The future of collaborative technology within Scrum/Agile practices

Abstract

The pandemic has caused a paradigm shift. The frameworks for how we decide what is worth preserving and reframing are on display through the adoption of collaborative technology. This literature review and evidence-based study of collaborative technology investigates the features of the technology used during COVID-19 and how those features have enabled organizations to discard/forget and preserve/remember aspects of office procedures, hierarchies, and accountability in Scrum/Agile organizational cultures. We conducted a comparative review of the most popular collaborative tools and supportive features using industry reports on collaborative technology and Scrum/Agile adoption, Google Trends, and the Factiva database to understand the levels of growth in uptake and whether usage will continue after the pandemic. Our findings suggest that technologies are being used to preserve some of the foundations of the Scrum Organizational Culture like “teamwork,” “transparency,” “honesty,” and “communication.” There is also a push to develop real-time flexible spaces for chat, notes, and meetings. A problem with collaborative tool use is that it can be difficult to maintain informal talk and the culture of knowledge sharing that develops as a result within organizations. The interest in transparency might indicate that companies might be moving away from “waterfall” methods of information dissemination and toward more collaborative features when it comes to the day-to-day task management of employees. Agile working cultures and Scrum are predominantly practiced in industries like tech or product development, so our findings only reflect the technology that is likely used in these spaces.