Creating High-Performing Software Development Teams

With software development (SD) constituting one of the largest portions of corporate capital expenditures, an organization's capability to manage the SD process is a key success factor. Additionally, SD is increasingly an important driver of successful technology-based products as evidenced by the interdependence of software and hardware in telecommunications equipment, computers, medical devices, measurement/monitoring equipment, and industrial controls equipment. Building high-performing SD teams that utilize state-of-the-art development processes increases the likelihood that firms can compete and meet the ever-expanding expectations of stakeholders. We first introduce the generic process models of SD and then address a number of major issues that can arise in the course of building highly effective SD teams. We then identify a number of best practices that can improve SD teams, both in terms of technical and intragroup aspects, and the role that senior management can play in reinforcing effective project team behaviors. Finally, we address the concept of capturing learning from SD project teams and advance several areas for future research