Software project team selection based on enterprise social networks

Abstract

Project management is a well understood management method, widely adopted today, in order to give predictable results to complex problems. It is based on the assumption that unique undertakings require flexible organizational structures and different skill sets, in order to be implemented successfully. It is evident that matching the required, by each project, skills with the skills offered from the available human capital, is not a trivial process. This need of building high performing, effective teams with the appropriate skill set, is quite important since it is a prerequisite for successful project completion. Furthermore the recent shift to agile project management, together with the fact that projects today do not only require technical skills but also behavioral and contextual skills increases the importance of project team selection. In this paper, we present the ONSOCIAL system, a system that attempts to capitalize knowledge accumulated over social networks and to support the project team selection process. For achieving this objective, the ONSOCIAL system is using information stored in social network systems, analyses the stored profiles and offers recommendations for candidate team members.