Sentence Types

Test on Research Writing in English

reading & writing strategies

STUDENT ACTIVITY RESPONSES

Soft skills - GROUP DISCUSSION

 1. DYNAMICS OF GROUP DISCUSSION

Group discussion is an activity to gain knowledge about the personality traits of an individual. Employers lay great emphasis on Group Discussion to know about the personality traits of individuals and it is important to put up a decent performance in this activity. During a GD, we have to contribute with our ideas and opinions and try to steer it towards a logical conclusion.

Initiative: This is a high-risk high-return strategy. If the mind can visualize an outcome of an idea, then the GD can be initiated, which is called as "Initiation". In initiating a GD, it is dangerous to start it with a stance or a conclusion.

Some participants get emotionally attached to the topic and take a stand either in ‘favour of’ or ‘against’ the topic, by saying ‘Yes’ or, 'No’. This should be avoided to discourage a debate in a GD. A GD should be initiated only if one is well-versed with the topic. It should be noted that “CONTENT IS KING" and therefore proficiency in the topic is important. The act of "Initiation" creates the first impression of our abilities.

However to gain that ‘First Impression’ anybody can start a GD, even though they are not well-versed with the topic by welcoming the group to discuss the given topic and also by introducing about the importance of the topic.

  

Teamwork & Team Player: Employers lay great emphasis on employees to be Team Players. Teamwork is the ability to work together towards a common vision. It is the ability to collectively achieve organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Leadership: "The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects the wind to change but a leader adjusts his sails". A leader is the one who acts correctly and makes the GD to be discussed assertively to reach its objective. So a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

So, a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. Hence merely doing the moderator job doesn't mean you possess leadership qualities. Here are the qualities of a great leader:

• A leader never gets personal. He never says anything that may cause trouble to him or to his team.
• 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.
• Great leaders are great simplifiers, who can cut through an argument or debate and offers amicable solutions.

Assertiveness: A person's leadership skills are often gauged by his Assertiveness. Ideas should put forth to the group in a very emphatic, positive and confident manner.

Participants often make mistakes by being aggressive instead of being assertive because our words and behavior can affect the rights and well being of others. Aggressiveness is all about enforcing the point without paying attention to the opinion of others. An assertive person always displays positive body language.

Persuasiveness: To display persuasive ability one should act like a shepherd always trying to reassure his sheep that their interests and his own are the same. The ability to analyze and persuade others to see a problem from multiple perspectives is called as persuasive ability. This can be done with good listening skills, humility and a sense of caring for the goal. “The best way to persuade others is with our ears by listening to them”.

Communication Ability: The key skill to exhibit all the qualities discussed above is communication skill. In a group discussion it is ‘greed’ to do all the talking, but not want to listen at all.  The key factor here is listening. A good listener is good at communication skills. Good communication does not mean that one should speak in perfectly formed sentences and paragraphs. To explain ideas simple and lucid language should be used.

Plato said, “Wise men talk because they have something to say, but fools talk to say something”.

Conceptualization: Conceptualization is generalizing the ideas and opinions to summarize at the end of the discussion in a few sentences that presents the overall perspective whenever the situation demands.

Conclusion: Finally, to exhibit all these qualities in a GD, and to be able to keep these things in mind, the most important thing that is needed is ‘Practice’ because ‘Practice Makes Man Perfect’.

2. BODY LANGUAGE IN GD

During Group Discussion, body language plays a vital role, because “actions speak better than words”. Gestures show confidence in a person in addition to personality traits such as arrogance, assertiveness, and scariness among other emotions in a person. Emotional Intelligence or ‘EQ’ is continuously monitored during a GD; because a person’s original personality is clearly displayed during stress, as humans behave differently under controlled conditions. Positive body language should always be demonstrated, which can create a sense of confidence in the participant.

A few rules to be followed during a GD are represented here-under.

Do’s:

1.      Keep feet flat on the floor.

2.      Maintain a minimum distance of six inches gap between the knees.

3.      Use hands effectively and positively to express opinion.

4.      Always display a pleasant smiling expression on the face.

5.      Maintain good eye contact on the speaker.

6.      While speaking, maintain eye contact with other participants.

7.      Note down some important points in the mind from others ideas for summation.

8.      Try to make the GD lively with some humour, if possible.

9.      Steer the discussion towards a logical solution.

Don’ts:

1.      Don’t cross arms.

2.      Don’t crass fingers.

3.      Don’t shake legs.

4.      Don’t tap feet on the floor.

5.      Forget the watch.

6.      Don’t adjust dress frequently.

7.      Don’t look here and there.

8.      Don’t laugh loudly.

9.      Don’t speak unnecessary and irrelevant things.

10.    Don’t feel jittery.

11.    Don’t intimidate others.

12.    Don’t show arrogance.

 Conclusion: By following the above mentioned ‘Do’s’ and ‘Donts’ regarding body language, participants can effectively participate in a GD.

