Group Exercise - Examples from Symbiosis

'In Group Exercise, we normally check for leadership qualities,
confidence, content and delivery.' – SIBM Pune


Work-ex of 19 monthsThe process began by dividing us in groups of 7-8
people and each group being assigned with a group coordinator. They
were SIBM first year students and were very friendly people. They
helped us in getting our documents checked. Once the documents were
verified, the real thing began. We were shown a wonderful video which
motivated everyone sitting in the hall. After that, we were shown a
video clip for our first GE/PI exercise. It was the first story the
commencement speech given by Steve Job at Stanford. It ended at "Stay
hungry, Stay foolish". We were supposed to discuss on this topic for
seven minutes.


A clip of Narayan Murthy was played for 2 minutes, he explained about
leaders and their abilities.
The clip was common to all the groups.
The group was given 17 minutes to discuss about what he said ? Do you
think something more could be added?


A video clip of about 2 mins featuring Mr. Ratan Tata was shown. The
interviewer asked to Tata that in the present scenario do you thing
Asian economies are ready to take up the challange and lead from the
front? Mr. Tata talked about the credibility crisis and CSR. The video
ended there. A question was thrown to us that do u agree with Mr. Tata
views that corporates should do more for the society? Three minutes
were given to us. Discussion among group was not allowed at this point
of time. All groups were moved to their respective panels after this.

There were 2 moderators…one was a Colonel who was cracking jokes and
another person was a bit serious…Yes 1st the Colonel gave us as
shocker by saying to Discuss on "Financial Status of Turkey". And then
he was laughing ..looking at our faces…then he gave us the Real Case
Study..
The Case study was abt a girl who was working at a small area in a
Retail firm and now she is given the responsibility of a larger area.
She has record of achieving outstanding results in the past but now
her supervisor has complained against her to the head office abt her
inabilities to achieve targets. But when asked her she tells she is
being victimised in a male dominated atmosphere….What would u do if u
r from head office?One dude Prerit was there who acted as leader, he
gave some points,…



CASE STUDY.then we were called for the case study. There were two
panelists. the lady professor told us to be relaxed and told she will
give an easy case study. apparently the group before us had made it a
fish market. The case study was about a driver who runs over a girl.
this has already been described in PG. we were all a bit nervous. but
the good thing was that
we dint make it a fish market ad everyone were allowed to voice their views.

we were given two bricks and made to stand on it. ten people. we
managed to balance for about 3 seconds but we lost it out. the
strategy was good but the execution was bad
don not think if i made my presence felt but did not fumble real bad.
this was followed by some reactions from the panelist who i heard are
a psychologist among others.


I was taken for Group Discussion.Case study was that that a small
restaurant is open in front of a huge one. The small restaurant
attracts youngsters and is going well and taking up the business of
the huge one. What should the owner of the huge hotel do ?
The panel checking us had already said don't make fish market. Be
cool..& don't interrupt anybody if he's making a good point.


Group Task- The same old one that 2 people(volunteers) were handcuffed
with the ropes in a group of 5 each. The 3 rest people were asked to
untangle them with 4 conditions-
1) People who are free are not supposed to touch the volunteers.
2) Ropes could not be broken.
3) We can't slide our hands through ropes.
4) Complete task in 3 mins.We were given 3 min for that. Both
subgroups(5 people) in our group could not do that. We were asked was
it possible to open. All people in other group said NO and thus the
invigilator shouted on them…do u think we are fool to give an
impossible task and blah blah blah…..
Next, my group was asked was it possible…probably from the fear all my
team mates said YES (what the hell..) but I said NO…then same shout
was thrown on me. Thanks to PG, I knew it was all fake to demoralize
us. He asked me were u satisfied with your performance, I said YES and
all others in my group said NO…once again I was invigilators' target
for shooting …"Who do u think u are, your teammates are unsatisfied
and so on…what are your parameters of satisfaction?" I calmly said..
sir I know we could not reach the target , we didn't succeed but we
didn't failed as well coz my parameters are- Efforts, Approach and the
ideas. Probably they were satisfied with the answer coz they stopped
shouting.Before that there was a psychometric test as well, to draw a
figure u like most. Circle, square, triangle, Z. Then, a form with 30
Qs. Were very easy. At the same time there was a student of SIBM
working as the invigilator…that madam was also trying to make
stressful environment. Nice acting madam!!PI- my PI was the last PI
not for my group, my batch but for whole SIBM call getters. So, jab me
andar gya to interviewers said ki ye to sab pooch k aa gya hoga ghot
ke. fir they said to me, wahi q pe pooche ki naye?? wahi q poochenge
to naye answer dene padenge, TIME, CL ka tape mat sunana

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A group task is effectively an evaluation of the psychological kinds
and it helps the examiner understand how the candidates behaves,
emotes, and acts in a group, and how their behavior alters in a group.
Groups tasks are an indicator of how a candidate behaves in society
and how he deals with people. There a number of social dimensions and
values that come into the picture when we start to deal with a group
and how individuals deal with them are reflected in a group task. The
leadership qualities of an individual also come to the fore in a group
task.


"Group tasks" are activities where a defined group of individuals need
to perform a defined task and accomplish the goals assigned to them.
At the end of the day, the group needs to perform its task and for
this, group members are expected to pitch in a variety of ways. They
need to identify the nature of the problem, the best ways of dealing
with it, provide specific facts and input that might be helpful in
solving the problem, and ensure that continuous discussion takes place
in a group so that communication channels are always open. Group tasks
provide an opportunity to check the relationship skills of people and
to check the commitment levels of its members. Group members can
perform their tasks in a variety of ways, and can be active
contributors to the group or stay aloof. Their nature and degree of
participation will help establish the kind of role they play in a
group. Overall, the behavior of a group is dictated by the members and
this determines who the group acts. For examples, some groups are
characterized by members who go out of their way to help others
whereas others are dominated by self centered individuals.


