The Importance of Conflict Resolution Techniques in Autonomous Agile Teams

Today, software companies usually organize their work in teams. Social science research on team development has shown that for a team to reach a productive and autonomous stage, it has to be able to manage internal conflicts and disagreements efficiently. To better facilitate the team development process, we argue that software engineers' needs additional training in negotiation skills and conflict resolution. In this position paper, we outline ideas for what aspects to consider in such training. As an example, we argue that a majority of the conflicts originate from team-level factors and that they, therefore, should be managed on the team-level instead of in relation to dyads.Comment: Accepted at 1st International Workshop on Autonomous Teams (A-TEAMS), 201

Agile Ways of Working: A Team Maturity Perspective

With the agile approach to managing software development projects comes an increased dependability on well functioning teams, since many of the practices are built on teamwork. The objective of this study was to investigate if, and how, team development from a group psychological perspective is related to some work practices of agile teams. Data were collected from 34 agile teams (200 individuals) from six software development organizations and one university in both Brazil and Sweden using the Group Development Questionnaire (Scale IV) and the Perceptive Agile Measurement (PAM). The result indicates a strong correlation between levels of group maturity and the two agile practices \emph{iterative development} and \emph{retrospectives}. We, therefore, conclude that agile teams at different group development stages adopt parts of team agility differently, thus confirming previous studies but with more data and by investigating concrete and applied agile practices. We thereby add evidence to the hypothesis that an agile implementation and management of agile projects need to be adapted to the group maturity levels of the agile teams

Explaining How Agile Software Development Practices Moderate the Negative Effects of Faultlines in Teams

By viewing organisational usage of enterprise social software (ESS) as one of appropriation, this research-in-progress paper explores the juxtaposed relationship between two practices, that of client and consultant, as they work together to co-design a joint ESS solution for the client’s workplace. Such observations have been made through the lead researcher’s embedded relationship in a case organisation who specialise in ESS. We theorize that through a design and practice-based perspective, the taken-for-granted assumptions of both practices are revealed by practice breakdowns and are subsequently then animated through a type of useful tension as design-based activities unfold. In this regard, a double hermeneutic process is revealed in which the two practices try and understand each other’s understanding of the same project. This is in addition to their own practice’s understanding for how their role contributes to the ESS project

Software engineering whispers: The effect of textual vs. graphical software design descriptions on software design communication

Context:\ua0Software\ua0engineering\ua0is a social and collaborative activity. Communicating and sharing knowledge between\ua0software\ua0developers requires much effort. Hence, the quality of\ua0communication\ua0plays an important role in influencing project success. To better understand the\ua0effect\ua0of\ua0communication\ua0on project success, more in-depth empirical studies investigating this phenomenon are needed. Objective: We investigate the\ua0effect\ua0of using a\ua0graphical\ua0versus\ua0textual\ua0design\ua0description\ua0on co-located\ua0software\ua0design\ua0communication. Method: Therefore, we conducted a family of experiments involving a mix of 240\ua0software\ua0engineering\ua0students from four universities. We examined how different\ua0design\ua0representations (i.e.,\ua0graphical\ua0vs.\ua0textual) affect the ability to Explain, Understand, Recall, and Actively Communicate knowledge. Results: We found that the\ua0graphical\ua0design\ua0description\ua0is better than the\ua0textual\ua0in promoting Active Discussion between developers and improving the Recall of\ua0design\ua0details. Furthermore, compared to its unaltered version, a well-organized and motivated\ua0textual\ua0design\ua0description–that is used for the same amount of time–enhances the recall of\ua0design\ua0details and increases the amount of active discussions at the cost of reducing the perceived quality of explaining

Multi-factor motivation model in software engineering environments

In software engineering environments, motivation has become an imperative tool for increasing the productivity and creativity levels of projects. The aim of this research is to develop a validated conceptual multifactor and motivating model that represents the interaction between the organisational, occupational and interpersonal factors in software engineering environments. However, the application of well-known motivation tools cannot guarantee high motivational levels among the members of software engineering teams. Therefore, several phenomena have been monitored and empirically tested related to the daily practices in the software engineering industry. Reviewing the literature on motivation in software engineering uncovered a list of influential factors that could motivate individuals in the workplace. These factors have been suggested as being grouped into three categories (interpersonal, occupational and organisational). The literature review stage was followed by a preliminary study to discuss and validate these factors in greater detail by interviewing eight experts drawn from the software engineering industry. The preliminary study provided this research with an initial conceptual model that could broaden the understanding of the recent state of motivation in software engineering environments. The initial model was validated and expanded by conducting two types of research (quantitative and qualitative) based on the type of information gleaned. Accordingly, 208 experienced software engineers and members of teams in the software development industry were involved in this research. The results from this research revealed a statistically significant interaction between factors from different categories (interpersonal, occupational and organisational). This interaction has helped in developing an updated new model of motivation in software engineering. In addition, the application of motivation theories in software engineering could be affected by some work-related factors. These factors were found in this research to be member role, contract types, age, organisational structure and citizenship status. Thus, all these factors have been given a high consideration when designing rewards systems in software engineering