Communication in distributed software development: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:07, 1 November 2020

Revision as of 03:28, 15 December 2020

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'''Communication in Distributed Software Development''' is an area of study that considers communication processes and their effects when applied to [[software development]] in a globally [[distributed development]] process. The importance of communication and coordination in software development is widely studied<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Kraut|first=Robert E.|last2=Streeter|first2=Lynn A.|date=1995-03-01|title=Coordination in software development|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA16764439&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=fulltext&issn=00010782&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1&isAnonymousEntry=true|journal=Communications of the ACM|language=Englishen|volume=38|issue=3|pages=69–81|doi=10.1145/203330.203345}}</ref> and [[Organizational Communication|organizational communication]] studies these implications at an organizational level. This also applies to a setting where teams and team members work in separate physical locations. The imposed distance introduces new challenges in communication, which is no longer a face to face process, and may also be subjected to other constraints such as teams in opposing time zones with a small overlap in working hours.

There are several reasons that force elements from the same project to work in geographically separated areas, ranging from different teams in the same company to [[outsourcing]] and [[offshoring]], to which different constraints and necessities in communication apply. The added communication challenges result in the adoption of a wide range of different communication methods usually used in combination. They can either be in real time as in the case of a video conference, or in an asynchronous way such as [[email]]. While a video conference might allow the developers to be more efficient with regards to their time spent communicating, it is more difficult to accomplish when teams work in different time zones, in which case using an email or a messaging service might be more useful.

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Research on Communication in Distributed Software Development is conducted in order to improve the understanding of the implications of different communication methods on the success of the development process and the final product.

Communication is an essential process in coordinating a software development project and sharing knowledge between the team members. Previous studies<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hendriks|first=Paul|date=1999-06-01|title=Why share knowledge? The influence of ICT on the motivation for knowledge sharing|url= |journal=Knowledge and Process Management|language=en|volume=6|issue=2|pages=91–100|doi= 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1441(199906)6:2<91::AID-KPM54>3.0.CO;2-M}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Goodman|first=Paul S.|last2=Darr|first2=Eric D.|date=1998|title=Computer-Aided Systems and Communities: Mechanisms for Organizational Learning in Distributed Environments|jstor=249550|journal=MIS Quarterly|volume=22|issue=4|pages=417–440|doi=10.2307/249550|url=http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1817&context=tepper}}</ref> claim that sharing knowledge is important to building trust and even improving the performance of the whole team, which also applies in a distributed software development process.

It can also bring challenges, as referred in the section above, that when improperly dealt with can delay a team project or even cost money to the company. A great deal of studies tries to find ways to mitigate these problems and avoid miscommunication.<ref name=":7" />

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Virtual Offices recreate the personal proximity and functionality of a physical office needed by teams in a global distributed software engineering environment. Instead of having "channels" or "messages threads", virtual offices have rooms on a virtual office space.

Professor Thomas J. Allen in the late 1970s discovered that the increase of distance between engineers reduces exponentially the frequency of communication between them.<ref name="Book12">{{cite book|url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/managing-flow-technology|title=Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information Within the R&D Organization|last=Allen|first=Thomas J.|date=1984|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=9780262510271|___location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|id=|authorlink=}}</ref> Virtual offices are a way to virtually reduce that distance, in order to increase the communication among them.

Furthermore, other studies<ref name="van Gamerenvan Solingen20132">{{cite book|last2=van Solingen|first2=Rini|last3=Dullemond|first3=Kevin|year=2013|pages=206–215|doi=10.1109/ICGSE.2013.34|last1=van Gameren|first1=Ben|title=2013 IEEE 8th International Conference on Global Software Engineering|isbn=978-0-7695-5057-2}}</ref> show that virtual offices make work coordination easier and improve the performance in a team.