Effective team coordination is essential for the success of global software projects. Boundary spanning is an important team coordination mechanism that has not been inefficiently explored in GSD literature. This paper presents a descriptive case study of how boundary spanner role and boundary spanning activities are adopted to resolve coordination gaps among organizationally distributed development teams. The qualitative data were collected and compared among four types of global software projects. Internal team’s recognition, inter- features technical expertise and task assignment are three common capacities. Task negotiation, conflict resolution, task- related information navigation and boundary object setups are common effective boundary spanning activities. We also identified some differences in coordinating a inter-firm and inner-firm project.
The real question is why is managing projects so hard? The Project Management processes are well defined, well documented, mature, and available to anyone anywhere. But we still seem to think, or at least make the claim that “managing projects” requires some type of special skill, requiring processes not found in these standard approaches.
Agile evangelists frequently skip the realities of the world. This is especially true when it comes to estimation. It often appears as if authors and presenters live in a world in which the customer is always a deep-pocketed in-house resource, with an abundance of confidence in the development team.
The realities, however, is that whether doing in-house development or contracting, the customer expects estimates for the development work. Potential benefits have to be weighed against estimated costs.
This talk deals with why estimation is crucial also in an Agile world.
Agile projects are hardly immune to overruns, delays and bad business decisions based on poor estimates. Before one can sit down and use “Planning Poker” or similar techniques for estimating sprints or releases, it is often necessary to provide a relative accurate estimate of total project delivery schedule and costs.
The talk presents five collaborative techniques to use for estimating software projects up front:
Delphi
Wideband Delphi
Unstructured groups
Statistical groups
Decision markets
All techniques have various strengths and weaknesses. They have been detailed to a great extent in the literature, but actual experiences and scientific results for use in Agile projects are scarce.
Combination techniques also supplement each other, and may be appropriate to use at different stages of a project. I.e. some techniques are more suitable for estimating projects up front (e.g. in bidding), some are good for release planning, and some are good for more detailed sprint planning.
The real question is why is managing projects so hard? The Project Management processes are well defined, well documented, mature, and available to anyone anywhere. But we still seem to think, or at least make the claim that “managing projects” requires some type of special skill, requiring processes not found in these standard approaches.
Agile evangelists frequently skip the realities of the world. This is especially true when it comes to estimation. It often appears as if authors and presenters live in a world in which the customer is always a deep-pocketed in-house resource, with an abundance of confidence in the development team.
The realities, however, is that whether doing in-house development or contracting, the customer expects estimates for the development work. Potential benefits have to be weighed against estimated costs.
This talk deals with why estimation is crucial also in an Agile world.
Agile projects are hardly immune to overruns, delays and bad business decisions based on poor estimates. Before one can sit down and use “Planning Poker” or similar techniques for estimating sprints or releases, it is often necessary to provide a relative accurate estimate of total project delivery schedule and costs.
The talk presents five collaborative techniques to use for estimating software projects up front:
Delphi
Wideband Delphi
Unstructured groups
Statistical groups
Decision markets
All techniques have various strengths and weaknesses. They have been detailed to a great extent in the literature, but actual experiences and scientific results for use in Agile projects are scarce.
Combination techniques also supplement each other, and may be appropriate to use at different stages of a project. I.e. some techniques are more suitable for estimating projects up front (e.g. in bidding), some are good for release planning, and some are good for more detailed sprint planning.
Four major causes of difficulty in gathering system requirement and business requirements, Reasons projects were
abandoned.Three Generations of System Development:1. Direct Contact 2. Business Analyst 3.Team Based.
Interaction Room - Creating Space for Developments (Software Projects)adesso Turkey
The Interaction Room serves several purposes:
1) The focus on mission-critical aspects
2) Identification and elimination of risks associated with intuitive visualization methods at an early stage
3) Improving teamwork and the establishment of joint project responsibility between the IT and specialist departments.
The Interaction Room makes the relationships between processes, data and the application environment transparent and creates the basis for efficient decision-making processes. It is a method which steers the interest of those involved in the project’s progress and contributes to ensuring that all participants continuously work on the vision of the software that is being developed. The Interaction Room is not a theoretical concept but has proven itself in the business environment, as can be seen in successful projects in which the Interaction Room has already been used effectively.
From DrupalCon Chicago 2011, Treehouse SVP, Operations, Nicole Lind joins colleagues from other top agencies to discuss approaches to managing enterprise-level Drupal projects.
