Challenges of shared decision-making: A multiple case study of agile software development

ContextAgile software development changes the nature of collaboration, coordination, and communication in software projects.ObjectiveOur objective was to understand the challenges of shared decision-making in agile software development teams.MethodWe designed a multiple case study consisting of four projects in two software product companies that recently adopted Scrum. We collected data in semi-structured interviews, through participant observations, and from process artifacts.ResultsWe identified three main challenges to shared decision-making in agile software development: alignment of strategic product plans with iteration plans, allocation of development resources, and performing development and maintenance tasks in teams.ConclusionAgile software development requires alignment of decisions on the strategic, tactical, and operational levels in order to overcome these challenges. Agile development also requires a transition from specialized skills to redundancy of functions and from rational to naturalistic decision-making. This takes time; the case companies needed from one to two years to change from traditional, hierarchical decision-making to shared decision-making in software development projects.