  

3. ROLES PLAYED BY PARTICIPANTS IN GD

Different roles are played by participants in a GD.  The particular role or roles played by participants in a GD demonstrates his/her personality and mental attitude in a team ort a society. The collective display of such roles exhibited by participants show their leadership quality. A few roles are discussed below.

Initiator: the participant who initiates the GS is called as an initiator. An initiator plays a vital role in by giving a new dimension to the GD, as it leads towards a good conclusion. An initiator should start the discussion by welcoming the gathering and explaining the topics to the participants. He/she should not start the discussion his/her opinion or with a conclusion, which may lead to an argument or a debate.

Facilitator: As the name suggests, a facilitator facilitates the participants to participate in a GD without any difficulty. He/she will invite, coordinate, encourage and instill a sense of confidence among the participants. The facilitator also tries to give a air chance to each participant to express his/her opinion without any hindrance.

Moderator: The moderator tries to give a new perspective to the topic of the discussion. He/she moderates the GD by actively suggesting new concepts in the topic with creativity. If there is any argument or debating a moderator tries to cut it short and continues the discussion towards an amicable conclusion of the topic.

Conflict Manger: a conflict manager tries to suppress any difference arising in a GD making it lively and presentable. A conflict manager takes care of problems such as arguments and debating during a GD.

Conclusion: A person playing two or more roles mentioned above happens to be an effective leader. Therefore GD is used as a tool for selecting employees for many corporate organizations because the personality traits of individuals can be easily assessed and ascertained without much difficulty.

click below to view and download
IIIYr English Lab Manual

87 Soft Skills

The following list of soft skills may be useful for your resume, job descriptions or training plan. 

Communication Skills

1. Verbal Communication 
2. Body Language 
3. Physical Communication 
4. Writing 
5. Storytelling 
6. Visual Communication 
7. Humor 
8. Quick-wittedness 
9. Listening 
10. Presentation Skills 
11. Public Speaking 
12. Interviewing 

Leadership

13. Team Building 
14. Strategic Planning 
15. Coaching 
16. Mentoring 
17. Delegation 
18. Dispute Resolution 
19. Diplomacy 
20. Giving Feedback 
21. Managing Difficult Conversations 
22. Decision Making 
23. Performance Management 
24. Supervising 
25. Managing 
26. Manager Management 
27. Talent Management 
28. Managing Remote Teams 
29. Managing Virtual Teams 
30. Crisis Management 

Influencing

31. Facilitation 
32. Selling 
33. Inspiring 
34. Persuasion 
35. Negotiation 
36. Motivating 
37. Collaborating 

Interpersonal Skills

38. Networking 
39. Interpersonal Relationships 
40. Dealing with Difficult People 
41. Conflict Resolution 
42. Personal Branding 
43. Office Politics 

Personal Skills

44. Emotional Intelligence 
45. Self Awareness 
46. Emotion Management 
47. Stress Management 
48. Tolerance of Change and Uncertainty 
49. Taking Criticism 
50. Self Confidence 
51. Adaptability 
52. Resilience 
53. Assertiveness 
54. Competitiveness 
55. Self Leadership 
56. Self Assessment 
57. Work-Life Balance 
58. Friendliness 
59. Enthusiasm 
60. Empathy 

Creativity

61. Problem Solving 
62. Critical Thinking 
63. Innovation 
64. Troubleshooting 
65. Design Sense 
66. Artistic Sense 

Professional Skills

67. Organization 
68. Planning 
69. Scheduling 
70. Time Management 
71. Meeting Management 
72. Technology Savvy 
73. Technology Trend Awareness 
74. Business Trend Awareness 
75. Research 
76. Business Etiquette 
77. Business Ethics 
78. Diversity Awareness 
79. Disability Awareness 
80. Intercultural Competence 
81. Training 
82. Train the Trainer 
83. Process Improvement 
84. Knowledge Management 
85. Writing Reports and Proposals 
86. Customer Service 
87. Entrepreneurial Thinking

