An important part of the selection process for almost all
management schools comprises the group discussion (GD as aspirants
call it) round post the written test that candidates give
towards the end of the year. While different institutes assign
different weightages to this round, all institutes do consider
this a core part of their selection process. The mistake that
candidates make while preparing to gain admission in a business
school is to leave the preparation for this round far too
late.
One must keep in mind that most students prepare for six
months for their written examinations. Then why limit the
preparation time for the important GD to just a few weeks?
After all, it is make or break for potential candidates when
they get a call! Hence, the mantra is to start early if you
wish to ace your GD round.
Students sometimes forget that the top management schools
look for something that goes beyond the ability to just speak
fairly well or answer questions.
1. Content
One of the most important requisites to speak well during
GD is familiarity with the topic, or content. You could
be given any topic, ranging from politics to economic issues,
sports, social issues, business etc. Keep in mind also that
topics are not limited to what is happening only at a national
level, but encompass broader global themes. Thus you are
expected to be familiar with the important issues playing
themselves out on a state, national or global arena.
Another thing is that you may not get only a 'current
affairs' topic, but might need to have some knowledge of
the historical context and its relevance today. For example,
if your topic involves the Kashmir problem, as an example,
you might need to demonstrate a certain degree of knowledge
regarding the historical context due to which the problem
arose, certain leaders and their positions etc.
What helps is that topics very often are chosen from issues
that cut across the time spectrum. Issues of terrorism,
privatization and globalization, economic growth, elections
etc are favorites among management institutes and the points
that you can make also remain relevant over long periods
of time. Topics like 'is the stock market a good indicator
of the strength of an economy?' 'What are the root causes
of terrorism', 'Have subsidies fulfilled their purpose',
'Has globalization really helped India', etc seem to be
repeated year after year with some variations.
Winning your B-school Group Discussion
Hence the first thing you need to do is to read widely
and extensively over a period of time. This will help you
in bringing a unique insight/ contribution to the discussion
to the table which others may not have thought of. This
can only come from a sustained reading effort, over a period
of time, and across a breadth of topics.
2. Analysis
The other reason why you need to start preparing early is
to improve your ability in analyzing issues. The best management
schools single out this parameter as being the most important
and the one that really helps a student stand out from the
rest. When given a topic, do you rush to put forth your
opinion or stop and ponder and try to analyze the various
facets of the issue at hand?
For example, if given a topic such as "Who is likely
to be the next superpower: India or China?", you could
first try to analyse as to what are the various parameters
that one should consider while deciding which country would
be a superpower. These parameters could be economic strength,
military prowess, quality of physical and social (education,
health) infrastructure in the two countries, influence on
other countries in the world etc. It is perhaps these factors
that help a country achieve superpower status.
Hence, you have shown a basic ability to go beyond an
emotion-driven opinion (in terms of perhaps, which political
party you support) to a more analytical approach. This is
quite important for the budding manager.
Whenever you read something, ask yourself as to why a
certain development took place, whom does it impact and
what are the likely future repercussions of that particular
development. It could be something like the Tatas developing
the Nano. What effect do you expect this to have? How will
competitors be impacted? What will they do to cope with
this development? Who else will be affected -- maybe the
existing second-hand car market?
3. Communication skills & teamwork
This refers to the ability to put across what you know.
Remember to put across your point firmly, but not aggressively.
Teamwork is also essential-listen to others! You are free
to build upon the points put forward to others. Also, let
others speak. Do not try to capture all the attention.
Note: It maybe important to participate in some mock GDs,
so that you are able to develop your abilities in communicating
effectively in a group. You need to develop your own technique
or style in handling people who try to interrupt you, or interrupting
others yourself! Practice does help here.
The author is an MBA from IIM Calcutta and is employed with
a management consultancy. He has also been a visiting faculty
with MBA coaching centres in New Delhi and can be contacted
at bsiddharth_2001@yahoo.co.in.