Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming: 18th International Conference, XP 2017, Cologne, Germany, May 22-26, 2017, Proceedings

agile software development; lean development; scrum; project management; software developmen

Scrum project framework: exploring Agile project management in a non-ITC organisation

This study used the Agile modality Scrum to investigate practitioners’ perceptions of the Scrum project framework and evaluated the frequency, mode and tools of communication in successful projects using the Scrum framework, whilst identifying any problems arising from the introduction of Scrum. A review of the literature highlighted the effectiveness of Scrum in studies that applied Agile project management in an IT environment. The literature identified that small cross-functional teams, frequent communication, quality communication, clear project goals and project transparency are effective for project management success. This research investigated five projects, as a case study, using Scrum as the project management framework, within small cross-functional teams in the non-ITC environment. This case study analysed the post-Scrum project team retrospective meetings to identify common themes in the participants feedback relating to the effectiveness of Scrum as a project management framework. Common themes identified were communication tools, project clarity, participant accountability and project momentum. These identified themes were used to create a survey artefact to investigate the legitimacy of the identified themes. The legitimacy of the retrospective common themes was confirmed by the survey responses through qualitative and supporting quantitative analysis, indicating Scrum as an effective project management framework outside the software development arena. Participant responses indicated the efficacy of daily communication frequency through the stand-up meetings, and project clarity and individual accountability through the use of Scrum board. Findings of the survey indicated the daily stand-up meeting was most effective communication mode and tool to facilitate interaction and exchange of information during the projects. The study identified a problem of perceived harassment, relating to the level of accountability/transparency of the Scrum process

The Role of Social Agile Practices for Direct and Indirect Communication in Information Systems Development Teams

Methods for Agile information systems development (ISD) are widely accepted in industry. One key difference in comparison to traditional, plan-driven ISD approaches is that Agile ISD teams rely heavily on direct, informal face-to-face communication instead of indirect and formal documents, models, and plans. While the importance of communication in Agile ISD is generally acknowledged, empirical studies investigating this phenomenon are scarce. We empirically open up the “black box” of the Agile ISD process to enhance the knowledge about the communication mechanisms of Agile ISD teams. We conducted a case study at two medium-sized ISD companies. As our primary data collection technique, we carried out semi-structured interviews, which we complemented with observations and, in one case, a survey. Our study’s main contribution is a set of so-called social Agile practices that positively impact the direct communication of team members. Our data suggests including the Agile practices co-located office space, daily stand-up meeting, iteration planning meeting, pair programming, sprint retrospective, and sprint review in this set. Furthermore, we investigate the role of more formal, indirect communication in Agile ISD projects. We highlight areas in which formal documents remain important so that a trade-off between indirect and direct communication is necessary

Learning in the Large - An Exploratory Study of Retrospectives in Large-Scale Agile Development

Many see retrospectives as the most important practice of agile software development. Previous studies of retrospectives have focused on pro- cess and outcome at team level. In this article, we study how a large-scale agile development project uses retrospectives through an analysis of retrospective reports identifying a total of 109 issues and 36 action items as a part of a longitudinal case study. We find that most of the issues identified relate to team-level learning and improvement, and discuss these findings in relation to current advice to improve learning outcome in large-scale agile development.Learning in the Large - An Exploratory Study of Retrospectives in Large-Scale Agile DevelopmentpublishedVersio

Scrum2Kanban: Integrating Kanban and Scrum in a University Software Engineering Capstone Course

Using university capstone courses to teach agile software development methodologies has become commonplace, as agile methods have gained support in professional software development. This usually means students are introduced to and work with the currently most popular agile methodology: Scrum. However, as the agile methods employed in the industry change and are adapted to different contexts, university courses must follow suit. A prime example of this is the Kanban method, which has recently gathered attention in the industry. In this paper, we describe a capstone course design, which adds the hands-on learning of the lean principles advocated by Kanban into a capstone project run with Scrum. This both ensures that students are aware of recent process frameworks and ideas as well as gain a more thorough overview of how agile methods can be employed in practice. We describe the details of the course and analyze the participating students' perceptions as well as our observations. We analyze the development artifacts, created by students during the course in respect to the two different development methodologies. We further present a summary of the lessons learned as well as recommendations for future similar courses. The survey conducted at the end of the course revealed an overwhelmingly positive attitude of students towards the integration of Kanban into the course

From "being there" to "being ... where?": relocating ethnography

Purpose: Expands recent discussions of research practice in organizational ethnography through engaging in a reflexive examination of the ethnographer’s situated identity work across different research spaces: academic, personal and the research site itself. Approach: Examines concerns with the traditional notion of ‘being there’ as it applies to ethnography in contemporary organization studies and, through a confessional account exploring my own experiences as a PhD student conducting ethnography, considers ‘being ... where’ using the analytic framework of situated identity work. Findings: Identifies both opportunities and challenges for organizational ethnographers facing the question of ‘being ... where?’ through highlighting the situated nature of researchers’ identity work in, across and between different (material and virtual) research spaces. Practical implications: Provides researchers with prompts to examine their own situated identity work, which may prove particularly useful for novice researchers and their supervisors, while also identifying the potential for incorporating these ideas within organizational ethnography more broadly. Value: Offers situated identity work as a means to provide renewed analytic vigour to the confessional genre whilst highlighting new opportunities for reflexive and critical ethnographic research practice

Using Eight Agile Practices in an Online Course to Improve Student Learning and Team Project Quality

As online learning continues to increase, instructors need different teaching methods and technologies for teaching online. This study explores how Agile practices are integrated into an online IT course. We focus on incorporating eight Agile practices (team charters, daily stand-ups, Kanban boards, story cards, MoSCoW, timeboxing, showcases, and retrospectives). Students were surveyed at the end of the course and the results indicate Agile enhanced students’ learning and increased the quality of their final project