Questions answered by this session
Question 1: How does PM involvement impact the various phases of a project and the organization... and should it?
Question 2: How do you say "No" to the wrong type of work and still keep a positive client relationship?
Question 3: How do you partner with clients to ensure the project needs are met?
Question 4: Are there differences in managing Drupal projects versus other technology projects?
Question 5: What are some shared tools to help navigate the questions being answered in this session?
Agile Requirements Agile Philly HandoutsDoniel Wilson
Agile Requirements Management is about mitigating risk and considering trade-offs that can be made early in the planning process.
While Agile improves many components of software delivery, one constant struggle for development is being able to accurately discern what the customer wants. This discussion will address common pitfalls in the requirements management cycle.
Don will highlight risks and present several strategies to mitigate these risks to improve the ability to deliver the desired results and the value an agile team brings to the organization.
As the Managing Director of Revolutionary Performance Management, Inc., Don Wilson has analyzed, planned, and implemented technology strategies for top tier companies such as Sprint, Marriott, AARP, and most recently the American Chemical Society. He is a Certified Project Management Professional, a Certified Scrum Product Owner and a Certified Scrum Master. He has a reputation for reviving “troubled” projects, achieving successful outcomes, and exceeding expectations. He is known as the “project-whisperer” for his ability to navigate effortlessly between business and technical groups to identify unspoken requirements.
Read more about Don Wilson on the Agile Philly website for this event at: http://www.agilephilly.com/events/2014-agile-requirements or www.thinkrpm.com
Project Management as an Art Form (DrupalCon Chicago 2011)Phase2
From DrupalCon Chicago 2011, Nicole Lind joins Joel Sackett and colleagues from other top agencies to discuss approaches to managing enterprise-level Drupal projects.
Questions answered by this session
Question 1: How does PM involvement impact the various phases of a project and the organization... and should it?
Question 2: How do you say "No" to the wrong type of work and still keep a positive client relationship?
Question 3: How do you partner with clients to ensure the project needs are met?
Question 4: Are there differences in managing Drupal projects versus other technology projects?
Question 5: What are some shared tools to help navigate the questions being answered in this session?
Domain driven design is help as part of software development for proper deliver of software applications.
It will help on strategic planning of software design and delivery.
GHD iConnect - our intranet for the futureMaree Courts
GHD's journey to build an intranet for the future. Moving from a legacy Lotus Notes platform to a brand new shiny SharePoint 2013 environment was an exciting undertaking.
CloudWatch: Mapping priorities and future collaboration for your projectDavid Wallom
Presentation @ NetFutures2016 on how building effective relationships is essential through all parts of a project from formation to closure. The CloudWATCH Cloud Clustering tool allows quantitative analysis of the cloud ecosystem landscape and a project or activities position in it.
Mapping Priorities and Future Collaborations for you ProjectsDavid Wallom
Presentation on the outputs of cloud computing clustering and how the self help tool can give insight to where you sit in the cloud ecosystem and who else you should be talking to.
Speaker: Franz Walder, Product Manager, panagenda
Abstract: panagenda reached out to 750+ professionals to share their company’s Domino application strategy. Join this session to find out what was most important to your peers and what challenges they had to overcome to make their project a success. Find out about the critical questions everybody should ask and have answers to throughout their project. Franz Walder presents the exciting results of the survey and explains what role analytics can play when tackling these challenges.
Tackle Your Everyday Business Problems Like an Architect, Melissa ShepardCzechDreamin
What does it take to problem solve like an architect? There are many skills that you can bring into your day-to-day job as an admin or developer in order to help you put on your “architect hat”. Go beyond just solving the problem at hand and expand your thinking to take into consideration the bigger picture applying common architect skills used to solve business problems. We will cover some of these skills and show you how to apply pieces of the pyramid to common business scenarios so that you, too, can problem solve like an architect.
RNUG 2020: Domino Application Strategy: Key insights for successful moderniza...panagenda
panagenda reached out to 750+ professionals to share their company’s Domino application strategy. Join this session to find out what was most important to your peers and what challenges they had to overcome to make their project a success. Find out about the critical questions everybody should ask and have answers to throughout their project. Franz Walder presents the exciting results of the survey and explains what role analytics can play when tackling these challenges.
Kontextdrivna krav - effektiv kravställning för din organisationADDQ
Det blir allt kortare produktlivscykler, krav på snabbare time to market och kvalitet ses inte längre bara som en hygienfaktor utan som ett måste. Därför är det viktigt att förstå förutsättningarna och anpassa kravarbetet så att du löser behoven på effektivaste sätt. Vilka är dessa förutsättningar, hur påverkar de ditt projekt och hur anpassar man arbetet för att uppnå mesta möjliga affärsvärde?
