Answer to Question 1
Individuals can engage in social loafing and coast on the group's effort because their particular contributions can't be identified. Effective teams undermine this tendency by making members individually and jointly accountable for the team's purpose, goals, and approach. Therefore, members should be clear on what they are individually responsible for and what they are jointly responsible for on the team.
Answer to Question 2
When teams are performing nonroutine activities, disagreements about task content can stimulate discussion, promote critical assessment of problems and options, and can lead to better team decisions. Such conflicts are defined as task conflicts. Research has shown that moderate levels of task conflict during the initial phases of team performance were positively related to team creativity, but both very low and very high levels of task conflict were negatively related to team performance.
Effective teams also show reflexivity, meaning they reflect on and adjust their master plan when necessary. A team has to have a good plan, but it also has to be willing and able to adapt when conditions call for it. Research evidence does suggest that teams high in reflexivity are better able to adapt to conflicting plans and goals among team members.
Both these concepts come under the process dimension of key variables of effective teams. Reflexivity may be understood as one way to solve task conflicts by adapting the predetermined plan to current changes.
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