Decision making in agile development: A focus group study of decisions & obstacles

Research output: Chapter in Book or Conference Publication/ProceedingConference Publicationpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The process and effectiveness of decision making in agile development is critical yet poorly understood. This research examines decisions made across the four stages of the sprint cycle: Sprint Planning, Sprint Execution, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective. A focus group was conducted with 43 agile developers and managers to determine what decisions were made at different points of the sprint cycle. The results indicate that Sprint Planning includes decisions about planning the work for the subsequent sprint, Sprint Execution includes tactical implementation and development decisions, Sprint Review includes decisions about whether the product satisfies the customer and whether future sprints should continue, and Sprint Retrospective includes decisions for improving the sprint process in future sprints. Additionally, six key obstacles to decision making were identified. This research contributes to the literature on agile software development by advancing our understanding of how these teams function by analyzing the decisions made during different points of the sprint cycle and the obstacles to these decisions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2011 Agile Conference, Agile 2011
Pages39-47
Number of pages9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011
Event2011 Agile Conference, Agile 2011 - Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Duration: 8 Aug 201112 Aug 2011

Publication series

NameProceedings - 2011 Agile Conference, Agile 2011

Conference

Conference2011 Agile Conference, Agile 2011
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySalt Lake City, UT
Period8/08/1112/08/11

Keywords

  • Decision making
  • Decision obstacles
  • Retrospective
  • Sprint decisions
  • Sprint planning

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