Cross-Disciplinary Virtual Design Teams

Software development teams that work together well, particularly those that can operate virtually, are an enormous competitive advantage for organizations (Cohen & Gibson, 2003). One challenge for software development or new product development teams in a global marketplace is managing and developing individuals from different disciplines who are remotely located. Such teams often encounter communication, environmental and philosophical barriers related to completing design tasks that threaten the success of projects (Warkenton, Sayeed & Hightower, 1997). For students at the university level, virtual cross-disciplinary learning experiences are key to their success in the competitive marketplace. The authors are currently in the second phase of an ongoing project designed to explore pedagogical, communications and logistical issues related to development of a sense of community between graduate students in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (U.S.) (Schaffer et.al., 2005). One of the main goals of the current phase is to learn more about how virtual cross-disciplinary teams communicate and learn the concepts, models and discipline-specific language used by one another, as well as to identify key barriers and supports to such learning.

Managers recognize that software development project teams need to be developed and guided.Although technical skills are necessary, non-technical (NT) skills are equally, if not more, necessary for project success.Currently, there are no proven tools to measure the NT skills of software developers or software development teams.Behavioral markers (observable behaviors that have positive or negative impacts on individual or team performance) are beginning to be successfully used by airline and medical industries to measure NT skill performance.The purpose of this research is to develop and validate the behavior marker system tool that can be used by different managers or coaches to measure the NT skills of software development individuals and teams.This paper presents an empirical study conducted at the Software Factory where users of the behavior marker tool rated video clips of software development teams.The initial results show that the behavior marker tool can be reliably used with minimal training.

Changes in Indian workforce and globalisation have resulted in an increase in heterogeneous information technology (IT) teams. Team heterogeneity has been shown to impact various team outcomes. This paper examines the impact of demographic, knowledge and underlying diversity in IT teams on various team outcomes. Data were collected from 62 software development (SD) teams and analysed using multiple regressions. The result suggests that more than other forms of heterogeneity, underlying heterogeneity in SD teams has been consistently a significant predictor of the various team outcomes and thus impacts the team effectiveness.

Context: It is known that men practitioners are predominant in software development teams over women. In recent years, researchers have investigated gender inequality from different perspectives, such as gender bias and suggestions to increase diversity in development teams. However, while most of the existing literature investigates the perception of women practitioners, the vast majority of the software development workforce – men – has received less attention. Goal: This work investigates men’s perceptions of gender inequality in software development teams and their experiences compared in software development to women. Method: Our study conducted a survey with 217 male practitioners, using a questionnaire consisting of 27 questions. The collected data was analyzed using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques, including graphical representations, percentages, and the grounded theory methodology. Results: Our findings reveal that most men do not perceive any sexist behavior among their team members and they are satisfied with the performance of their functions. In addition, their main suggestions to increase their participation in software development projects are offering training courses and improving the interaction among team members. Conclusions: The barriers and challenges that men practitioners face in software development teams are not the same as those faced by women. In addition, they consider that women do not work in software development due to a lack of affinity and knowledge about coding.

Background: Software organizations increasingly need developers with high skills for social interactions. Managers, leaders, and academics need to know the human factors influencing the individuals, the development team, and the software project activities. Despite the increasing number of secondary studies about human factors in Software Engineering (SE) and in Agile Software Development (ASD), there is no study synthesizing which human factors influence software development without a specific perspective from SE or human factor thematic. Objective: We aim to summarise human factors and their influence on SE development teams and ASD teams. Method: We executed a tertiary study. We used thematic analysis to examine the resulting data. Results: We found 29 systematic literature reviews and systematic mapping studies addressing the human perspective in SE teams. We identified 101 human factors and 79 influences grouped in 4 categories (Team member, Team, Project, and Organization). Also, we identified 71 human factors and 60 influences on ASD. The most investigated human factors are Communication, Collaboration, Knowledge, and Motivation. Conclusions: The identified human factors and their influences can be considered most significant by software organizations, researchers, and academics in SE practices. Based on our results, practitioners might propose activities that enhance human capital behaviors that influence individual motivation, agile mindset, team climate, software quality, or agile transition in traditional organizations.

