Organisational climate assessments of Agile teams – a qualitative multiple case study

Abstract

Agile methods are associated with values, principles, and practices that influence organisational climate. Organisational climate is the meaning employees attach to the policies, practices, and procedures they experience and the behaviours they observe getting rewarded, supported, and expected. A negative climate can influence team members on aspects such as motivation, ability to make good decisions, and willingness to innovate. Conversely, a positive climate can influence project success and the competitiveness of organisations. The authors investigate how organisations considered assessing the organisational climate of Agile teams, and which are the benefits and the difficulties associated with this assessment. They conducted a qualitative study on five Brazilian organisations. They interviewed key personnel involved with organisational climate assessments. They identified 16 benefits and nine difficulties of organisational climate assessments. Based on the results and the literature, they formulated two propositions representing pitfalls that can hinder organisational climate assessments of Agile teams. Organisations should use instruments adapted to the Agile culture to improve the ability to diagnose the organisational climate and involve the Agile team in the climate management activities to ease the identification of the team's perception about project performance and product quality indicators.