What motivates software engineers working in global software development?

Abstract

Context: Working in a distributed environment poses new challenges to software engineer motivation. Problem: Where should global project managers focus their efforts so that they have the best chance of motivating their teams, for higher staff retention, increased productivity and improved software quality? Method: We asked a group of software engineers attending a workshop on global collaboration to complete a survey on software engineer motivation. We then identified motivation themes in the responses. Finally, we mapped these themes to software engineer motivators identified in previous research. Results: Thirteen participants completed the survey. Analysis of the results yielded 27 motivation categories. The vast majority (23 of 27) were partially or wholly mapped to Intrinsic motivators. Implications: We conclude that Global Software Development projects that relegate some teams to performing routine tasks (such as maintenance or testing) will experience lower productivity and quality due to demotivation. Finally, we hypothesize that GSD introduces new motivators, such as opportunities to travel and interact with different cultures.