Soft factors affecting the performance of software development teams

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to classify the factors affecting the performance of software development teams and stress the soft (non‐technical) factors affecting the performance of software development teams. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on the thorough secondary research and literature review of the past empirical studies published in reputed journals. The methodology followed is the secondary research based on extensive literature review of empirical studies done and analysis of the findings of those studies and categorization of the factors affecting the software development team performance. Literature review and analysis were carried out between March 2010 and March 2011. Findings – It was found that the soft factors such as team climate, team diversity, team innovation, team member competencies and characteristics, top management support and team leader behavior, have an effect on software development team performance. Mutual trust and communication effectiveness are found to be the prioritized factors affecting the software development team performance. Research limitations/implications – The conclusions made are based on the past empirical studies found in the literature. A primary research can be done by taking these soft factors into consideration and implications or observations can be found on the software development team's performance. Originality/value – The original contribution of this paper is the classification of factors affecting the performance of software development teams. This contribution also highlights the soft factors such as team climate, which was not discussed much in the literature. It also highlights trust and communication, for example, as leading factors affecting the software development team performance.