What is a Group Discussion?
Group
discussion, which is generally known as GD, is a method of assessing aspirants
based on his/her personality, eligibility to fit in an MBA program or job. This
has become one of the most vital criteria for admission in MBA programs these
days. Institutes who conduct these contemplate it as more of an art to assess
the student on terms of how he/she performs, contributes and works in a group
and how much importance they give to each other’s ideas and appreciate
criticisms.
however, the students see this as more of a judgemental method and
often feel uncertain while appearing for it
Group Discussion
(GD) round for MBA admission 2019 in top MBA
institutions commences in February 2019 and in many MBA, institutions will
continue till April& May 2019 for instance FMS Delhi,
IIMs and others. The IIMs, XLRI, MDI and other chief MBA institutions who
conduct GD round are engaging most up-to-date GD topics on several economic,
business and social issues like upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Agriculture
Loan Waivers, IIM Act 2017, Demonetisation, GST, Bank Merger, Bank
Recapitalization, Merger of General and Railway Budget, and certain theoretical
topics which are more related to present socio-economic situation. FMS Delhi
has initiated GD round for admission to MBA 2019-21 batch and will commence its
GD round-PI-Extempore round in April 2019.
Why
is a GD organized?
GD is organized for the exchange of ideas in a GD. Each of the members
gets a chance to direct his/her views and remarks on the views expressed by
other members of the group.GD comprises of group dynamics, that is, it
encompasses both -person to person as well as group to group communications.
Every group member has to create a goal oriented or group-oriented
communication. A member needs to be alert of needs of other group members and
overall objectives of the discussion.
The Aspirant will be assessed for the following
skills:
·
Reasoning skills
·
Leadership skills
·
Communication skills
·
Social skills
·
Motivational skills
·
Listening skills
·
Interactive skills
·
Out-of-the-box thinking skills
·
Interpersonal skills
·
Presentation skills
·
Analytical/Logical skills
There are
several extra skills such as imagination, confidence, facts on the topic,
behaviour, flexibility, situation handling ability, open-mindedness, clarity in
conversation, your attitude, body language and overall personality, which are
considered. So it is vital that you work on your vulnerabilities and build-up
your strengths before even considering about appearing one. Also being
conscious of current affairs and events all over the world wouldn’t harm you as
the majority of the topics given for the argument would be based on these
factors. Reading newspapers every day, going through important publications
seldom and watching television to watch news and noteworthy documentaries would
be a better way to warm up before appearing for a GD. After the GD is completed
and the result is out, the Aspirant will be able to work on his/her GD skills by
evaluating the score of GD and prepare fittingly for the next
try.
Benefits of conducting a
GD (Group Discussion):
Unlike in an
interview, apart from personal skills, group skills are also evaluated, and
social skills are also important to an organisation especially the one that
deals with a professional program like MBA. Being an MBA graduate, you will be
required to manage and interact with a number of people and these discussions
are the stepping stones which decide your fate in an organisation regardless of
its size. They guarantee that a candidate they have selected has appropriate
analytical and quantitative skills- based on written exam scores along with
decent soft skills- the one factor a GD without help can decide. The idea might
be a little decisive but the significance is however, strongly valuable.
Another factor
that marks the significance of Group discussions in an MBA program lies in how easy it makes the elimination procedure happen from
the institution’s part. There are noticeably hundreds of aspirants each year
for MBA admissions and to pick the possible aspirants out of them will be an
uptight task. A group discussion on the other hand makes this job effortless by
sorting out the worthy from the rest in fewer than 15 minutes.
