How Does Kanban Impact Communication and Collaboration in Software Engineering Teams?

Highly iterative development processes such as Kanban have gained significant importance in industry. However, the impact of such processes on team collaboration and communication is widely unknown. In this paper, we analyze how the Kanban process aids software team’s behaviors – in particular, communication and collaboration. The team under study developed a mobile payment software product in six iterations over seven weeks. The data were collected by a questionnaire, repeated at the end of each iteration. The results indicate that Kanban has a positive effect at the beginning to get the team working together to identify and coordinate the work. Later phases, when the team members have established good rapport among them, the importance for facilitating team collaboration could not be shown. Results also indicate that Kanban helps team members to collectively identify and surface the missing tasks to keep the pace of the development harmonized across the whole team, resulting into increased collaboration. Besides presenting the study and the results, the article gives an outlook on future work.Peer reviewe

Prototipo de aplicación para la gestión de tareas en la planeación y desarrollo de proyectos

Investigación TecnológicaSe realiza el diseño, arquitectura y desarrollo de una aplicación bajo ambiente web, que permita la gestión de la información para soportar el proceso de la gestión de tareas en las organizaciones. El diseño del software se realiza teniendo en cuenta un análisis de las debilidades en las aplicaciones de gestión de tareas más usadas en el mercado, al igual que una evaluación de los métodos más usados en el mundo para soportar dicho proceso.PregradoIngeniero de Sistema

Towards an Improved Software Project Monitoring Task Model of Agile Kanban Method

Agile Kanban method recently is gaining increasing attention and popularity in software development organizations (SDOs). This method has numerous advantages that make it performs better than other Agile methods in terms of managing software projects. However, different studies revealed that this method has significant challenges that negatively impact the scheduling of the development process. Therefore, late delivery of software projects may occur, thus the rate of projects failures will be increased. In response, this paper aims to explicate the current challenges in progress monitoring task of Agile Kanban method. Accordingly, the results gave insights to bridge that gap by developing an improved software project monitoring task model of Agile Kanban method. To do so, we identified the components and criteria that affect software project monitoring task, and then an initial model has proposed. The initial model consists of three main components, which are (1) extending progress tracking, (2) generating optimum WIP limits, and (3) visualizing useful insights for workflow. Further research can be focused on developing and evaluating the proposed model through discussion with the knowledge and domain experts

Managing the Electronic Resources Lifecycle with Kanban

This paper discusses the implementation of Kanban as the framework for managing electronic resources workflows by presenting case studies from the University of Saskatchewan Library and at the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Library in Saskatchewan, Canada. Librarians at both institutions independently chose to adopt Kanban to manage electronic resources work, applying the essential Kanban framework of lists titled to do, in progress, and done. Examining the similarities and differences in each librarian’s experience and discussing two different software programs used, we have included descriptions of our implementation, in-depth information about the origins of Kanban, and its more recent applications to technical work. We found numerous benefits—including reduced email communication and improved due date tracking—to our implementation of Kanban and no significant drawbacks. Interest in applications of Kanban in libraries is on the rise, and we found there were significant benefits of using Kanban for electronic resources teams when used in conjunction with other tools (e.g., spreadsheets, email, ERMS)

The Use of Kanban to Alleviate Collaboration and Communication Challenges of Global Software Development

Aim/Purpose: This paper aims to describe how various Kanban elements can help alleviate two prominent types of challenges, communication and collaboration in Global Software Development (GSD). Background: Iterative and Lean development methodologies like Kanban have gained significance in the software development industry, both in the co-located and globally distributed contexts. However, little is known on how such methodologies can help mitigate various challenges in that occur in a globally distributed software development context. Methodology: The study was conducted using a single-case study based on a general inductive approach to analysis and theory development. Through the literature review, collaboration and communication challenges that GSD teams face were identified. Data collected through semi-structured interviews was then inductively analyzed to describe how the case-study teams employed various Kanban elements to mitigate communication and collaboration challenges they face during GSD. Findings: The study found that some Kanban elements, when properly employed, can help alleviate collaboration and communication challenges that occur within GSD teams. These relate to Inclusion Criteria, Reverse Items, Kanban Board, Policies, Avatars, and Backlog. Contribution: The paper contributes to knowledge by proposing two simple concept maps that detail the specific types of communication and collaboration challenges which can be alleviated by the aforementioned Kanban elements in GSD. Recommendations for Practitioners: This paper is relevant to GSD teams who are seeking ways to enhance their team collaboration and communication as these are the most important elements that contribute to GSD project success. It is recommended that relevant Kanban elements be used to that effect, depending on the challenges that they aim to alleviate. Future Research: Future research can investigate the same research questions (or similar ones) using a quantitative approach

