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Coordination value in Agile software development: a multiple case study of coordination mechanisms managing dependencies

Authors:

Viktoria Stray,

Nils Brede Moe,

Emilie MæhlumAuthors Info & Claims

CHASE '22: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering

Pages 11 - 20

https://doi.org/10.1145/3528579.3529182

Published: 19 July 2022 Publication History

Abstract

Background: Agile software projects involve a high degree of coordination between project members to manage complexity and frequent change. There is a need to understand what coordinating mechanisms are valuable for project and team coordination. Coordination mechanisms, such as meetings and Slack, can foster a smooth workflow but also fragment work by interrupting the focused work of developers. Objective: This study aimed to investigate valuable coordination mechanisms and how they can be balanced against the need for uninterrupted work periods. Method: We conducted 30 interviews and observed 109 meetings in five companies using agile software development methods. We used coordination-dependency mapping to identify valuable coordination mechanisms. Results: Valuable coordination mechanisms included instant messaging tools, daily stand-up meetings, boards, open work area, Scrum of Scrums, bug crush days, BizDev meetings, and Make it Happen meetings. Conclusion: We advise companies to identify valuable coordination mechanisms using coordination-dependency mapping and then to bundle, schedule, and substitute these coordination mechanisms to reduce interruptions to development work.

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Cited By

Neve JAgarwal S(2024)An Interdisciplinary Study of Fuzzy AHP Model for Prioritizing Agile Cost Overhead and Infusion of Machine Learning2024 Asia Pacific Conference on Innovation in Technology (APCIT)10.1109/APCIT62007.2024.10673601(1-6)Online publication date: 26-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/APCIT62007.2024.10673601
Berntzen MEngdal SGellein MMoe N(2024)Coordination in Agile Product Areas: A Case Study from a Large FinTech OrganizationAgile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_3(36-52)Online publication date: 31-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_3
Stray VBarbala A(2024)Slack Use in Large-Scale Agile Organizations: ESN Tools as Catalysts for Alignment?Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_2(20-35)Online publication date: 31-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_2

Index Terms

Coordination value in Agile software development: a multiple case study of coordination mechanisms managing dependencies
1. Software and its engineering
  1. Software creation and management

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Information & Contributors

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

CHASE '22: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering

May 2022

122 pages

ISBN:9781450393423

DOI:10.1145/3528579

General Chair:
Maria Teresa Baldassarre
University of Bari, Italy
,
Program Chairs:
Lutz Prechelt
Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
,
Gema Rodríguez-Pérez
University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada

Copyright © 2022 Owner/Author.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

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SIGSOFT: ACM Special Interest Group on Software Engineering

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 19 July 2022

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Research Council of Norway
Reiearch Council of Norway

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ICSE '22

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ICSE '22: 44th International Conference on Software Engineering

May 21 - 29, 2022

Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh

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Overall Acceptance Rate 47 of 70 submissions, 67%

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Cited By

Neve JAgarwal S(2024)An Interdisciplinary Study of Fuzzy AHP Model for Prioritizing Agile Cost Overhead and Infusion of Machine Learning2024 Asia Pacific Conference on Innovation in Technology (APCIT)10.1109/APCIT62007.2024.10673601(1-6)Online publication date: 26-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/APCIT62007.2024.10673601
Berntzen MEngdal SGellein MMoe N(2024)Coordination in Agile Product Areas: A Case Study from a Large FinTech OrganizationAgile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_3(36-52)Online publication date: 31-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_3
Stray VBarbala A(2024)Slack Use in Large-Scale Agile Organizations: ESN Tools as Catalysts for Alignment?Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_2(20-35)Online publication date: 31-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61154-4_2
Berntzen MStray VMoe NHoda R(2023)Responding to change over time: A longitudinal case study on changes in coordination mechanisms in large-scale agileEmpirical Software Engineering10.1007/s10664-023-10349-028:5Online publication date: 29-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10664-023-10349-0

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