Four major causes of difficulty in gathering system requirement and business requirements, Reasons projects were
abandoned.Three Generations of System Development:1. Direct Contact 2. Business Analyst 3.Team Based.
Interaction Room - Creating Space for Developments (Software Projects)adesso Turkey
The Interaction Room serves several purposes:
1) The focus on mission-critical aspects
2) Identification and elimination of risks associated with intuitive visualization methods at an early stage
3) Improving teamwork and the establishment of joint project responsibility between the IT and specialist departments.
The Interaction Room makes the relationships between processes, data and the application environment transparent and creates the basis for efficient decision-making processes. It is a method which steers the interest of those involved in the project’s progress and contributes to ensuring that all participants continuously work on the vision of the software that is being developed. The Interaction Room is not a theoretical concept but has proven itself in the business environment, as can be seen in successful projects in which the Interaction Room has already been used effectively.
From DrupalCon Chicago 2011, Treehouse SVP, Operations, Nicole Lind joins colleagues from other top agencies to discuss approaches to managing enterprise-level Drupal projects.
Questions answered by this session
Question 1: How does PM involvement impact the various phases of a project and the organization... and should it?
Question 2: How do you say "No" to the wrong type of work and still keep a positive client relationship?
Question 3: How do you partner with clients to ensure the project needs are met?
Question 4: Are there differences in managing Drupal projects versus other technology projects?
Question 5: What are some shared tools to help navigate the questions being answered in this session?
Agile Requirements Agile Philly HandoutsDoniel Wilson
Agile Requirements Management is about mitigating risk and considering trade-offs that can be made early in the planning process.
While Agile improves many components of software delivery, one constant struggle for development is being able to accurately discern what the customer wants. This discussion will address common pitfalls in the requirements management cycle.
Don will highlight risks and present several strategies to mitigate these risks to improve the ability to deliver the desired results and the value an agile team brings to the organization.
As the Managing Director of Revolutionary Performance Management, Inc., Don Wilson has analyzed, planned, and implemented technology strategies for top tier companies such as Sprint, Marriott, AARP, and most recently the American Chemical Society. He is a Certified Project Management Professional, a Certified Scrum Product Owner and a Certified Scrum Master. He has a reputation for reviving “troubled” projects, achieving successful outcomes, and exceeding expectations. He is known as the “project-whisperer” for his ability to navigate effortlessly between business and technical groups to identify unspoken requirements.
Read more about Don Wilson on the Agile Philly website for this event at: http://www.agilephilly.com/events/2014-agile-requirements or www.thinkrpm.com
Project Management as an Art Form (DrupalCon Chicago 2011)Phase2
From DrupalCon Chicago 2011, Nicole Lind joins Joel Sackett and colleagues from other top agencies to discuss approaches to managing enterprise-level Drupal projects.
Questions answered by this session
Question 1: How does PM involvement impact the various phases of a project and the organization... and should it?
Question 2: How do you say "No" to the wrong type of work and still keep a positive client relationship?
Question 3: How do you partner with clients to ensure the project needs are met?
Question 4: Are there differences in managing Drupal projects versus other technology projects?
Question 5: What are some shared tools to help navigate the questions being answered in this session?
Domain driven design is help as part of software development for proper deliver of software applications.
It will help on strategic planning of software design and delivery.
GHD iConnect - our intranet for the futureMaree Courts
GHD's journey to build an intranet for the future. Moving from a legacy Lotus Notes platform to a brand new shiny SharePoint 2013 environment was an exciting undertaking.
CloudWatch: Mapping priorities and future collaboration for your projectDavid Wallom
Presentation @ NetFutures2016 on how building effective relationships is essential through all parts of a project from formation to closure. The CloudWATCH Cloud Clustering tool allows quantitative analysis of the cloud ecosystem landscape and a project or activities position in it.
Mapping Priorities and Future Collaborations for you ProjectsDavid Wallom
Presentation on the outputs of cloud computing clustering and how the self help tool can give insight to where you sit in the cloud ecosystem and who else you should be talking to.
Speaker: Franz Walder, Product Manager, panagenda
Abstract: panagenda reached out to 750+ professionals to share their company’s Domino application strategy. Join this session to find out what was most important to your peers and what challenges they had to overcome to make their project a success. Find out about the critical questions everybody should ask and have answers to throughout their project. Franz Walder presents the exciting results of the survey and explains what role analytics can play when tackling these challenges.