Understanding the Role of Requirements Artifacts in Kanban

User stories are a well-established way to record requirements in agile projects. They can be used as such to guide the daily work of developers or be split further into tasks, which usually represent more technical requirements. User stories and tasks guide communication and collaboration in software projects. However, there are several challenges with writing and using user stories in practice that are not well documented yet. Learning about these challenges could raise awareness for potential problems. Understanding how requirements artifacts are used for daily work could lead to better guidelines on writing stories that support daily work tasks. Moreover, user stories may not be appropriate to capture all kinds of requirements that are relevant for a project. We explore how to utilize requirements artifacts effectively, what their benefits and challenges are, and how their scope granularity affects their utility. For this, we studied a software project carried out in the Software Factory at the Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki. We investigated the requirements artifacts and then interviewed the developers and the customer about their experiences. Story and task cards have helped the participants throughout the project. However, despite having a Kanban board and rich communication within the team, some requirements were still too implicit, which also led to misunderstandings. This and other challenges revealed by the study can guide future in-depth research.Peer reviewe

Processo de Gestão de Demandas de Manutenção de Software (GeDeM) : relatório técnico

Pesquisa realizada com financiamento do Ministério das Comunicações, Projeto de Cooperação “Framework de Soluções de Tecnologia da Informação para o MC”.Este Relatório é resultante de uma das frentes de pesquisa e desenvolvimento do Projeto P&D-MC/UnB (Projeto de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento entre a Universidade de Brasília – UnB, Faculdade FGA e o Ministério das Comunicações - MC), oriundo de um termo de cooperação entre a UnB e o Ministério. Uma das metas do Projeto foi atender a demanda do Ministério quanto a definição de um processo de que possibilitasse gerir as demandas de manutenção de software pela terceirizada, no caso, fábricas de software e consultorias em gestão da qualidade, empregando valores e princípios das metodologias ágeis. Inicialmente foi necessário inventariar os softwares legados do Ministério. Para isso, foram definidos atributos de inventariação dos softwares. Em seguida, foi definido o Processo de Gestão de Demandas de Manutenção de Software (GeDeM). O projeto compreendeu a definição, avaliação e implantação deste processo no Ministério. Como produção técnica, o processo foi definido, implantado, e validado no MC. Como produção acadêmica, até o momento, foram geradas algumas publicações em conferências internacionais, tais como: • Noronha, A. P. V.; Venson, E.; Figueiredo, R. M. C.; Modesto, A. S. C. Applying Kanban to Manage Outsourced Maintenance Services: An Action Research in a Brazilian Government Agency. In: CIbSE Conference IberoAmerican on Software Engineering (ESELAW Experimental Software Engineering Track), 22-23 May, 2017, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Link: Indisponível • Santos, Jads Victor Paiva dos; Figueiredo, R. M. C; Noronha, Ana Paula Vargas de; Venson, Elaine. Using Kanban in Outsourced Government Projects of Management Maintenance Demands: a Descriptive Research. In: 13th CONTECSI International Conference on Information Systems and Technology Management, 2016. p. 4147 Link: http://www.contecsi.fea.usp.br/envio/index.php/contecsi/13CONTECSI/paper/view/4204 Além de outras produções relacionadas a esta temática, apresentadas no ANEXO 1. • Coletânea de artigos publicados em conferências, nacionais e internacionais, relacionados ao processo de desenvolvimento de software, de inventariação de sistemas, e de transferência de conhecimento. • Coletânea dos Trabalhos de Conclusão de Curso da Faculdade GAMA – FGA, relacionados ao tema deste Relatório. Em 2016, houve a fusão do Ministério das Comunicações com o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação, surgindo o Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovação e Comunicações – MCTIC. O Projeto P&D-MC/UnB foi vinculado a esse novo Ministério. Neste relatório, apresenta-se o Processo GeDeM

Software Development and CSCW:Standardization and Flexibility in Large-Scale Agile Development

Identifying which agile methods and processes are most effective depends on the goals and aims of an organisation. Agile development promotes an environment of continuous improvement and trust within self-organising teams. Therefore, it is important to allow teams to have the flexibility to customize and tailor their chosen methods. However, in a large-scale agile deployment, there needs to be a degree of process standardization across the organisation; otherwise, different teams will not be able to effectively share knowledge and best practices. This paper addresses this classic CSCW issue of the tensions that arise between process standardization and flexibility in a large-scale agile deployment at the BBC

Agile software development in a context of plan-based organizations

Agile software development has increasingly been used in the last fifteen years with the goal of improving traditionally time-consuming and rather non-user friendly process of developing software code. As implications of agile development and its impact on employees are still unclear, it is important to understand the benefits, opportunities and limitations of this development or collaboration mechanism. Thus, empirical evidence with implications for decision makers in the field of corporate policy and software development is an open research field. This master thesis analyzes the potentials of agile software development and how this approach can be used to support the development processes in companies, in terms of efficiency, shorter time-to-market as well as better customer fit of the developed products or services. By exploring some of the key features of different methods and processes, the potentials and limitations of the selected approaches are analyzed and linked to recent literature insights