How do Software Developers Experience Team Performance in Lean and Agile Environments?

Context: Companies increasingly strive to adapt to market and ecosystem changes in real time. Evaluating team performance in such changing environments presents a major challenge. Objective: This paper aims to understand how software developers experience performance in a highly volatile environment. This understanding could be used as a basis for guiding formation and maintenance of high-performing teams. Method: A qualitative multiple-case study using thematic interviews was conducted with 16 experienced practitioners in five organisations. Results: We found 33 major categories of performance factors, arranged as a theoretical structure that explains how the subjects experience software team performance. Conclusions: Based on our study, software teams are engaged in a constant cycle of interpreting their performance and aligning it with other stakeholders. Enhancing performance experiences requires integration of soft factors, such as communication, team spirit, and team identity, into the overall development process.Peer reviewe

Systematic Literature Review of Lean Tools Applied to Software Development

Currently, the predominance of Agile frameworks in software development means that Lean applications in the IT sector are incipient or very little known. However, several authors argue that the application of Lean in software has more advantages than Agile could have, due to the scalability of the procedures. The objective of this research is to know the state of the art of the application of Lean in software development through a systematic literature review. After reviewing 19 articles, it was found that the most common Lean waste with the greatest impact on software development is waiting. The main barriers that hinder the application of Lean correspond to attitudinal components of people such as low understanding of Lean concepts. The most applied Lean tool is Kanban and the main advantage of applying Lean in software development is the improvement of team performance

The effect of software engineers\u27 personality traits on team climate and performance: a systematic literature review

Context Over the past 50 years numerous studies have investigated the possible effect that software engineers\u27 personalities may have upon their individual tasks and teamwork. These have led to an improved understanding of that relationship; however, the analysis of personality traits and their impact on the software development process is still an area under investigation and debate. Further, other than personality traits, "team climate" is also another factor that has also been investigated given its relationship with software teams\u27 performance. Objective The aim of this paper is to investigate how software professionals\u27 personality is associated with team climate and team performance. Method In this paper we detail a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of the effect of software engineers\u27 personality traits and team climate on software team performance. Results Our main findings include 35 primary studies that have addressed the relationship between personality and team performance without considering team climate. The findings showed that team climate comprises a wide range of factors that fall within the fields of management and behavioral sciences. Most of the studies used undergraduate students as subjects and as surrogates of software professionals. Conclusions The findings from this SLR would be beneficial for understanding the personality assessment of software development team members by revealing the traits of personality taxonomy, along with the measurement of the software development team working environment. These measurements would be useful in examining the success and failure possibilities of software projects in development processes. General terms Human factors, performance

Applying global software development approaches to building high-performing software teams

The rapid progress of communication technologies combined with the growing competition for talents and knowledge has made it necessary to reassess the potential of distributed development which has significantly changed the landscape of the IT industry introducing a variety of cooperation models and making notable changes to the software team work environment. Along with this, enterprises pay more attention to teams’ performance improvement, employing emerging management tools for building up efficient software teams, and trying to get the most out of understanding factors which significantly impact a team’s overall performance. The objective of the research is to systematize factors characterizing high-performing software teams; indicate the benefits of global software development (GSD) models positively influencing software teams’ development performance; and study how companies’ strategies can benefit from distributed development approaches in building high-performing software teams. The thesis is designed as a combination of a systematic literature review followed by qualitative research in the form of semi-structured interviews to validate the findings regarding classification of GSD models’ benefits and their influence on the development of high-performing software teams. At a literature review stage, the research (1) introduces a team performance factors’ model reflecting the aspects which impact the effectiveness of development teams; (2) suggests the classification of GSD models based on organizational, legal, and temporal characteristics, and (3) describes the benefits of GSD models which influence the performance of software development teams. Within the empirical part of the study, we refine the classification of GSD models’ benefits based on the qualitative analysis results of semi-structured interviews with practitioners from IT industry, form a comparison table of GSD benefits depending on the model in question, and introduce recommendations for company and team management regarding the application of GSD in building high-performing software teams. IT corporations, to achieve their strategic goals, can enrich their range of available tools for managing high-performing teams by considering the peculiarities of different GSD models. Company and team management should evaluate the advantages of the distributed operational models, and use the potential and benefits of available configurations to increase teams’ performance and build high-performing software teams

Un estudio exploratorio de las percepciones de productividad en equipos de software ágil