Globalization and dynamic economic conditions have exponentially increased the use of virtual work in organizations. Effectiveness in software development teams, therefore, is now a relevant issue in business, psychology or other fields. Despite the uniqueness of software development teams and their work conditions, their effectiveness has not been sufficiently researched to clearly determine how it relates to personality traits, work challenges and the virtualization level. To expand the understanding of the mechanisms that influence team effectiveness in software development, an ecological framework is selected. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between personality traits, work factors and team effectiveness within the context of software development teams. Methodology: The exploratory study was conducted in international software development companies operating in Lithuania. Forty-five software development teams (N = 142) filled in the Team task performance scale, Hexaco-PI-R questionnaire and rated perceived work challenges and team virtualization level. The statistical analysis was conducted with SPSS. This survey is an initial stage of a larger project. Findings: Personality traits Conscientiousness and Extraversion relate to team effectiveness. In software development teams the most prevalent work challenges were time zone differences, lack of information when working on a project, and lack of a clear purpose. Lack of information and poor foreign language skills negatively affect team effectiveness. A higher virtualization level is associated with more frequent work challenges (culture and foreign language challenges, time zone differences) and team performance.

PurposeThe objective of the study is to analyze the impact of the adoption of the Agile Mindset on the productivity of Agile software development teams in IT enterprises during COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachA web-based survey is performed with voluntary participants working with the Agile software development professionals with a specific focus on IT enterprises around Pune, India. For this the initial exploratory literature review was performed, to explore the team's behaviors and their response to the crises like the Covid-19 pandemic. Data is collected from the targeted population using the random sampling method. A questionnaire is designed with the help of a five-point Likert scale. All the respondents were analyzed based on their behaviors shown and how adopting to Agile mindset has impacted their productivity during the pandemic. Collected data would be then analyzed using the Smart PLS-SEM methodology.FindingsFindings of the study show that Agile software development teams adopting to Agile mindset are better at responding to crisis and quick to adapt to change as teams adopting the Agile mindset is likely to sustain or even improve their productivity during the crises like Covid-19 pandemic. Adapting to an Agile mindset is important for Agile software development teams during a crisis as a response to changes in the working as well as environmental conditions. This study also shows that by adopting an Agile mindset, development teams are better at responding to the crisis eventually improving productivity.Research limitations/implicationsResearch limitations for this study-scope of the study could be extended to the larger population across geographies to have improved insights Productivity Factors like- Efforts Efficiency, Backlog-management Index (BMI), and Weighted Average Productivity (VWP) for team members can be included. More behavioral factors for Agile Mindset can be considered.Practical implicationsAgile software development teams are characterized by collaboration and responsibility. Recent enforcement of pandemic precautionary measures has enforced Agile software development teams to work remotely and maintain social distancing while in the office. It was challenging for most of the working people to adjust to the new working conditions (Yang et al., 2021) However, in IT organizations, adopting the Agile mindset has ensured continuous software deliveries, took ownership, and quickly adapted to the volatile situations, ultimately resulting into the growth in the productivity unlike to that of other sectors of the economy.Social implicationsIn this study, we have analyzed the hypotheses with statistical significance in association with constructs that are in sync with the available literature. Adopting the Agile mindset values has positively impacted the team's behavior resulting in productivity improvement even in the distributed working locations in pandemic situations.Originality/valueThe study highlights that adopting to Agile mindset has positively impacted an Agile software development team's productivity during the Covid-19 pandemic. As environmental conditions during Covid-19 were uncertain and ambiguous and teams were working in distributed and disconnected ways, many researchers have believed that it would have affected the overall productivity. This was turned true for most of the sectors of the economy, however, Agile software development teams have shown positive trends in their productivity, as they have adopted the Agile mindset values and principles, during crises.

The NA-42 TI program initiated an effort in FY2010 to standardize its software development efforts with the long term goal of migrating toward a software management approach that will allow for the sharing and reuse of code developed within the TI program, improve integration, ensure a level of software documentation, and reduce development costs. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been tasked with two activities that support this mission. PNNL has been tasked with the identification, selection, and implementation of a Shared Software Component Library. The intent of the library is to provide a common repository that is accessible by all authorized NA-42 software development teams. The repository facilitates software reuse through a searchable and easy to use web based interface. As software is submitted to the repository, the component registration process captures meta-data and provides version control for compiled libraries, documentation, and source code. This meta-data is then available for retrieval and review as part of library search results. In FY2010, PNNL and staff from the Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) teamed up to develop a software application with the goal of replacing the aging Aerial Measuring System (AMS). The application under development includes an Advanced Visualization and Integration of Data (AVID) framework and associated AMS modules. Throughout development, PNNL and RSL have utilized a common AMS code repository for collaborative code development. The AMS repository is hosted by PNNL, is restricted to the project development team, is accessed via two different geographic locations and continues to be used. The knowledge gained from the collaboration and hosting of this repository in conjunction with PNNL software development and systems engineering capabilities were used in the selection of a package to be used in the implementation of the software component library on behalf of NA-42 TI. The second task managed by PNNL is the development and continued maintenance of the NA-42 TI Software Development Questionnaire. This questionnaire is intended to help software development teams working under NA-42 TI in documenting their development activities. When sufficiently completed, the questionnaire illustrates that the software development activities recorded incorporate significant aspects of the software engineering lifecycle. The questionnaire template is updated as comments are received from NA-42 and/or its development teams and revised versions distributed to those using the questionnaire. PNNL also maintains a list of questionnaire recipients. The blank questionnaire template, the AVID and AMS software being developed, and the completed AVID AMS specific questionnaire are being used as the initial content to be established in the TI Component Library. This report summarizes the approach taken to identify requirements, search for and evaluate technologies, and the approach taken for installation of the software needed to host the component library. Additionally, it defines the process by which users request access for the contribution and retrieval of library content.

