Petri Kettunen

On the Impact of Kanban on Software Project Work: An Empirical Case Study Investigation

The pertinent mission of software project management is to continuously achieve more and more successful projects. In the field of software development, the Kanban method has gained momentum recently, mostly due to its linkages to Lean thinking. However, only a few empirical studies investigate the dynamics and impacts of Kanban on projects. The aim of this study is to improve the understanding on how Kanban impacts on software project work. For the purpose of the study, a framework is developed and empirically investigated in an experimental software R&D setting called Software Factory. The impact of Kanban is evaluated from nine theoretically derived perspectives. The results highlight new findings regarding the application of Kanban in the software context. This bears managerial implications, which is addressed. The key implications of the findings suggest that Kanban and its inherent simplicity motivate the workers and control the project activities.

Exploring the Sources of Waste in Kanban Software Development Projects

The application of agile software methods and more recently the integration of Lean practices contribute to the trend of continuous improvement in the software industry. One such area warranting proper empirical evidence is a project’s operational efficiency when using the Kanban method. This short paper takes a new angle and explores waste in the Kanban-driven software development project context. A preliminary research model is presented for helping the consequent replication of the study. The results from the empirical analysis suggest Kanban can be an effective method in visualizing and organizing the current work, but does not prevent waste from creeping in, although the overall project outcome may be successful.

Performance Alignment Work

ContextCompanies increasingly strive to adapt to market and ecosystem changes in real time. Gauging and understanding team performance in such changing environments present a major challenge. ObjectiveThis paper aims to understand how software developers experience the continuous adaptation of performance in a modern, highly volatile environment using Lean and Agile software development methodology. This understanding can be used as a basis for guiding formation and maintenance of high-performing teams, to inform performance improvement initiatives, and to improve working conditions for software developers. MethodA qualitative multiple-case study using thematic interviews was conducted with 16 experienced practitioners in five organisations. ResultsWe generated a grounded theory, Performance Alignment Work, showing how software developers experience performance. We found 33 major categories of performance factors and relationships between the factors. A cross-case comparison revealed similarities and differences between different kinds and different sizes of organisations. ConclusionsBased on our study, software teams are engaged in a constant cycle of interpreting their own performance and negotiating its alignment with other stakeholders. While differences across organisational sizes exist, a common set of performance experiences is present despite differences in context variables. Enhancing performance experiences requires integration of soft factors, such as communication, team spirit, team identity, and values, into the overall development process. Our findings suggest a view of software development and software team performance that centres around behavioural and social sciences.

Building blocks for self-organizing software development teams a framework model and empirical pilot study

Self-organization is one of the foundations of agile software development. Many positive outcomes have been associated with having teams operating at high levels of self-organization. This paper reports the results of a pilot study which reviews the existing body of empirical literature and presents a novel model for building self-organizing teams. The model is empirically validated in two case studies performed in Software Factory, an academic but close-to-industry experimental R&D laboratory. It is shown that autonomy together with communication and collaboration are the major components for building self-organizing software development teams.

Experiences and Insights from Applying GQM+Strategies in a Systems Product Development Organisation

Aligning software-related activities with corporate strategies and goals is increasingly important for several reasons such as increasing the customer satisfaction in software-based products and services. Several approaches have been proposed to create such an alignment. GQM+Strategies is an approach that applies measurement principles to link goals and strategies on different levels of an organisation. In this paper, we describe experiences from applying GQM+Strategies to elicit, link, and align the goals of an integrated systems product development organisation across multiple organisational levels. We provide insights into how GQM+Strategies was applied during a five-month period. The paper presents the enacted application process and main lessons learnt. In addition, related approaches are described and an outlook on future work is given.

How do software developers experience team performance in lean and agile environments

Context: Companies increasingly strive to adapt to market and ecosystem changes in real time. Evaluating team performance in such changing environments presents a major challenge. Objective: This paper aims to understand how software developers experience performance in a highly volatile environment. This understanding could be used as a basis for guiding formation and maintenance of high-performing teams. Method: A qualitative multiple-case study using thematic interviews was conducted with 16 experienced practitioners in five organisations. Results: We found 33 major categories of performance factors, arranged as a theoretical structure that explains how the subjects experience software team performance. Conclusions: Based on our study, software teams are engaged in a constant cycle of interpreting their performance and aligning it with other stakeholders. Enhancing performance experiences requires integration of soft factors, such as communication, team spirit, and team identity, into the overall development process.

Sensing High-Performing Software Teams: Proposal of an Instrument for Self-monitoring

Agile/Lean software development teams are by definition striving for high performance. However, it is not straightforward to recognize and cultivate those high-performing teams. Sometimes the team members perceive their internal performance differently than their externally observed outcomes really are. This paper addresses those issues by proposing an instrument for self-monitoring and analyzing software development team performance. The key goal is that practicing teams can use it even on a daily basis to indicate and steer their own performance excellence. This is supported by certain principal performance analysis guidelines. A prototype implementation of the instrument is demonstrated with some empirical cases. The cases indicate that the instrument can indicate noticeable differences in the perceived performance of individual team members and the team external outcomes. It helps detecting potential performance problems and impediments as well as improving even high-performers, and explaining team performance differences.

Bringing Total Quality in to Software Teams: A Frame for Higher Performance

The current trends in most software-intensive product development organizations are in striving for high performance. Overall, software product creation has become more and more value-driven. However, from the customer and user satisfaction points of view “software” itself has no value until it is executed in some target machine (including embedded systems) producing certain results. Those outcomes (e.g., web services) bring benefits and even delight which are valued by the customers in terms of quality. In order to address those considerations, this paper proposes a software team-oriented performance analysis and improvement framework supported by provisional instrumentation. The aim is to gauge Lean software teams and organizations to advance their thinking towards the total quality perspective. The industrial cases demonstrate, how it is able to catalyst such team performance drivers and quality aims of software development under different circumstances.

The Many Facets of High-Performing Software Teams: A Capability-Based Analysis Approach

High-performing teams (HPT) have been investigated in many fields ranging from manufacturing to knowledge work. With software teams, however, the concept is still incompletely comprehended. Software teams in practice do not reside in isolation but in specific organizational contexts and, consequently, competitive environments. Their performance is thus relative to the particular context. The performance outcomes of the teams are in turn products of their specific capabilities (including agile), provided by the underlying software competencies. This paper proposes a high-performing software team capability analysis approach supported by provisional instrumentation. The aim of such a capability analyzator is to help software teams and organizations to identify their current capabilities and – in case of gaps – to gauge the development of necessary ones. The case exhibits with respect to agile capability demonstrate that it is able to capture team performance drivers of industrial software organizations under different contextual circumstances for further performance analysis.

A Tentative Framework for Lean Software Enterprise Research and Development

The current trends in most software development organizations are in striving for high performance while meeting the emergent and even rapidly changing customer needs. Traditional product development models are often ineffective in such respects. Now Lean and Agile software models address many of those particular concerns. However, empirical evidence of their actual performance effects is still scarce and probably many hidden inefficiencies exist in practical software projects. For example the Kanban process model is one of the latest proposals with apparent potential to improve the efficiency of the projects. This paper explores how software development activities and process improvement can be evaluated in such cases. A research model is constructed for the purpose of this investigation. New research hypotheses can be derived and tested empirically with case study projects. By applying the supported hypotheses in practice, the model is intended to be a systematic performance development vehicle for software projects and a provisional framework for the Lean software enterprise transformation research and development.