Using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Slack: A Case Study of Coordination in Large-Scale Distributed Agile

Stray, Viktoria; Moe, Nils Brede; Vedal, Henrik; Berntzen, Marthe Nordengen

doi:10.24251/hicss.2022.883

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The team members could thus anticipate one another's needs, and adjust their co-location plans accordingly. Our work builds on the findings that Slack is an essential tool for coordination in distributed teams [20]. Further, in our teams, the shared Slack etiquette created a common understanding of the availability of team members, by for example agreeing on traditions such as sending "good morning" messages when ready for work, and changing Slack icons when unavailable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Organizational Debt in Large-Scale Hybrid Agile Software Development: A Case Study on Coordination Mechanisms

Liu,

Stray,

Sporsem

2023

Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing

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Software development is a complex human-centered activity, increasingly complicated by agile organizations scaling and adopting hybrid work. While technical debt has been extensively studied, other forms of debt-organizational, process, cultural, and social-have received less attention. We conducted a case study using ten semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis to identify coordination mechanisms used in large-scale hybrid agile. We identified organizational debt challenges such as a lack of shared mental models, team coordination, team cohesion, and team learning. Also, the hybrid working arrangement was found to create tension between increased individual autonomy and team objectives, as well as between team autonomy and inter-team coordination. We found 23 coordination mechanisms that the teams used to address challenges in their organization. We propose that implementing many of these mechanisms may help manage organizational debt.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Organizational Debt in Large-Scale Hybrid Agile Software Development: A Case Study on Coordination Mechanisms

Liu,

Stray,

Sporsem

2023

Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing

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“…Also, most teams used two communication platforms (the most popular were Discord, Facebook Messenger, Microsoft Teams, and Slack). Slack has been identified as a significant tool that offers various advantages such as facilitating improved communication by reducing the barrier to seeking assistance and encouraging greater participation through the visibility of queries and topics under discussion [34,38]. In student teams, Ross [34] found that Slack seems to improve the quality of group communications and perceived learning outcomes from group work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Team Composition in Agile Software Development Education: A Gendered Perspective

Sæter,

Stray,

Almås

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Av den grunn er det også forsket mye på koordinering i utviklingssettinger i stor skala, både i norske og internasjonale fag miljøer (Dingsøyr et al, 2018;Edison et al, 2022;Palopak et al, 2023). Fra denne forskningen har vi fått beskrivelser av en rekke ulike koordineringsmekanismer, som smidige møter (Moe et al, 2018), roller (Bass & Haxby, 2019) og ulike verktøy og prosesser (Stray et al, 2022). Derimot har vi mang let en systematisk tilnaerming til å analysere og forstå slike mekanismer som er spesifikk for storskala utviklingssettinger, ettersom det meste av eksisterende forskning bruker teorier fra andre fagfelt og empiriske settinger (Palopak et al, 2023).…”

Section: Koordinering I Storskala Smidig Utviklingunclassified

Et rammeverk for koordinering i storskala smidig systemutvikling

Berntzen

2024

Magma

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Digitaliseringen i offentlig sektor fører ofte med seg store IT-systemer som utvikles og driftes av mange team, ofte ved å benytte smidige utviklingsmetoder. I slike storskala settinger er god koordinering avgjørende på grunn av avhengigheter mellom teamene som kan senke farten og kvaliteten på leveransene. For å håndtere avhengigheter brukes koordineringsmekanismer som for eksempel sørger for informasjonsflyt og at ressurser er tilgjengelig på rett sted til rett tid. Denne artikkelen presenterer funn fra et feltstudium gjennomført over halvannet år fra 2018 til 2020 av en storskala offentlig bedrift som benyttet smidige utviklingsmetoder. I løpet av feltarbeidet observerte vi 118 møter og holdt 37 intervjuer på tvers av organisasjonsnivåer. Vi fant 47 koordineringsmekanismer som bidro til å håndtere avhengigheter mellom team i case-organisasjonen. Studiens hovedbidrag er et rammeverk for å kartlegge koordinering i storskala smidig systemutvikling bestående av fire trinn: 1) kartlegging av koordineringsmekanismer gjennom kategoriene koordineringsmøter, -roller og -verktøy, 2) analyse av hvordan mekanismene håndterer avhengigheter, 3) analyse av endringer i koordinering, og 4) utforming av koordineringsstrategier. Rammeverket er kontekstuavhengig og utformet slik at organisasjoner kan bruke det i egen kontekst for å få innsikt i om koordineringsmekanismene fungerer som de skal, eller om det er behov for å justere eller skifte ut mekanismer, for å få bedre innsikt i egne koordineringsbehov og hva som skal til for å møte dem. Abstract in English Digitalization in the public sector often involves large IT systems that are developed and operated by many teams, often using agile development methods. In such large-scale settings, good coordination is essential due to dependencies between the teams that can reduce the speed and quality of the deliveries. To manage dependencies, coordination mechanisms are used to, for example, ensure information flows and that resources are available in the right place at the right time. This article presents findings from a one-and-a-half-year field study in a large-scale agile development program in a public company from 2018-2020. During the fieldwork, we observed 118 meetings and conducted 37 interviews across organizational levels. We found 47 coordination mechanisms that helped manage dependencies between teams in the case organization. The study's main contribution is a framework for mapping large-scale coordination in an agile manner consisting of four steps: 1) mapping coordination mechanisms through three categories: coordination meetings, roles, and tools; 2) analysis of how the mechanisms handle dependencies; 3) analysis of changes in the organization and in the coordination mechanisms; and 4) formulating coordination strategies. The framework is context-independent and designed so that organizations can use it in their own context to gain insight into whether the coordination mechanisms are working as they should or whether there is a need to adjust or replace mechanisms, and thus increase insight into their coordination needs and requirements for meeting them.

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Using Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Slack: A Case Study of Coordination in Large-Scale Distributed Agile

Cited by 11 publications

References 23 publications

Organizational Debt in Large-Scale Hybrid Agile Software Development: A Case Study on Coordination Mechanisms

Organizational Debt in Large-Scale Hybrid Agile Software Development: A Case Study on Coordination Mechanisms

The Role of Team Composition in Agile Software Development Education: A Gendered Perspective

Et rammeverk for koordinering i storskala smidig systemutvikling

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