Team productivity in agile software development (ASD) is made up of a set of factors that allow evaluating the performance of each one of the members of a team, a crucial aspect to establish the success or failure of a project. The objective of this research is to determine the perception that ASD team professionals have about the measurement of productivity based on the factors identified in a preliminary study. For this purpose, a survey was applied that was oriented under the Kitchenham and Pfleeger protocol to 82 members of ASD teams. The main results indicate that professionals in the software industry associate productivity as an indicator of improvement within the team's processes and in the fulfillment of objectives for a client. Among the factors that the participants considered essential in measuring team productivity at ASD, Speed, Work Capacity and Customer Satisfaction stand out. Finally, the factors that affect the performance of a team when they adapt to change and those related to the identity of the team, were not mentioned by the professionals as part of the current evaluation process on productivity in ASD teams, but they were considered relevant to be included later.La productividad de equipo en el desarrollo ágil de software (ASD, por sus siglas en inglés) está compuesta por un conjunto de factores que permiten evaluar el desempeño de cada uno de los integrantes de un equipo, aspecto crucial para establecer el éxito o fracaso de un proyecto. El propósito de esta investigación fue determinar la percepción que tienen los profesionales de equipos ASD sobre la medición de productividad partiendo de los factores identificados en un estudio preliminar. Para tal fin, se aplicó una encuesta que se orientó bajo el protocolo de Kitchenham y Pfleeger a ochenta y dos integrantes de equipos ASD. Los principales resultados señalaron que los profesionales de la industria de software asocian la productividad como un indicador de mejora dentro de los procesos del equipo y en el cumplimiento de objetivos a un cliente. Dentro de los factores que los participantes consideraron fundamentales en la medición de productividad de equipo en ASD se destacan la velocidad, la capacidad de trabajo y la satisfacción del cliente. Finalmente, los factores que afectan el desempeño de un equipo cuando se adaptan al cambio y los relacionados a la identidad del equipo, no fueron mencionados por los profesionales como parte del proceso de evaluación actual sobre productividad en equipos ASD, pero si fueron considerados como relevantes para ser posteriormente incluidos

Performance Alignment Work : How software developers experience the continuous adaptation of team performance in Lean and Agile environments

Context: Companies increasingly strive to adapt to market and ecosystem changes in real time. Gauging and understanding team performance in such changing environments present a major challenge. Objective: This paper aims to understand how software developers experience the continuous adaptation of performance in a modern, highly volatile environment using Lean and Agile software development methodology. This understanding can be used as a basis for guiding formation and maintenance of high-performing teams, to inform performance improvement initiatives, and to improve working conditions for software developers. Method: A qualitative multiple-case study using thematic interviews was conducted with 16 experienced practitioners in five organisations. Results: We generated a grounded theory, Performance Alignment Work, showing how software developers experience performance. We found 33 major categories of performance factors and relationships between the factors. A cross-case comparison revealed similarities and differences between different kinds and different sizes of organisations. Conclusions: Based on our study, software teams are engaged in a constant cycle of interpreting their own performance and negotiating its alignment with other stakeholders. While differences across organisational sizes exist, a common set of performance experiences is present despite differences in context variables. Enhancing performance experiences requires integration of soft factors, such as communication, team spirit, team identity, and values, into the overall development process. Our findings suggest a view of software development and software team performance that centres around behavioural and social sciences.Peer reviewe

Investigating factors affecting software maintenance in e-commerce companies in Jordan

The most costly phase in the software life cycle is the software maintenance phase. It consumes between 40% and 90% of a software project’s budget. Software applications play an important role in e-commerce companies and the significance of software systems and their maintenance cannot be ignored. In order to improve the software maintenance process, a comprehensive understanding of the different factors involved in software maintenance in e-commerce companies is necessary. Thus, this study aims to identify and investigate the key factors that influence the software maintenance relevant to e-commerce in the country of Jordan. Furthermore, it hopes to provide a framework to address factors that affect the context described. A preliminary study was conducted in order to gain an insight into software maintenance issues faced by e-commerce companies in Jordan and also, to obtain further details of the main study requirements, such as participant numbers.This study adopted an interpretivist philosophy, qualitative approach. It was conducted in six e-commerce companies in Jordan. Each company was divided into two groups: Group A represents employees who work in software maintenance; Group B represents senior management of e-commerce companies. The total is 15 participants: 9 participants from Group A and 6 participants from Group B. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews, documents and archival records were selected as the data collection instruments for this study. Also, the qualitative data was analysed using NVivo software application. The findings of the study revealed that there is an absence of systematic approach regarding work in software maintenance in e-commerce companies in Jordan. Moreover, the study contributes to knowledge regarding the key factors that affect software maintenance activities in e-commerce companies in Jordan. Twenty-three factors were identified in the study as factors that affect software maintenance and those were classified into five main categories: human resources, organisation environment, operational environment, software characteristics and external factors. Also, the research contributes new knowledge by identifying three new factors affecting software maintenance: native language, operation users, and views of people about software maintenance jobs. Furthermore, the study developed a framework for software maintenance processes in e-commerce companies in Jordan to improve the effectiveness of maintenance work and reduce the negative impact on company operation