Perspectives: Team Development: Quasi-Experimental Confirmation Among Combat Companies

The effects of team development (TD) on organizational functioning were assessed in a field quasi-experiment designed to replicate Eden's (1985) field experiment. The command teams of seven combat companies underwent a three-day TD workshop and were compared to the command teams of nine control companies before and after the TD workshops. Pretest mean similarity established that the experimental and control companies were equivalent. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the experimental companies significantly improved in teamwork, conflict handling, and information about plans. Inconsistent findings in different studies comparing the effectiveness of TD are discussed in terms of team type and the rigor-confirmation relationship.