Tackle Your Everyday Business Problems Like an Architect, Melissa ShepardCzechDreamin
What does it take to problem solve like an architect? There are many skills that you can bring into your day-to-day job as an admin or developer in order to help you put on your “architect hat”. Go beyond just solving the problem at hand and expand your thinking to take into consideration the bigger picture applying common architect skills used to solve business problems. We will cover some of these skills and show you how to apply pieces of the pyramid to common business scenarios so that you, too, can problem solve like an architect.
RNUG 2020: Domino Application Strategy: Key insights for successful moderniza...panagenda
panagenda reached out to 750+ professionals to share their company’s Domino application strategy. Join this session to find out what was most important to your peers and what challenges they had to overcome to make their project a success. Find out about the critical questions everybody should ask and have answers to throughout their project. Franz Walder presents the exciting results of the survey and explains what role analytics can play when tackling these challenges.
Kontextdrivna krav - effektiv kravställning för din organisationADDQ
Det blir allt kortare produktlivscykler, krav på snabbare time to market och kvalitet ses inte längre bara som en hygienfaktor utan som ett måste. Därför är det viktigt att förstå förutsättningarna och anpassa kravarbetet så att du löser behoven på effektivaste sätt. Vilka är dessa förutsättningar, hur påverkar de ditt projekt och hur anpassar man arbetet för att uppnå mesta möjliga affärsvärde?
For a few decades, one of the most common approaches to software design is to first focus on the domain model (application layer), then persistence (data layer) and finally the user interface (presentation layer). But what are the pros and cons of this approach? Are there other alternatives? Are they viable? In this presentation, Sandro will be talking about different design biases and the impact they have. He will then focus on Outside-In Design, explaining how our domain model can emerge and evolve when driven by the needs of external systems or users, avoiding speculation and wasted effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbSDGr-_UwY
This video was recorded at SCLConf 2018, an annual conference for software professionals that care about their craft. Learn more about SCLConf at sc-london.com
The CTA Mindset for Architects, Melissa Shepard & Lilith Van BiesenCzechDreamin
What separates a Technical Architect from a CTA?
Do you wonder exactly what it takes to become a CTA?
There’s a lot of buzz in the ecosystem about this sought-after credential and you might be asking if it is the right fit for you. In this session we will cover some of the expectations and responsibilities of a CTA and what it takes to achieve beyond the prerequisites.
You will get a better understanding of the Technical Architect path and what it means to be on the JourneyToCTA.
Achieving product market fit in startup context - The-state-of-practices and ...Anh Nguyen Duc
The presentation was given in a Computer Science conference at Pakistan, about several empirical studies on building Minimum Viable Product (MVP), challenges and common practices among software startups. Also, it presents how to use Design Thinking, Cynefine model and Technical Debt in startup context.
Sharing economy and Vietnam startup prospect (Kinh tế chia sẻ và cơ hội khởi ...Anh Nguyen Duc
Trên thế giới, thuật ngữ “ Kinh tế chia sẻ (economy sharing)” không còn quá xa lạ, mô hình kinh doanh dựa trên những nguồn lực sẵn có từ xã hội ngày càng mạnh mẽ và góp phần làm cho sự lựa chọn của người dùng thêm phong phú. Việt Nam hiện là một thị trường đầy tiềm năng của hình thái kinh tế mới này với sự xuất hiện của Uber, GrabTaxi ,TripAdvisor hay AirBNB ... Vậy có bao giờ bạn tự hỏi điều gì đang diễn ra trong nền kinh tế của chúng ta, vì sao chỉ một vài công ty xuất hiện lại khiến chính phủ và báo giới tốn nhiều thời gian và giấy mực đến vậy?
Được trình bày bởi chuyên gia về khởi nghiệp đến từ Cộng đồng nghiên cứu khởi nghiệp công nghệ Châu Âu (SSRN), hội thảo là dịp diễn giả giới thiệu về mô hình “Economy Sharing” đồng thời đem tới những cơ hội cho các bạn trẻ đang quan tâm tới việc khởi nghiệp trong lĩnh vực này.
