Roles adopted by Members in a Group Discussion

 

Roles adopted by Members in a Group Discussion

 

A Group Discussion (GD) refers to a communicative situation that allows its participants to share their views and opinions with other participants. It is a systematic exchange of information, views and opinions about a topic, problem, issue or situation among the members of a group who share some common objectives.
GD is a popular methodology used by many organizations (company, institute, business school, etc.) to gauge whether the candidate has certain personality traits; such as interpersonal communication skills, confidence in public speaking, team spirit, leadership abilities, social behavior and problem-solving skills. GDs form an important part of the short-listing process for recruitment or admission in a company or institution.

In this methodology, there are usually 7-12 participants in a group. The group of candidates is given a topic or a situation which could be either factual, abstract or case based, and typically given some time to think and make notes about the same. After this, the group of candidates is, and then asked to discuss it the topic among themselves for a specific duration ranging between 10-40 minutes (which may vary from one organization to another). While the group discusses the pertaining issue at hand, the Moderators/Panelists silently observe each candidate on various pre-determined parameters. The Panelists assign scores to every candidate based on his/her individual performance as well as how he performed within the group.

Following are some of the roles that members engaged in a GD adopt:

1)      Initiator:
This position belongs to the member who will start the discussion. The member has to be extra conscious as this position is a bit risky. The member has to be confident and will have to set the tone right at the very beginning. But this doesn’t mean that they have to keep silent for the rest of the discussion. They need to be active throughout the discussion.

2)      Clear facts:
There are always members in a GD that belong to this category, the ones who have all the facts. These members are data driven. They will support their statements with facts and statistics. But they have to make sure that the facts are correct. Also, merely stating facts won’t help them win a discussion. They need to interpret them well and make their point stronger with the help of the facts.

3)      Controller:
These members like to control the discussion. They want everyone in the group to approve of what they are saying.

4)      Moderate Referee:
These members act as coordinators. They ensure that every member of the group gets sufficient time to speak and put forth their perspective. They never lose their calm. When an argument gets heated up, they try to bring the discussion back to normal.

5)      Fault Finder:
These members try to find faults in what others are saying. They have objection in almost everything. They do not bring anything new to the discussion, rather try to bring down others in the group.

6)      Stopwatch:
These members are interesting to observe. They always keep a track of the time. They don’t get lost in the discussion. They know how much time has passed and how much is left, who all have gotten chance to speak and who haven’t. However, they should also focus on putting forth their impactful views.

7)      Audience/Viewer:
These members are easy to spot. They are quiet. They will be listening to and observing what others are speaking. They won’t put any points in the discussion as they do not have their own point of views.

8)      Gist Maker:
This member is the one who will end the discussion. It is a very important position as the member has to summarize the entire discussion and draw valid conclusions.

According to the roles mentioned above, the negative roles assumed would be:
Controller, Fault Finder and Audience/Viewer

Here are the remedies on how one can come out of these roles:

·        Controller:
The members of this category should learn that every other member in the group will have their own perspective. You cannot force your views on others. In order to change, these members have to keep their minds open and think in all directions. They should not restrict themselves in exploring points and views put forth by others. They should expand their way of thinking as well.

·        Fault Finder:
These members probably act so as they might not have their original points & hence bank upon others’ point to make an entry in the GD.
These members should come up with their own point of views rather than proving others wrong. They present a very negative image of themselves to the judges and other group members, and makes them lose marks.

·        Stopwatch:
Even though these members try to positive act in the GD, they miss their chance in participating in the group discussion. One can also say that keeping a track of time is important in a GD, but what is more important is to put your points and actively participate in the group discussion. They should not restrict themselves in only keeping the track of time but also equally participate in the discussion. In this way, they can gain some extra points for themselves.

Be mindful of the role you assume when you participate in your next GD! 🙂