decision-making in agile software development teams: solving the optimal timing problem

DECISION-MAKING IN AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAMS: SOLVING THE OPTIMAL TIMING PROBLEM Dr. Niamh O Riordan Centre for Innovation & Structural Change, NUI Galway, Ireland Dr. Tom Acton J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics & Lero, NUI Galway, IrelandProf. Kieran Conboy Associate Professor, Information Systems, Technology and Management Australian School of Business, The University of New South Wales, Sydney & Lero, NUI Galway, Ireland Prof. Willie Golden Dean of College of Business, Public Policy & Law, NUI Galway, Ireland

InterTradeIreland Innovation Conference 201212 and 13 June 2012

National University of Ireland, Galway

• Agile methods are an innovative approach to software development

• They are– organic, flexible and empowered teams– working in active and close collaboration with customers– over a series of rapid development iterations

• They deliver✔Productivity gains✔Quality gains

… But there’s a catch.

• Decision-making in agile teams is – decentralised and pluralistic– frequent and short-term– dynamically complex (decisions are highly inter-related)– time constrained– resource constrained– often unstructured– minimally documented

The problem is that decision outcomes ultimately impact upon project outcomes

Our research indicates that temporal problems are a key barrier to success in agile teamsThis research-in-progress investigates the temporal dynamics of decision-making in agile

teams

• This research-in-progress is designed to– Address repeated calls for research on decision-making in agile teams

(e.g. Drury et al., 2012; McAvoy and Butler, 2009; Zannier and Maurer, 2007)– Deliver empirical data on decision making in agile teams– Identify temporal factors affecting decision quality in agile teams– Derive practical recommendations to improve team performance– Develop a theoretical understanding of decentralised decision making in

dynamic contexts

… and ultimately to contribute to research on (i) agile methods and (ii) the broader field of decision support

Thank [email protected]

InterTradeIreland Innovation Conference 2012Delivered as part of the InterTradeIreland All-Island Innovation Programme

12 and 13 June 2012

National University of Ireland, Galway