GD Peer Evaluation Sheet _ Guidelines

Date: ______________________Time Slot: ______________Group: _____________________

Topic: ________________________________________________________________________

Evaluator: ____________________________________________________________________

PARAMETER	Weightage	Cand 1	Cand 2	Cand 3	Cand 4	Cand 5	Cand 6	Cand 7	Cand 8	Cand 9	Cand  10
Content Subject knowledge	3
Creativity and originality	1
Voice Tone and pitch	2
Body language Posture Eye Contact	1
Analytical Ability	1
Fluency	2
Initiative	1
Leadership	1
Group Behaviour	1
Enthusiasm	1
Listening	1
TOTAL marks

ii. Rating

1	3	5	8	10	12	15m
WORST	VERY BAD	BAD	NEUTRAL	GOOD	VERY GOOD	EXCELLENT

Note: Candidate who does not speak anything in the GD will not be rated on any of the above-mentioned parameters. A candidate should be rated 1 or 15 only when s/he is exceptionally bad or good. Different parameters on which a candidate will be evaluated are mentioned in the sheet above.

Instruction for panelists/ peer evaluators

Content

Subject knowledge

The candidate should express his opinions based on facts, figures and statistics. Based on his knowledge related to the topic, a corresponding rating on the scale should be chosen. Please note that content should include only facts and opinions. No other parameter has to be taken into account while rating a candidate on Content.

If it is a case study, kindly judge a candidate on his ability to read between the lines and his ability to draw analogies to real life situations based on the case study.

Creativity and originality

Creativity and originality will be gauged based on innovative or thought provoking idea by a candidate. If a candidate is supporting another candidate’s viewpoint his score on this parameter will be less howsoever good his content is. This parameter has a huge significance in Abstract GDs and Case studies.

Voice

There are two sub parameters ie Tone and Modulation. If a person is audible in a GD he scores high on tone and pitch.

Voice modulation is based on the ability of a candidate to emphasise on key words/phrases while making his point.

Body language

Posture

A candidate should sit attentively in a GD. He should bend a bit forward. This shows his attentiveness and interest in the GD.

A nodding head means a candidate is a good listener and this is a positive body language.

Candidates who cross their legs or fold their arms should be rated negatively.

This shows lack of inclination towards communication and a casual attitude. Pointing fingers, fists etc are negative gestures and candidates should be penalized for the same.

Candidates should put their pen down once the GD has started and should refrain from writing anything when the GD is in progress. At the most they can write few important points in the GD, which will help them in summarizing the GD later.

Eye Contact

Proper eye contact with the group is an essential requisite. A candidate should talk to his team members, not to the examiner.

Talking to examiner should be rated negatively. A candidate should have a proper eye contact with all the members of the group and not only a chosen few.

Analytical ability
 

This includes both logical and critical reasoning. This checks how well a candidate is able to analyse somebody’s viewpoint and also how well is he able to reason his own viewpoint.

Fluency

Fluency should be checked on the following two parameters:

i.             Smoothness in flow of Language

ii.           Pronunciation

Initiative

This parameter takes into consideration only the student who has initiated the GD. If he initiates well and is able to put the GD into the right perspective rate him/her high but if he stutters, falters, starts with a stand, quotes wrong facts and figure he should be rated negatively.

Leadership

A leader is a person who creates an environment of mutual understanding and cooperation in a GD. A leader is one who:

• Contributes to the GD through his content and ideas.
• Tries to put the GD into proper perspective so as to have a focused discussion on the issue at hand.
• Encourages other candidates to speak
• Coordinates the effort of the GD.
  
  

A person who forces somebody else to participate in a GD should be rated negatively Also a candidate who is only coordinating the effort of different team members without any contribution towards topic, should be rated negatively.

Group behaviour

Group behaviour is the ability to work well with the team members. Aggression, shouting in a GD, staring somebody, cutting somebody in between, trying to enforce views on others, questioning etc are some of the activities which are against team work and a candidate should be rated negatively on this parameter if he demonstrates any one of them

Enthusiasm

A candidate’s tone, body language especially his facial expressions will be effective while rating him on this parameter.

Listening

A candidate who listens to his other team members’ views and does not intercept any other group members should be rated high on this parameter. An effective body language includes attentive posture combined with nodding of the head.