Understanding knowledge management in agile software development practice

Abstract

Knowledge management in agile software development has typically been treated as a broad topic resulting in major classifications of its schools and concepts. What inherent knowledge is involved in everyday agile practice and how agile teams manage it is not well understood. To address these questions, we performed a Systematic Literature Review of 48 relevant empirical studies selected from reputed databases. Using a thematic analysis approach to the synthesis, we discovered that (a) agile teams use three knowledge management strategies: discussions, artifacts and visualisations to manage knowledge (b) there are three types of software engineering knowledge: team progress as project knowledge; requirements as product knowledge; and coding techniques as process knowledge. (c) this knowledge is presented in several everyday agile practices. A theoretical model describing how knowledge management strategies and knowledge types are related to agile practices is also presented. These results will help agile practitioners become aware of the specific knowledge types and knowledge management strategies and enable them to better manage them in everyday agile practices. Researchers can further investigate and build upon these findings through empirical studies.