Coordination of software development teams across organizational boundary – A...Anh Nguyen Duc
Organizational boundary is another dimension of global distribution, which is a less visible but equally important factor that influences team coordination. This study investigates attributes of the organizational boundary that inhibits coordination and development activities. Besides, we explore a set of effective coordination practices to overcome organizational boundary. The data were collected from two projects involving four different software development organizations. We found that the variety on collaboration policy, team organization, engineering process, and development practices contributes to extra coordination efforts, insufficient communication, team awareness and mistrust. The study also highlights that coordination practices, such as face-to-face contact, process synchronization and shared collaborative development are compulsory but not sufficient for effective team coordination across organizational boundary
Forking and coordination in multi-platform developmentAnh Nguyen Duc
With the proliferation of desktop and mobile platforms the development and maintenance of identical or similar ap- plications on multiple platforms is urgently needed. We study a software product deployed to more than 25 soft- ware/hardware combinations over 10 years to understand multi-platform development practices. We hope that this work will provide a basis for quantitative understanding of issues faced in multi-platform software development.
Supporting team coordination across organizational boundary in GSD
On the role of boundary spanners as a team coordination mechanism in organisationally distributed projects
1. !1
On the role of boundary spanners as a team
coordination mechanism in organisationally
distributed projects
!
Anh, Nguyen Duc
Daniela S. Cruzes
IDI, NTNU
3. !3
Motivation
• GSD continues to face many coordination
challenges across global boundaries
• Many coordination approaches are assumed to
work in a homogeneous environment:
Collaborative attitude
Synchronized communication and development tools
Commitment on development practices
Engineering process
4. !4
Motivation
• Research on GSD has little focus on organisational
boundary offshore/onshore: whether development
activities in the same country
insource/ outsource: whether
development activities in the same
company
organisational boundary
geographical, temporal
cultural boundary
Darja et al. 2014, An empirically based terminology and taxonomy for global software engineering
5. !5
Motivation
• Crossing boundary is critical for team coordination
• One mechanism to address these boundary issues is to rely on
boundary spanner* - little explored in SE literature
!
!
!
!
Natalia et al. 2005, The Emergence of Boundary Spanning Competence in Practice:
Implications for Implementation and Use of Information Systems
6. !6
Motivation
• Crossing boundary is critical for team coordination
• One mechanism to address these boundary issues is to rely on
boundary spanner* - little explored in SE literature
!
!
!
!
Natalia et al. 2005, The Emergence of Boundary Spanning Competence in Practice:
Implications for Implementation and Use of Information Systems
7. !7
Motivation
• Crossing boundary is critical for team coordination
• One mechanism to address these boundary issues is to rely on
boundary spanner* - little explored in SE literature
!
!
!
!
*liaison, knowledge mediators, information broker, bridge engineer,
networker, collaborator
Natalia et al. 2005, The Emergence of Boundary Spanning Competence in Practice:
Implications for Implementation and Use of Information Systems
8. !8
Research questions
!
!
!
!
!
!
RQ1. What characteristics of boundary spanners contribute
to effective coordination in distributed software projects?
RQ2. In which way boundary spanners handle
dependencies in distributed software projects?
Organizational
boundary
Coordination
problems
Project outcomes
Boundary
spanners
10. !10
Study design & analysis
• Exploratory multiple case studies
• Project as a unit of analysis
• Extreme case, typical case & convenience case
• With-in case analysis
• Thematic analysis
• Cross-case analysis
• Cross case comparison
11. !11
Study design & analysis
16
interviews:
project
manager,
technical
leader and
developers
Axial coding
Selective coding
Concept
categorization
Cross case
comparison
Identify organizational
boundary
Identify coordination
challenges
Identify boundary
spanners
Coordination
capability
Coordination
activities
Data collection Data analysis Research purpose
12. !12
Case 1: Offshore insourcing
Context
•Market driven project
•5 years old project
•Search engine system
•150 developers
Interdependency
•Technical dependency
•Temporal dependency
•Process dependency
Coordination infrastructure
•TFS, daily virtual meeting,
teleconferencing, email
•GIT, informal talk, frequent
visit
13. !13
Context 2: Onshore outsourcing
Interdependency
•Technical dependency
!
Coordination mechanism
•TFS, email, telephone
conference, face to face
meeting,
Context
•Outsourcing bespoken
•5 years old project
•Ship management system
•13 developers
14. !14
Case 3: Offshore outsourcing
Interdependency
•Technical dependency
!
Coordination mechanism
•Email, regular meeting, site
visit, bridge engineer
Context
•Outsourcing bespoken
•10 years old project
•MIS system
•13 developers
15. !15
Case 4: Opensourcing
Interdependency
•Technical dependency
!
