Coordination in large-scale agile software development

Abstract

Agile practices are popular within software development. But when applied to large projects with many teams, coordination challenges arise. The projects working title “Coordination in large-scale agile software development: An investigation of coordination mechanisms, communication, roles, autonomy and interdependencies” summarizes the main topics of investigation. While all theoretical and analytical approaches to the data material is not yet determined, I have already started fieldwork in one company which will serve as a main longitudinal case, with more to follow as the project proceeds. Initial fieldwork has revealed that there are differences in how agile teams coordinate their work across teams. I will continue to explore these differences. End goals of the project include to identify success criteria for coordination in large-scale agile software development projects.