Managing Distributed Software Projects

Abstract

Increasingly, software projects are becoming geographically distributed, with limited face-toface interaction between participants. These projects face particular challenges that need careful managerial attention. This PhD study reports on how we can understand and support the management of distributed software projects, based on a literature study and a case study. The main emphasis of the literature study was on how to support the management of distributed software projects, but also contributed to an understanding of these projects. The main emphasis of the case study was on how to understand the management of distributed software projects, but also contributed to supporting the management of these projects.The literature study integrates what we know about risks and risk-resolution techniques, into a framework for managing risks in distributed contexts. This framework was developed iteratively, using evaluations by practitioners. Subsequently, the framework served as the foundation for the design of a risk management process, compliant with Capability Maturity Model Integration’s (CMMI) generic approach to risk management (2006).The case study investigates the managerial challenges of control and coordination in a successful, distributed software project between a Russian and a Danish company. The case study’s control aspects were investigated, drawing on Kirsch’s (2004) elements of control framework, to analyze how control is enacted in the project. This analysis showed that informal measurement and evaluation controls were used even though the team was short-lived and rarely met face-to-face; in addition, informal roles and relationships, such as clanlike control, were also used. The investigation suggests that management in successful distributed software projects can be highly reliant on both formal and informal controls and in both a project context and mediated communications. The case study’s coordination aspects were investigated, drawing on the collective mind concept, developed by Weick and Roberts (1993), to analyze the patterns of mediated interactions in multimodal communication. This analysis showed that multimodal communication can facilitate collective minding in distributed software projects and can positively impact performance. In providing an approach for investigating the impact of multimodal communication practices on virtual team performance, we can further understand and support coordination in distributed software projects.<br/