Getting and
Staying
Agile

The human side of software development thrives on
face-to-face interaction and teamwork.

By David L. Largent

DOI: 10.1145/1836543.1836555

During my time in both undergraduate and graduate computer science programs, the focus of classroom material has almost always been on “technical” topics, such as data structures, programming languages, and networks, and very seldom on “human” topics, like working within a team. Do we need more than a solid technical background to survive and prosper outside of the isolated world of academia?

 

Proponents of agile software development would say yes. Agile development, a methodology that focuses on the teamwork and human interaction side of development, has gained popularity in recent years. While it could be argued that teamwork is critical in all types of software development methodologies, this article focuses on agile software development due to its popularity, especially among new software startup companies.

It is not my intent to identify all the questions we should be asking on this topic, but I do hope to get more students thinking about getting and staying agile by exploring the social side of teamwork, an integral part of agile software development.

AGILE SOFT WARE DEVELOPMENT What defines agile software development? We’re talking about a method, process, philosophy and set of guidelines that focuses on customer satisfaction, small project teams, informal methods, quick incremental delivery of software and minimal software engineering work products [ 7]. As you can see in the sidebar “What is Agile Soft ware Development?” many aspects of agile software development deal with individual human interaction and teamwork.

THE ‘INGS’ OF TEAM
DEVELOPMENT

Much research behind agile develop-
ment methods focuses on what con-
stitutes a team, and how individual
members of a team grow, learn, and
interact to perform a task. One model,
discussed further below, suggests that
teams generally progress through five
stages: forming, storming, norming,
performing, and adjourning [ 2][ 8][ 9]
[ 10]. How long it takes a team to move
through the stages will vary greatly,
depending on the people involved and
the challenges the team encounters.
Figure 1 depicts these stages.