6,790 research outputs found

    A compliance analysis of agile methodologies with the ISO/IEC 29110 project management process

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    Software process standards (e.g. ISO/IEC 12207, ISO/IEC 15504) and models (e.g. CMMI) provide a set of best practices and guidelines for improving the quality of the software process and products resulting from that process. However, they do not prescribe a particular software development methodology (i.e. RUP, MSF), and thus software development teams face a compliance problem between the selected development methodology and a pursued particular standard or model. In this research, the particular issue of compliance of Agile Software Development Methodologies (SCRUM, XP, and UPEDU) and the new ISO/IEC 29110 standard is studied. Because the new standard is focused on the software process in very small software development companies or small software project teams in the range from 1 to 25 people, and the Agile Software Development Methodologies (ASDMs) are primarily for same targets, this study is important. The ISO/IEC 29110 standard contains two processes: Project Management and Software Implementation. This study is focused on the first process. The main findings indicate that the UPEDU and SCRUM methodologies present and high compliance level with the ISO/IEC 29110 Project Management process, while XP has a moderate level. Thus, software developer teams interested in achieving compliance with the ISO/IEC 29110 Project Management process can count with two ASDMs. However, a full compliance study (with both Project Management and Software Implementation) is still missing

    Scrum and Self-Control : How a team-based software development methodology can support team members' self-control

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    Scrum is an agile software development methodology that suggests highly structured and iterative processes of software development by small autonomous teams (Schwaber & Sutherland, 2011). It is hypothesized that Scrum can be implemented in a way that supports and potentially improves Development Team members’ self-control. High self-control yields positive effects in countless life domains (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). One correlative study with 23 Development Teams and a total of 171 team members from an international software company investigated relevant conditions of Scrum to support and improve the self-control of Development Team members. Findings indicate a potential self-control improvement by the creation of a moderate concrete plan, the Sprint Backlog, at the beginning of a development cycle (Sprint), and performing an active team internal progress monitoring during the Sprint in short daily meetings (Daily Scrum Meetings). Planning and monitoring correlated simultaneously with high trait self-control and with low state self-control, indicating a possible self- control improvement through Scrum. Frequent team internal discussions targeting process improvements in Sprint Retrospective Meetings were related to high state self-control. In addition to correlations found with team members’ self-control, high team performance correlated with finishing committed Sprint Backlog Items by the end of the Sprints and reviewing these in the Sprint Review Meetings. Development Team members’ good health and low stress correlated with high team members’ self- control. High team autonomy was an essential requirement of the potential self-control improvement process. Moreover, high team autonomy correlated positively with high team performance and low experienced stress of Development Team members. Adding to these results, one laboratory experiment found indications that Sprint Backlog Item specificity may affect self-control during the processing of that item, suggesting a preference for moderate as opposed to low or highly specific Sprint Backlog Items. A second laboratory experiment failed to reproduce and extend this finding, probably because of the plan specificity operationalization. Overall, theoretical considerations and empirical indications are presented that Scrum could be implemented in a way that supports and potentially improves Development Team members’ self-control and health, reduces Development Team members’ experienced stress, and improves performance of the Development Team

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

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    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

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

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    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

    Coordinating Knowledge Work in Multi-Team Programs: Findings from a Large-Scale Agile Development Program

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    Software development projects have undergone remarkable changes with the arrival of agile development methods. While intended for small, self-managing teams, these methods are increasingly used also for large development programs. A major challenge in programs is to coordinate the work of many teams, due to high uncertainty in tasks, a high degree of interdependence between tasks and because of the large number of people involved. This revelatory case study focuses on how knowledge work is coordinated in large-scale agile development programs by providing a rich description of the coordination practices used and how these practices change over time in a four year development program with 12 development teams. The main findings highlight the role of coordination modes based on feedback, the use of a number of mechanisms far beyond what is described in practitioner advice, and finally how coordination practices change over time. The findings are important to improve the outcome of large knowledge-based development programs by tailoring coordination practices to needs and ensuring adjustment over time.Comment: To appear in Project Management Journa

    Beyond Surveys: Analyzing Software Development Artifacts to Assess Teaching Efforts

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    This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents an approach of using software development artifacts to gauge student behavior and the effectiveness of changes to curriculum design. There is an ongoing need to adapt university courses to changing requirements and shifts in industry. As an educator it is therefore vital to have access to methods, with which to ascertain the effects of curriculum design changes. In this paper, we present our approach of analyzing software repositories in order to gauge student behavior during project work. We evaluate this approach in a case study of a university undergraduate software development course teaching agile development methodologies. Surveys revealed positive attitudes towards the course and the change of employed development methodology from Scrum to Kanban. However, surveys were not usable to ascertain the degree to which students had adapted their workflows and whether they had done so in accordance with course goals. Therefore, we analyzed students' software repository data, which represents information that can be collected by educators to reveal insights into learning successes and detailed student behavior. We analyze the software repositories created during the last five courses, and evaluate differences in workflows between Kanban and Scrum usage
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