Since the turn of the 20th century many leadership theories have emerged and evolved over time. Transformational leadership is one of the older, more prominent theories and has been used in organizations and in political arenas for many years. Complexity leadership theory, on the other hand, is relatively new in practice and academia. To date, there is very little literature addressing the similarities and differences between the transformational and complexity leadership theories as well as their comparative value in organizational contexts. Both the Complexity Leadership and Transformational Leadership theories are presented and the similarities and differences of each theory are discussed and evaluated. The purpose of this comparison and evaluation is present the theory’s foundations so that they may be applied to the challenges presented by IT software development teams. The application will result in determining and recommending the more effective leadership style for IT-based teams as well as presenting tips for successful IT software development projects. Understanding different leadership styles and their response to team challenges can ultimately contribute to the leader’s ability to effectively manage IT teams and successfully leading IT software development projects in organizations.

Gender issues have recently been discussed extensively with respect to the computing fields (Bair & McGrathe-Cohoon, 2005; Camp, 2002; Margolis & Fisher, 2002). One of the discussed issues is the “shrinking pipeline” phenomenon (Camp, 1997). Camp shows how, in addition to the shrinking of the pipeline upon transition from high school to graduate school, the pipeline has been shrinking also at the bachelor-degree level since 1983. She argues that since the number of women at the bachelor’s level affects the number of women at levels higher in the pipeline and in the job market, this phenomenon is of great concern. The shrinking pipeline is explained in various ways. Among other explanations, the image of the field as requiring long hours of programming is a dominant one. Here is an illustrative case. The April 3, 2003, edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Business News addressed the question of why more women are not involved in the tech fields.1 This question was discussed by a panel, assembled by the Pittsburgh Technology Council a week before the article was published, which included some of the region’s most successful women. Among other arguments, Robbin Steif, chief financial officer of Maya Design, said, “It might be an issue of self-selection—women might not be risk takers.” Then she added, “It might also have something to do with the work/family issue, because entrepreneurs work way more than 40 hours per week.” This article focuses on software development teams using one of the agile software development methods. A high quality of working software is the primary measure of progress; however, agile software development processes, in addition, promote a sustainable pace for all the individuals (developers and users) involved in the software development process,2 welcome requirement changes even in late stages of the development, and favor face-to-face communication. Based on our observations of agile software teams both in academia and in industry, we claim that such software development frameworks enable women to gain new and better positions in the hi-tech industry in general and in software development teams in particular. We view this article as an example of how diversity can be achieved in software teams. In our current research, we explore other dimensions by which diversity can be achieved in software teams, such as minorities and nationalities. The perspective and data that are presented in this article are part of our research about human aspects of software engineering, specifically our comprehensive research about cognitive and organizational aspects of agile software development methods both in the industry and academia (Dubinsky & Hazzan, 2004; Dubinsky, Talby, Hazzan, & Keren, in press; Hazzan & Dubinsky, 2003a, 2003b; Tomayko & Hazzan, 2004).q

Technical debt are those convenience tasks that developers perform to obtain short-term benefits but that in the future can produce activities that are difficult to perform or more costly. The impact of technical debt is perceived in all project resources, becoming a present and future problem in software development, affecting the quality of the software. This study uses a qualitative analysis, through interviews with a software development team, explores the knowledge and perception of technical debt, the practices used to manage it, the factors that influence its appearance and accumulation, the impact that development suffers, as well as the team and the maintainability of the software, as a result, ideas and solutions are proposed to address it effectively. The study was carried out with a qualitative investigative approach, which was based on the study of a single case with which the experiences and practices in the perception and management of technical debt are investigated. The data obtained reveal that technical debt affects the normal development of the development team and that it is present in the activities carried out by the team. Although the development team has a perception of the debt, it does not address it directly, and it is necessary to implement good practices to identify it and integrate it into the software development process. Addressing technical debt with the implementation of a formal process to manage it will ensure that scheduled time is controlled and resources are optimized, which will result in a culture of good practices that will ensure product quality, improving team performance and guaranteeing software maintainability

