The IIM Kozhikode GD FAQ

The Group Discussion

1. What is the purpose of the IIM GD?

a. To gauge how structured your thought process is and how logical your arguments are
when discussing a situation or a problem.
b. To gauge your speaking ability (tells the IIM how good a conversationalist/participant you
will be in class).
c. To gauge your personality (your presence, confidence, composure, assertiveness and
whether you talk sense or not).
d. To gauge how you would perform in a group/team. Remember every organisation has
its occasional team meetings/group discussions. A manager is expected to behave in a
certain way.
e. GDs are useful for the interviewers in forming 1st impressions. Chances might be that
PI would be based on the impression you give about yourself during the discussion.

2. Can you give me some pointers about what to do in the GD?

a. MOST IMPORTANT: Speak clearly and articulately. Remember that it’s not a yelling
contest.
b. Be yourself. People are most relaxed when they do not try to be someone they are
not. Speak in your natural tone. You don’t have to act cool by putting on an accent.
c. Be civil and courteous to your fellow participants (but don’t be a doormat).
d. Content is King. Speak Sense. A good point will always be appreciated by the group.
e. Know the difference between being aggressive and assertive. If you are aggressive to
your fellow participants, you will get a low score.
f. Talk to the participants, and not the panel.
g. Don’t be a windmill, i.e. limit hand movements while speaking so that it does not
appear that you are a human helicopter. Also avoid “finger pointing”. The ideal way to
point to a fellow GD member is by using the palm facing upwards.
h. Pay attention to what others are saying (look at them and don’t act distracted), and
not just jump in (or break continuity of discussion) with your own points. Learn to
interrupt at the right moment. Never make it look abrupt. Listening is more important
than speaking in a GD. It’s very important that you carry the discussion forward
whenever you are making a point. E.g many a times it happens that students have
their points jotted down and their idea is to just speak them somehow. The right
approach is to listen and understand as to where the group is heading in its discussion
and then making your point.
i. If the GD is for say 20 minutes, it’s not mandatory that you keep talking continuously
for 20 minutes. Ideally, 3-4 good points should see you through. That doesn’t mean
that you throw a point and then sit back and relax before you come up with the next.
Be a part of the discussion. In many GDs the panel would ask someone to summarize

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 in the end. In this way they would gauge whether the individual has been actively
listening to the points. Also this is one way for you to make up in case you think you
didn’t have sufficient airtime.
j. Don’t appear desperate!
k. A lot of times, groups are not able to summarize in the GD because they lose track of
the time. Keep track of the time in the GD. That way you will be able to structure your
GD in a timely fashion and also lead the group in an orderly fashion.
l. Don’t try to moderate the discussion. In 9 out of 10 cases the group will turn on you
for attempting to control them. It’s better to have friends than enemies in the group.
m. Address other participants of the group as ‘he’, ‘she’ or by names (if name plates are
placed or names are introduced in beginning). Referring as ‘my friend’ should be
avoided.
n. Try to avoid any intuitive (“I feel”) points. Any fact cited should be correct, otherwise
avoid facts/figures.

3. Can you give some tips about how to structure the GD?
a. Don’t worry too much about the ‘I should speak first and show initiative to impress
the panel’ trick. Everyone knows that, and many GDs are begun wrong just because
some wiseguy shoots his/her mouth off with half baked gibberish. So if you have
analysed the Topic and are ready to start, go ahead. The panellists would know
whether it was a conscious effort on your part to start off the GD. At the same time if
you think that you have some really good points, try starting the GD with your
strongest point. A good idea will be well taken by the group and also improve chances
that the group will hear you when you make the next points.
b. Don’t start the topic with an answer/conclusion. It’s meant to be a discussion, and not
a Q&A session. If you begin, try introducing the topic and how you think the discussion
should proceed, and then start off with the first point. The panel likes people who
bring structure to the table.
c. Try and follow the structure, but do not worry about it if the discussion takes some
other trajectory. This is natural.
d. Try to maintain a smooth flow of the discussion. Remember the purpose of the
discussion, all the panel wants to know is whether you are speaking clearly and
intelligently.
e. Try to analyze the topic from all directions. Think about the topic in a creative way and
come up with as many interpretations as possible. An innovative interpretation or
perspective can surely get you brownie points.

4. What do I do if the GD becomes a fish market?

a. Well, this tends to happen, and you really can’t do anything about it. Remember the
aggressive/screaming junta will get low GD scores anyways, so try not being a part of
the shouting group. In many cases the panel would show such a group the door.

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 5. Any more gyaan?
a. Yes of course! Do not fight with other participants or take things personally, do not get
into a 1-on-1 with someone and ignore the rest of the group, be civil and don’t be
cruel or mean to your fellow participants by being vicious in tearing their arguments.
b. Practice Practice and more Practice.
c. Always try that whenever you are making your point, address the whole group and
not just selected people.

6. I am mortally scared of GDs, and I can’t speak while in a GD. What do I do?
a. Practice Mock GDs. Practice some speaking. Ask your closest friends to help you out.
Not speaking in a GD is a shame, for it is a certain waste of a call. All the coaching
centres would start GD/PI coaching classes once the calls are out. You could also form
a group of call getters and meet up regularly.
b. Have courage. Take that leap of faith in the GD and say something, but something
sensible!!
c. If you are afraid of speaking, then try reading a newspaper in front of a mirror loudly.
It’s one of the best ways to improve your speaking skills and will also keep you abreast
of the current affairs.

7. What kind of GD should I expect?

a. Case Study – Generally a HR case on what stakeholders should do in a particular
circumstance
b. Current Events – Subprime crisis, Indo US Nuclear Deal
c. Abstract – Eg. The Colour Blue, The gods must be crazy

8. How should I prepare?

a. Attend any good GD sessions held by coaching institutes.
b. Read newspapers and some good magazines like India today, Businessworld, Outline
to keep yourself updated with events. Try to read some articles on the internet from
sites like rediff.com, Indianeconomy.org.
c. Keep a note of most important facts/figures. E.g. – for a topic like Retail boom in India,
facts like various key players, %age of organised and unorganised retail etc would
help.

Remember: The process will be somewhat subjective, as every panel will have slightly different ideas
about who they would like or not. And a good or bad GDPI will not make or break you, as you are
evaluated on multiple criteria (school marks, college grades, CAT score, etc) before the ranking for the
final calls is made.

Disclaimer: This document is prepared by the Mentorship Team at IIM Kozhikode. The views reflected
here are unofficial. Have questions? Doubts need to be cleared? Visit the IIM Kozhikode Mentorship
forum and interact with IIM Kozhikode students at http://www.mentor.iimklive.com