Interview

 GROUP DISCUSSION

 DYNAMICS OF GROUP DISCUSSION

  

 In order to put up a decent performance in a Group Discussion, knowledge about the personality traits that the job fields look for is desirable. So let us get into this right now.

1. Teamwork and 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.

 2. Logic and Clarity of Thought:Your Logic plays an important role while expressing your opinions ideas in a Group Discussion.

3. Leadership:"The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects the wind to change but a leader adjusts his sails". 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.

• 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

4. Assertiveness: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.
An assertive person will 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Initiative: 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

 Intervention

                        When the Group Discussion goes on each participant with 

his/her subject knowledge tries to speak in order to express the opinion. Since every participant is ready to play his/her role, with good subject knowledge of that particular topic and intensive listening skills, he/she can start the point meddling/ throwing the opinion in the middle of the discussion in order to track the discussion. But the person who wants to intervene must be confident with more and patience. When each participant intervenes there will exist the following roles namely,

            Shaper, Initiator, coordinator, Motivator, Felicitator, Informer, Illustrator, Passive Participant, Talking terror and so on.

 

Summarizing

             

Summarize the discussion is an important as initiating it. It is unlikely that one will get the chance of doing the both. So, if you could not initiate the discussion, make sure that you summarize it. In the summary make use of your notes and acknowledge other’s opinions before coming to the conclusion. A would hardly get enough time to summarize, do not venture upon making it an elaborative one. Keep it short and simple.

  Modulation of voice

          

  It is essential to refine the quality of one’s voice and learn to adjust or vary its tone or pitch (that is, voice modulation). As voice modulation gives variety to oral delivery, it can improve expression during oral presentations, speeches, debates, conferences, group discussions and meetings. An impressive voice may be a God given gift but voice quality can be improved by proper voice training and regular practice.

            We should first analyse the quality of our own voice. Then, we should identify the weak points of our voice, ( for example, it is too low, or too harsh). These weakness can be improved upon with the help of friends, classmates, teachers, and by cultivating sensitivity to sounds and voices, getting proper ear-training, practicing voice modulation according to meaning and intention of the message and learning to vocalize one’s feelings.   

 Body language

More than your words, your gesture will show your confidence. Do not speak only with your mouth but make use of your hands also. Remain active throughout the discussion. If not accomplished by proper body language, your words may not produce the required weight. Keeping a positive attitude will give you an upper hand over other participants.  

 Relevance

            GD is a relevantly exercise where opinions and views of each member of the group are important for developing consensus and reaching to a conclusion. So, you have to ask for opinions, give opinions, balance points of view, or express agreements and disagreements which are relevant to the topic.

1.      Asking for Opinions: You may ask one person to give his or her opinion on any point or your request might be direct at a group of people in general.

2.      Giving Opinions: During GD you may have to give your opinions about the subject being discussed.

3.      Supporting Your Opinions: In order to make your views acceptable to the other group members, you need to support them with facts, examples, illustrations, or arguments.

4.      Balancing Points of View: In order to be reasonable and rational, GD participants may have to balance points of view by trying to look at both sides of a given opinion.

5.      Agreeing and Disagreeing: Agreeing and disagreeing are the two aspects of interaction in a GD.

 Fluency and Coherence

            Fluency is the most important characteristic of the effective speech. Let us try to understand this term and the skills needed in order to achieve fluency in GD. Fluency is the natural flow of words without any unnecessary pauses and repetition. This natural flow of words or smoothness of expression can come from the ability to compose and speak meaningful utterances by using appropriate vocabulary and grammar skills. Fluent and expressive speech normally depends on the range of vocabulary appropriately used, as poor vocabulary will cause lack of fluency. Fluency also depends on the appropriate use of macro- skills of grammar and pronunciation such as subject –verb agreement, tense formation, clause linkage, use of transitional words, basic intonation patterns, rhythm, and so an. Moreover, one should be confident of the content of one’s speech in order to be fluent. In order to improve self expression and achieve the desired clarity and fluency, articulation, pronunciation, voice quality, accent, and intonation need to be improved.