Effects of four distances on communication processes in global software projects

Abstract

Global distribution of software engineering introduces geographical, temporal, cultural and organizational distance into teamwork. Globally distributed software projects need to use electronic communication tools to collaborate across these distances. Communication media differ in properties and capabilities to overcome the challenges imposed by these distances. In this paper, we examine the effects of these four distances to communication in software engineering projects. We use Media Synchronicity Theory as a framework to analyze the capabilities of different communication media to support software engineering across distances. We report our findings on the relationship between communication media and distance from three distributed software projects. Based on the results, we aim at providing conclusions on choosing communication media for globally distributed software projects.