossed, it indicates that you are not interested to listen and you are not open to the thoughts of others.
If you nod your head and maintain good eye contact with the speaker it shows that you are interested to listen to him. So, always be conscious of your body language.
Leadership Skills
Your team leads you or you lead the team? How do you lead your team in crises?
How well are you able to lead the topic by speaking logically & effectively and also by taking the points of other candidates into consideration, decides if you are worth to grab the seat.
Analytical Skills
Are you well acquainted with the facts and figures? Numbers play an important game in any GD. Definitely, you have an advantage if you know how to play with and around numbers. How well-learnt & well-read are you?
What kind of impact do you create in the Group Discussion?- will decide how strong you are with your analytical skills.
Are you a Team Player?
Panellists look forward to a candidate who is a team player.
GD gives an opportunity to the panellists to know if the candidate is comfortable enough to work in a team. Do you like to complete all the tasks by yourself? Don’t you trust your team? In the corporate world, there is always a team effort and not a single person doing everything.
Dealing with Stressful Situations
In a GD, everyone wants to present & prove their points. Every person will try to throw away their points so that panellists recognize and give extra points. It doesn’t mean that speakers who put forth irrelevant points get selected.
In such a chaotic and stressful situation if you are able to present yourself calmly, then the ball is in your court.
Group Dynamics
Being in a group, how well you are able to adapt to the changing situations decide your flexibility.
As, the one who adapts to the changes, survives! The GD will always go through different phases and one should understand the right time to enter and leave the discussion.
Problem Solver
GD should always move towards finding the solution. Talking about the situation throughout the GD will never help rather the whole GD team might get disqualified. The situation is known but the solution has to be derived.
The one, who works as a catalyst in finding the solution to the problem, wins the game.
Hope you find this article to be useful! Tera Time Aega!!! All the best!
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Such a great article. Reading the article from beginning to end was so enlightening. I’m so glad this came up. Knowledge is power.
Thanks