Meera belongs to her housing society's cleanliness committee in Pune. Its twelve members do not all meet in person; several of them only send and read updates on a phone chat. At each Sunday meeting, Mr. Rao writes the minutes, Meera collects funds and two members check the lanes, and each does the same job every week. Everyone comes on time and stays until the work list is read; a late member gets disapproving looks. Last month a cleanliness drive failed. The other members asked the secretary, the committee's chief, to explain the failure, and none of them saw it as their own lapse.
Look at how the members dealt with the failed cleanliness drive. In this respect, the committee works as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → a group, as the person heading it holds responsibility for the work
Option (1) a team, as the person heading it holds responsibility for the work — Incorrect. The leader holding responsibility marks a group; in teams, although there is a leader, members hold themselves responsible.
Option (2) a crowd, as the person heading it holds responsibility for the work — Incorrect. There is neither any structure nor feeling of belongingness in a crowd; the committee has a chief and set jobs, so it is not a crowd.
Option (3) a group, as the person heading it holds responsibility for the work — Correct. The members asked only the chief to explain the failure. In a group, the leader or whoever heads it holds responsibility for the work, and this is how the committee behaved.
Option (4) an audience, as the person heading it holds responsibility for the work — Incorrect. An audience is a mere collection of people who by some coincidence happened to be in the same place at the same time; the committee has a chief and set roles.
Note: A group and a team differ in who is responsible: the leader alone in a group, every member in a team.
NCERT (2026-27): “Introduction … “• In groups, performance is dependent on contributions of individual members. In teams, both individual contributions and teamwork matter.” “• In groups, the leader or whoever is heading the group holds responsibility for the work. However in teams, although there is a leader, members hold themselves responsible.” |