Coordination mechanism
•TFS, email, telephone
conference, face to face
meeting,
Context
•Outsourcing bespoken
•6 years old project
•Network analyzer tool
•20+ developers
!
Community
17. !17
Result
• Internal team recognition
• Multiple area expertise
• Decision making ability
• Work and time flexibility
What characteristics of boundary spanners contribute to effective
coordination in distributed software projects?
I believe that the project owner
trust us deeply… They trust so
much that the way of working with
us that let to [Team leader name]
as an assumption part of technical
insight. If [Team Thames] exploded
and disappear the customer will
have problem. I don’t think [Team
Thames] is easy to replace at this
time
18. !18
Result
• Internal team recognition
• Multiple area expertise
• Decision making ability
• Work and time flexibility
What characteristics of boundary spanners contribute to effective
coordination in distributed software projects?
One capacity of a bridge engineer is
to be keen on the technology and the
development framework, but also be
fast on learning business domain and
requirement from customers …
19. !19
Result
• Internal team recognition
• Multiple area expertise
• Decision making ability
• Work and time flexibility
What characteristics of boundary spanners contribute to effective
coordination in distributed software projects?
When you run the projects and try to
resolve the conflict and
dependencies, that happening up
here at management level. A lot of
project tracking is done up here. For
a big project if this one is late what
consequences to the other team? I
need to involve in all these stuffs
20. !20
Result
• Internal team recognition
• Multiple area expertise
• Decision making ability
• Work and time flexibility
What characteristics of boundary spanners contribute to effective
coordination in distributed software projects?
A bridge engineer needs to be ready
for a frequent onsite trips. Last year
I stayed 6 months in the [Team
Baltic]. This year, I have visited them
3 times, but in a shorter trips…
22. !22
Result
In which way boundary spanners handle dependencies in
distributed software projects?
23. !23
Result
• Mediating status information
• Mediating task dependency
• Managing global boundaries
• Mediating practice flow
In which way boundary spanners handle dependencies in
distributed software projects?
I need to be sure that everyone got
what they needs, nothing more. We
often have indirect contact with
[Team Danube] via customers. We
almost always send email with the
copy to relevant product owners and
vice versa. For some tasks, I am
informed about [Team Danube] from
the customer
24. !24
Result
• Mediating status information
• Mediating task dependency
• Managing global boundaries
• Mediating practice flow
In which way boundary spanners handle dependencies in
distributed software projects?
I know nothing about them [Team
Danube, Project River]. Actually I
receive tasks from [the team leader
name, Team Thames, Project River],
he is not exactly a project manager
but more like a project organizer. So
he received the tasks from [Danube
team] and split the tasks for us ...
25. !25
Result
• Mediating status information
• Mediating task dependency
• Managing global boundaries
• Mediating practice flow
In which way boundary spanners handle dependencies in
distributed software projects?
One of my tasks is to translate
requirement documents into a
friendly and localized document for
the development team at home ...
26. !26
Result
• Mediating status information
• Mediating task dependency
• Managing global boundaries
• Mediating practice flow
In which way boundary spanners handle dependencies in
distributed software projects?
We have a policy that people should
visit [Team Everest] once per year.
… to understand the other site how
they are work. Seating far away you
may ask why they are doing that?
You don’t know how the team
organized….
27. !27
Result
In which way boundary spanners handle dependencies in
distributed software projects?
28. !28
Discussion
What are common capacities of boundary spanners as a project
coordinator in organizationally distributed software projects?
• Commercial vs. Open source project
• Work and time flexibility
• Small vs. large company
• External team recognition,
• Knowledge of business logic and
technical expertise
• Insourcing vs. Outsourcing
• Ability of team configuration
29. !29
Discussion
In which way boundary spanners handle dependencies in distributed
software projects?
• Commercial vs. Open source
• Comprehending and transferring tasks
• Site visit
• Enforcing practices around
boundary object
• Small vs large company
• Task integration
• Insourcing vs Outsourcing
• Facilite exchanged practices
• Sharing knowledge and expertise
30. !30
Conclusions
• Boundary spanner obtains internal team recognition, multiple
technical expertise and ability of task assignment to be an effective
coordinator
• Boundary spanner does negotiating and navigating task information,
resolving conflicts and setting boundary objects.
• Boundary spanner needs to be supported with other coordination
mechanisms, i.e. standardization, boundary objects.
• Boundary spanner also faces some issues, such as knowledge silos,
role conflicts and stress.
• Boundary spanner’s goals should be recognized and aligned with
organization’s goal