Why are Group Tasks conducted?
________________________________

B-Schools/Organisation use Group Tasks/Group Exercises to test team
work, interpersonal communication skills and the planning ability of
the candidates. The panel needs to know if one can mix well with
others; sometimes business simulated exercises are also given to test
candidate's performance in real managerial situations. In such
exercises, a candidate's ability to work in a team is put to test,
while testing his convincing power and reasoning ability. The task is
assigned to the group by the panellists in such a way that all get
equal opportunity to perform to the best of their abilities, express
themselves and give suggestions when asked for. Leadership skills ,
good team working skills , strong reasoning and decision making
skills, negotiating skills, taking initiative , facilitating others to
perform and speak ,showing a positive attitude, staying motivated
(Intensity, Direction and Perseverance) are some of the traits a Team
player must possess in order to successfully accomplish the task and
get selected.


The candidate may be given an indoor practical task, outdoor group
exercise, case studies, presentations, creating a proposal, performing
skits, role plays and so on. Certain B schools (like SIBM-Pune,
Bangalore & SCMHRD) evaluate candidates through such along with other
selection tools. In one such exercise students were asked to organise
an event for the B school. Other activities included forming a railway
platform with a stack of papers provided, analyzing a situation or a
picture, selling a product or preparing an election campaign. The
skills being evaluated are:

Intelligence
Leadership skills
Organizing Ability
Initiative
Cooperation
Liveliness
Determination
Decision Making Ability
Confidence
Attitude
Perseverance
Reasoning Ability
Persuasiveness

Past Group Exercise Experiences
________________________________


A group of 8 students were blindfolded and then given a twisted rope.
They were asked to arrange themselves in such a way as to form an 8
pointed star. Similarly, the group members were asked to arrange
themselves and form a square.
There was a brick lying on the floor and the team members were asked
to stand one above another on it.
The team members were given a card board, chart paper, pencil to
create any structure out of the materials provided, length being
150mm.

Tips for performing Group Activities:
________________________________


Listen attentively or make notes of the task related information provided.
Divide the task into bundle of activities so that the whole team can
work coherently (plan a work breakdown structure).
Stay focussed on the goal and remember team working skills are being
tested here.
Try to create an environment where communicating with team mates,
taking reasonable risks and action is possible.
Creativity, participative leadership, thinking out of the box and
strong reasoning is required to complete the task.
Take initiative but don't underestimate the team mates. True that the
team's success would be your success but be slightly diplomatic since
this a competition after all and you will be evaluated individually.
Remember Synergy is important for achieving goal (1+1 = 3).
Its observed that any group formation has generally these 5
stages(Tuckman's Model):

FORMING: Getting Acquainted and Establishing Ground rules
STORMING: Resisting control by Group Leader and Showing hostility
NORMING: Start working and develop close relationships
PERFORMING: Working towards goal achievement
ADJOURNING: Task complete



Have confidence in what you do and persevere (don't give up till the
last minute).
Perform your role keeping this in mind that you are being observed by the panel.


It is important to know that that the rationale behind group tasks is
to check the candidate's competence on team building skills, the
institute somehow looks for a chemistry between the candidate and his
future employer. The contemporary management practices emphasize more
on Team work now, since managers need to handle live projects. So
these team activities are an attempt to simulate actual managerial
dilemmas, an insight into real corporate complexities.



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This is an example of one kind of group exercise that you may
encounter at an assessment centre:

You and your group have found yourselves in a perilous situation as
described in the attached document. There is a long list of items that
you can use to aid your survival, but you can only take a small number
of these items with you (the number will be specified).
Your task is to work out between yourselves which items you will take,
and explain why you have chosen these items.
The assessors will normally watch from the edge of the room, with each
assessor focusing on a specific candidate. They will play no part in
the exercise and you will normally forget they are there.
There will be no definite right or wrong answer to this task; the
assessors are interested more in how you work as a team and the
process through which you come to a group consensus. Group members
will be scored on their individual input, rather than the overall
result for the group, so someone may still do very well in a team that
has failed to reach a conclusion.
The exercise will usually last 15 to 20 minutes. At the end of the
exercise, a member of the group will be asked to write a list of
chosen items on a flip chart.


Group Task - Survival
On your way back from a holiday in South America, your shuttle flight
to the airport is forced
to make an emergency landing in a small clearing in the Brazilian
rainforest. You, the pilot,
and your fellow passengers have only sustained minor injuries but the
plane has broken into
pieces and the communication equipment has been destroyed in the impact.
Before the plane crashed the pilot had reported a problem with one of
the engines, so there is
a good chance that the authorities will start looking for you when you
fail to arrive at your
destination. However, the forest is very dense and it will take days
to reach the edge of it on
foot.
You cannot remain where you are as there is a danger that the
aeroplane fuel will catch fire.
On searching through the wreckage and the remains of your suitcases
you find the following
items:
1. A guide to South American plant species
2. 3 elasticated luggage straps
3. 6 frozen airline meals
4. 4 blankets from the plane
5. A pack of 24 anti-malaria tablets
6. A 3 metre square piece of opaque plastic sheeting
7. Tourist map of Brazil
8. 2 large bottles of factor 12 sunscreen
9. Mobile phone with GPS, fully charged
10. 1 litre bottle of the local alcoholic spirit
11. 3 boxes of chocolate chip cookies
12. 4 current paperback novels
13. First aid box
14. Compass
15. Flare gun with one flare
16. A Swiss Army knife
17. A book of matches from the hotel
You are unable to carry more than 7 items from this list. (items
containing more than one
object still count as one item).