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employee2owner
Important GD Aspects
While it is not possible to improve ones GD skills instantly it will not hurt to be always aware of the
following aspects.
Getting People to agree
There are many topics that you can never get a group to agree upon. So do not make it into some
sort of a mission to get consensus every time you get into a discussion group. Sometimes it may be
a better idea to summarize the discussion.
Moderating the group discussion
Do not moderate the discussion unless you have been specifically asked to do so. It is not in good
taste. It is and looks pushy. A good leader does not unnecessarily impose his will on others. Your
trying to moderate the discussion only reflects poor leadership skills.
Leadership in a GD would be reflected by the clarity of your thought and your ability to express
them clearly apart from your listening skills. A good leader would rather encourage a shy
participant by providing him an opportunity to speak. You will give a better account of yourself as a
leader by listening carefully to other participants and encouraging them to provide more information
by asking probing questions.
Importance of Listening?
Most participants forget that Listening is one of the main leadership skills being assessed in the GD.
Not only will 'Active Listening' fetch you extra credit points it will also provide you with a lot of
material and facts you can use in forming an opinion and improving your input.
Remember that for major part of the GD you are a listener. If every speaker gets about 2-3 minutes
to speak on an average, they have 20-25 minutes which for listening. In fact it is with your
listening skills and posture that you can get most speakers to address you and thus become center
of the discussion group.
Behaviour during GD
By now you have realized that in a GD you are being tested for Body language, Communication,
Leadership and Persuasive skills, Confidence, Team Skills, Listening ability, Logical presentation of
your views and Time management. So your behaviour and conduct should be such that you exude
quiet confidence. You need to remember that this is a discussion and not a debate. It is important
to come as someone who has the ability to see things from the other person's viewpoint and
respect it even if you strongly disagree with it. There is no room to get upset about anything that
some one might say. If you disagree with someone, you should attack the point and no the
person. Always remember the six C's of communication - Clarity, Completeness, Conciseness,
Confidence, Correctness and Courtesy- the last being the most important. Being appreciative &
receptive to ideas from other people does not mean that you are diluting your own views. It just
shows that you have the ability to see their angle and are capable of enhancing your own opinion if
required. A Group Discussion needs to be viewed as a ‘group’ activity where it is the duty of the
group to enhance the knowledge pool of the group. It is evolutionary in nature where every
member has an opportunity to get new dimensions to his original opinion. GD is not a conflict. It is
the duty of the group to enhance the knowledge of each member by making constructive
contribution. That is another reason why listening takes ascendance in a GD over speaking.
Quality vs. Quantity?
By now it must be amply clear that it is not how much or how loudly you speak in a GD that will
make a great impression on the panelists but how you conduct yourself and how well you imbibed
the spirit of the ‘Group’ or the ‘Team’ in a GD. Confidence does not mean that you seize center
stage and do bulk of the talking. Confidence means you are sure of your self and can wait for your
turn and speak clearly and concisely when you speak. It means you can accommodate other people’
s opinion without being threatened that you are diluting your own views. Quality will always score
over quantity.
Summarising
Summarizing is summing up the discussion. If you have been listening to every speaker carefully
and have also been imbibing the non-verbal clues you will be in a good position to summarize the
discussion. So if you were not able to initiate the discussion, you could summaries and close it.
Good summarizing will always make a good impression and get you extra reward points. There
may not always be a consensus in a group but all discussions can be summarized objectively.
Keep your summary very brief and concise but include all the important points that were raised
during discussion. Avoid raising any new point or dwelling only on what you think is important.
| Check out the employee2owner, Workshop on Listening and Workshop On Effective Communication/Interpersonal skills Other Workshops |
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