Perceptions of the human and social factors that influence the productivity of software development teams in Colombia: A statistical analysis

Abstract

This research aims to know if software engineering professionals consider that social and human factors (SHF) influence the productivity of a work team. A survey-based study was conducted among 112 members of software development teams. Empirical results show professionals agree with the SHF in the context of software development influence in the productivity of work teams. It was identified that the 13 SHFs have a weak or moderate correlation with each other. Additionally, the results of the exploratory factorial analysis suggest categorizing the factors into those associated with the individual, those associated with team interaction, and those related to capabilities and experience. This categorization reduced the number of items in the original questionnaire while preserving the variability explained in the latent variables, which will require a shorter response time. Our results broaden the understanding of the SHFs that influence software development team productivity and open up new research opportunities. Measuring the perception of these factors can be used to identify which SHFs should be prioritized in a strategy to improve productivity. In addition, this knowledge can help software organizations appropriately manage their development teams and propose innovative work approaches that have a positive impact on the success of their projects.