Using Flow Tools to Enact Control in Software Development Projects: A Cross-case Analysis
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Using Flow Tools to Enact Control in Software Development Projects: A Cross-case Analysis Alex Estevam 1 & Denis Dennehy 2
&
Kieran Conboy 2
Accepted: 13 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Flow development tools and metrics are the latest in a long line of approaches designed to control and improve software development productivity and the overall quality of software produced. While there are many claims regarding the value of flow to control development activity, there is a lack of rigorous research on this topic. In this study, we use control theory as a lens to explore how flow tools and metrics are used to enact both formal and informal control modes. This qualitative study draws on a cross-case analysis of two multinationals located in Ireland that involved interviews with five software development teams distributed across Ireland, India, and the US. The findings reveal that both managers and project teams try to conduct business as usual in order to maintain their control status. This study contributes four key challenges on the use of flow tools, evidencebased recommendations on how to effectively implement flow, and a research agenda for future researchers. While the findings are within the context of flow-based software development projects, the lessons learned can be generalised to other software development contexts. Keywords Formal control . Informal control . Flow . Software development
1 Introduction Flow development methods and tools are being used as a means of controlling and managing software development activity and are seen by some as an improvement on the agile family of methods that have dominated software development activity since 2000 (Nord et al. 2012; Petersen and Wohlin 2011; Poppendieck and Cusumano 2012; Reinertsen 2009). Rooted in lean manufacturing, flow approaches to software project management are gaining popularity across the software project management community (Nord et al. 2012; Petersen and Wohlin 2011; Poppendieck and Cusumano 2012; Reinertsen 2009). Flow encourages visualisation of work as it passes through different states (e.g. ‘Planned’, ‘In Progress’, ‘Done’) in the development process; collaboration between teams; measurement of value; and knowledge sharing (Anderson et al. 2011; Bang et al. 2013; Power and Conboy 2015). Flow is useful for managing software projects * Denis Dennehy [email protected] 1
Eurofins Ltd, Dublin, Ireland
2
National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
as it emphasises the continuous movement of valuable work, rather than a sequence of discrete activities, or whether it is performed by distinct teams or departments (Fitzgerald and Stol 2015). The higher emphasis of end-to-end flow (see the whole) differentiates flow from other agile software development methods (Petersen and Wohlin 2010). Flow tools, such as Kanban, have been well received by practitioners initiating or transitioning to agile software development projects (Anderson 2013; Nord et al. 2012), as flo
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