Markus Hummel

The Role of Communication in Agile Systems Development

Agile systems development (SD) is described as a cooperative game of invention and communication, in which teams are characterized by relying heavily on informal communication mechanisms such as face-to-face conversations. Our current state of knowledge about the actual communication process in agile SD projects is fragmented because of the lack of an integrative lens across different studies. On the basis of the Unified Model of SD Success, we provide an integrated view on the role of communication in agile SD by conducting a structured, systematic literature review. Our data collection process resulted in 333 relevant papers on agile SD and communication. We find that despite its acknowledged importance, our knowledge on communication and agile SD is limited and research is scattered, inconclusive, as well as contradictory. In consequence, we present several research gaps that deserve future research attention. Specifically, we call for research that opens up the communication process and empirically validates the implications for communication frequency and quality triggered by agile SD.

State-of-the-Art: A Systematic Literature Review on Agile Information Systems Development

Principles of agile information systems development (ISD) have attracted the interest of practice as well as research. The goal of this literature review is to validate, update and extend previous reviews in terms of the general state of research on agile ISD. Besides including categories such as the employed research methods and data collection techniques, the importance of theory is highlighted by evaluating the theoretical foundations and contributions of former studies. Since agile ISD is rooted in the IS as well as software engineering discipline, important outlets of both disciplines are included in the search process, resulting in 482 investigated papers. The findings show that quantitative studies and the theoretical underpinnings of agile ISD are lacking. Extreme Programming is still the most researched agile ISD method, and more efforts on Scrum are needed. In consequence, multiple research gaps that need further research attention are identified.

Success Factors of Agile Information Systems Development: A Qualitative Study

We conduct a qualitative, interview-based study with 12 participants in order to shed further light on the success factors of agile ISD because quantitative studies reported on contradictory results. First, we identify four success factors from previous literature that form the conceptual basis of our investigation. Those factors are the team, customer, organization, and communication. We extend previous findings by opening up the black box of each of those factors. This is achieved by identifying sub-factors that enable agile ISD success. We find that autonomy is the most important team characteristic, whereas agile values and management support are crucial for the organizational level. For the customer role, customer involvement is judged to be most important, and for communication, the meeting practices are the most frequently mentioned sub-factor. In contrast to the other categories, we note that sub-factors for the organizational level were mentioned by fewer participants.

A Capacity Perspective on E-mail Overload: How E-mail Use Contributes to Information Overload

Information overload caused by e-mails are a known issue in practice and academia. There is a lot of research on information overload and e-mail use and misuse. However studies on the phenomenon e-mail overload, describing how e-mail as technology contributes to information overload, are scarce or fragmented. We therefore investigate how e-mails lead to causes of information overload and are creating the phenomenon of e-mail overload. As a theoretical framework, we employ the theory-based model of factors affecting information overload. The resulting research model and measurement scales help to understand the induction of e-mail overload. The proposed scales are then tested for construct validity in a pretest assessment that is based on an item-sort task. The results show very high values for the substantive validities of the constructs, indicating good construct validity.

A Cognitive Learning Perspective on Encoding and Decoding E-mails

The high e-mail amounts that individuals sent back and forth each day are one of the major causes for information overload. Knowledge seems to help overcoming information overload. However, it is not clear which knowledge areas are helpful. Therefore, we examine knowledge areas supporting the encoding and decoding of e-mails by investigating cognitive processes that allow knowledge building to avoid e-mail induced information overload. A novel theoretical perspective is developed which draws on knowledge as acquired schemas which allows bypassing working memory through automation. We employed a case study design which results in a conceptual model relating three knowledge areas: (1) channel knowledge, (2) message topic knowledge, and (3) communication partner knowledge. By drawing on cognitive load theory, we explain how these knowledge areas allow the reduction of e-mail induced cognitive load as a conceptualization of information overload.

Personality Traits of Scrum Roles in Agile Software Development Teams - A Qualitative Analysis

Software development teams must be able to react rapidly to changing customer requirements. Therefore, agile software development methodologies have evolved in the last decades. Interpersonal and social skills, which are influenced by personality traits, are of fundamental importance for a successful agile software development. While the significance of the human factor is widely acknowledged, scant studies investigate the impact of personality factors on software development success and those few studies report contradictory results. Hence, we conducted interviews with eleven Scrum team members from seven different companies to investigate which personal characteristics are important for agile software development success. We use the five-factor model as a theoretical basis for our investigation, more specifically, we have applied the facets developed by Costa and McCrae. This more detailed approach enables us to give an explanation of the conflicting outcomes of prior investigations. Our study contributes to existing research by suggesting that the most important facets for single Developers are altruism, compliance, tender-mindedness, dutifulness and openness to values. The Scrum Master needs tender-mindedness, assertiveness, dutifulness, achievement striving and stability. In contrast, straightforwardness, compliance, modesty, order and assertiveness are important for the Product Owner.

Die Bedeutung von Kommunikation bei der agilen Systementwicklung

ZusammenfassungAgile Systementwicklung (SE) ist eine kooperative Aktivität aus Innovation und Kommunikation, bei der sich Entwicklungsteams stark auf informale Kommunikationsmechanismen verlassen. Der aktuelle Wissensstand bezüglich der tatsächlichen Kommunikationsprozesse in agilen SE-Projekten ist fragmentiert und es fehlt eine integrierte Sichtweise über einzelne Studien hinweg. Der Beitrag erzeugt basierend auf dem Unified Model of Systems Development Success eine integrierte Sichtweise auf die Rolle der Kommunikation bei der agilen SE. Dafür wird eine strukturierte, systematische Literaturanalyse durchgeführt. Die Datensammlung ergab 333 relevante Studien zu agiler SE und Kommunikation. Obwohl Kommunikation als wichtiger Faktor identifiziert wird, ist das Wissen in Bezug auf Kommunikation und agile SE begrenzt. Die bisherigen Erkenntnisse sind verteilt, unvollständig, und widersprüchlich. Es wird aufgezeigt, dass weiterer Forschungsbedarf bezüglich des Kommunikationsprozesses in der SE besteht, und dass die Auswirkungen von Kommunikationshäufigkeit und -qualität, die durch agile SE ausgelöst werden, empirisch zu untersuchen sind.AbstractAgile systems development (SD) is described as a cooperative game of invention and communication, in which teams are characterized by relying heavily on informal communication mechanisms such as face-to-face conversations. Our current state of knowledge about the actual communication process in agile SD projects is fragmented because of the lack of an integrative lens across different studies. On the basis of the Unified Model of SD Success, we provide an integrated view on the role of communication in agile SD by conducting a structured, systematic literature review. Our data collection process resulted in 333 relevant papers on agile SD and communication. We find that despite its acknowledged importance, our knowledge on communication and agile SD is limited and research is scattered, inconclusive, as well as contradictory. In consequence, we present several research gaps that deserve future research attention. Specifically, we call for research that opens up the communication process and empirically validates the implications for communication frequency and quality triggered by agile SD.