Distributed software development is becoming a common practice among developers. Factors such as the development environments improvement, their extensibility, and the emergence of social networking software are leading factors. They lead the development process (both co-located and geographically distributed) to a practice that: 1) improves the team’s productivity, and 2) encourages and supports the social interaction among the teams’ members. The above factors along with the distributed development emergence, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) evolution, and the social media advances got the attention of the software development teams, and made them consider how to better assist the social nature of software developers, and the social aspects of software development, including activity awareness of team members’ progress, their presence, collaboration, communication, and coordination around shared artifacts. IDEs are the most commonly used tools by developers and programmers. Integrating the most needed development tools inside the IDE, makes it a Collaborative Development Environment (CDE), and embedding a variety of social software features within a CDE helps support distributed development teams. It also creates a new genera of tools called Social Development Environments or “SDEs” as it is commonly called. This article discusses the origins and development of “SDEs”. It reflects and presents the research into development environments, explaining their role in supporting the communication and coordination needs of development teams. Also, it presents the effect of embedding social network features in such environments. It presents some emerging SDEs and future work. Finally, it concludes by introducing a new model named 5-star that classifies, and helps to evaluate and compare the collaborative tools. 5-star presents a new way to compare and evaluate the SDE systems based on their supported features. It bases the comparison on five major categories including: Communication, Coordination, Collaboration, Awareness & Presence, and Social networking (SN) tools.

A recent survey indicates that 53 % of software development projects are over budget, behind schedule, or deliver fewer features than originally specified. Statistics also show that 31 % of development projects end up being cancelled or terminated prematurely. Among those completed projects, only 61 % of them satisfy originally specified features and functions. In today's environment, one of the greatest challenges a project manager constantly face with is to keep the projects under control in terms of budget and development time frame. A successful software development project relies on many factors; it is not that easy to control all of them and continually keeping those entire factors all going well together. The goal of this paper is to introduce a mathematical model and prove that a software development team can rely on it to accurately predict, calculate the risks and their impacts on the success of the project. Our objective is to conceptualize the model into a scientific tool that can be used to understand and calculate the risks of a development project. Subsequently, the software development team can take appropriate actions to mitigate the risks, and as a result, the project manager have a better control of the budget and development time frame of the project. It is the author's believe that if we can identify and control problems at early stages, we can significantly increase the chance of success of the development project. The model and the software tool written by the author in this paper to calculate the risks and weight their impacts on a project can be used to identify problems and their potentials risk at early stage. The tool also allows a project manager to apply the model and obtain results without getting involved in too many mathematical calculations. Although the model introduced in this paper can generally provide an accurate picture of what, how, and when things may go wrong at the beginning of a typical software development project, there are areas need further fine tuned, especially when it is used for a particular industry or at later stages of software development cycle.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to explore the effectiveness of Agile methods in addressing inefficiencies within software development projects, related issues, delays, excessive defects, and concerns with improved collaboration among the teams. This paper seeks to measure the value that Agile brings to organizations and recommend the implementation of these methods as a way of addressing the challenges that organizations experience when using conventional systems in software development. No changes to the basic Agile concept were made here and thus the research is based on methods that are already implemented such as Scrum and Kanban. Measures of productivity including project completion time, number of defects, and satisfaction level of the software development teams were obtained over six months from three companies. This research is innovative in the sense that it uses both the quantitative and qualitative methods in conducting the assessment to determine whether or not the Agile methodologies improve software development effectiveness and team performance in contrast to the Waterfall model. The results of this study indicate that Agile techniques enhanced productivity combined with the quality of team relations and can be used for further expansion in the sphere of software engineering. Therefore, it is recommended that Agile practices be implemented as a way of fixing problems that are standard in software development.

Communication has been a widely studied factor because when performed ineffectively it leads to problems affecting the delivery of products and services to customers. In the context of software development, teams with communication problems are hampered in terms of time, cost and effort, progress of routine actions, and create team conflicts. This study investigates communication in software development teams through an extensive literature review. As a result, we obtained a set of factors classified into barriers and facilitators that affect communication in the software development process. This result is useful for developers and managers looking to improve communication as a strategy to streamline and improve the application development routine.