LEADING SOFTWARE PROJECTS : Applying agile principles
Anssi Aamurusko · Theseus (Ammattikorkeakoulujen) · 2014
Agile methods are commonly used in software development and teams are encouraged to apply those methods. Training courses and literature to increase understanding about agile methods is widely available for software developers but the offer for project managers is not that wide. This thesis is commissioned originally by Nokia to find out how the project managers are leading agile software development teams and how the team applying a specific method should be leaded. Nowadays the researcher and the target group of this study belong to Microsoft. The theories utilized in this study are related to agile project management, leading self-organizing teams, leading subcontracted teams and the theory of agile software development methods. Research method used was focused interview. Interviews were recorded and partially littered. The data was categorized and further analyzed by grounded theory method. The target groups were mainly applying agile methods so freely that it was not possible compare management practices against certain method. Instead the practices from whole group were analyzed against agile principles to define general guidance for project management in the target group. Main obstacles for applying agile methods in the teams were for example mixed and distributed team structure and too wide customer base. Instead supporting and encouraging team for self-direction and continuous improvement are examples of actions that assist agile methods applying.