Agile Way Of Working Research Articles

The Experiences and Views of Employees on Hybrid Ways of Working

The contemporary post-COVID-19 corporate environment of instant response and hybrid work settings motivates employees to learn to adjust their expectations. This new corporate working model incorporates flex locations and flex schedules by working at home 1–2 days per week and staying connected for non-urgent requests, even outside business hours. This work setting empowers employees to prioritize work accordingly and to accommodate the fluid schedules of their coworkers. As a result, this new hybrid workplace requires leaders and their teams to face new challenges in terms of communication, coordination, and team connection to remain effective. This research examines the experiences of employees in an SME that applied a hybrid work policy following the post-pandemic crisis, bringing additional complexity to their modern work system. This study investigates employees’ views on the changing work environment as important evidence for HR management to incorporate into future organizational practices. To understand the various principles at play and provide more granular results, this paper includes a business case study (N = 25) where semi-structured interviews were used to identify the views and concerns of employees regarding hybrid work settings. The scope of this case study was to collect empirical data regarding this new agile way of working while understanding participant thinking. The findings suggest that while there are clear benefits in terms of efficiency and flexibility in hybrid work settings, there are also challenges related to social interactions and non-verbal clues. This study enhances conceptual and empirical understanding and supports contemporary research on the future of work.

What drives the adoption of agile government? Insights from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland

Agile approaches are increasingly being used in the public sector. What is driving the adoption of agile ways of working, however, remains unclear. In this paper we ask the following two questions: Which agile approaches are being used in public sector organizations? Under which circumstances do public sector organizations use which agile practices? To analyze these questions, we conducted a standardized survey among over 450 civil servants in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Results from the logistic regression analyses indicate that various forms of agile practices are used in the public sector in all three countries. PSOs operating in constantly changing, uncertain environments are more likely to adopt agile. Political and managerial leadership is vital if the aim is to become more agile as a government. Finally, the results show that tasks that require constant internal and external stakeholder involvement and those that require radically new ideas and ways of working lead PSOs to introduce more comprehensive forms of agile working. This work advances the state of literature by providing the first quantitative analysis of the state of agile in the three countries, developing an analytical framework and measurement of agile government, and analyzing the external circumstances under which agile is being used in the public sector.

Modelling the enablers of productivity of enterprise-level Agile software development process using modified TISM approach

Purpose This study aims to examine the enablers of productivity of enterprise-level Agile development process using modified total interpretative structural modeling (TISM). The two main objectives of the current study are to determine the variables influencing enterprise-level agile development productivity and to develop modified TISM for the corresponding components. Design/methodology/approach To identify enablers of the productivity of enterprise-level agile software development process a literature review and opinions of domain experts were collected. A hierarchical relationship among variables that show direct and indirect influence is created using the modified TISM (M-TISM) technique with Cross Impact Matrix-Multiplication Applied to Classification analysis. This study examined and analyzed the relationships between the determinants within the enterprise using a M-TISM technique. Findings With the literature review, the study could identify ten enabling factors of the productivity of Agile development process at the enterprise level. Results depict that program increment (PI) planning and scalable backlog management, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), agile release trains (ART), agile work culture, delivery excellence, lean and DevOps practices, value stream mapping (VMS), team skills and expertise, collaborative culture, agile coaching, customer engagement have an impact on the productivity of enterprise-level Agile development process. The results show that team collaboration, agile ways of working and customer engagement have a greater impact on productivity improvement for enterprise-level Agile development process. Research limitations/implications The developed model is useful for organizations employing scaled Agile development processes in software development. This study provides a recommended listing of key enablers, that may enable productivity improvements in the Agile development process at the enterprise level. Strategists should focus on team collaboration and Agile project management. This study offers a modified TISM model to academicians to help them understand the effects of numerous variables on maintaining the productivity of an enterprise-level Agile. The identified characteristics and their hierarchical structure can help project managers during the execution of Agile projects at the enterprise level, more effectively, increasing their success and productivity. Originality/value The study addresses the gap in the literature by interpretative relationships between the identified enabling factors. The model validation is carried out by a panel of nine experts from several information technology organizations deploying Agile software development at the enterprise level. This unique method broadens the knowledge base in Agile software development at scale and provides project managers and practitioners with a practical foundation.

AgiBuild: A Scaled Agile Framework for Building Adaptation Projects

Agile ways of working have garnered recognition for their capacity to drive innovation, placing a strong emphasis on adaptability to change and a user-centric approach. Inspired by these proven principles, the authors envision that applying scaled agile—an extension of agile methodologies—can serve as a catalyst for revolutionary transformations in how buildings are redesigned, refurbished, and operated, ushering in a new era of practices within the industry. This paper conducts an in-depth literature review to explore the application of agile ways of working in building adaptation projects. Drawing on insights from the literature review and expert validations, the authors propose the development of the Agile Building Adaptation (AgiBuild) framework, delineating its core components and outlining the probable implementation process. Notably, the framework’s successful integration hinges on crucial factors, including effective leadership influence and comprehensive training. By embracing the AgiBuild framework, the building adaptation industry holds the potential to position itself as a highly innovative and user-centered sector, bolstering productivity and performance within the broader construction domain. By aligning with the framework’s principles, the industry can cultivate a culture of adaptability and collaboration, facilitating the delivery of sustainable and customer-focused building adaptation projects that cater to the evolving needs of the built environment.

Human factors in developing automated vehicles: A requirements engineering perspective

Automated Vehicle (AV) technology has evolved significantly both in complexity and impact and is expected to ultimately change urban transportation. Due to this evolution, the development of AVs challenges the current state of automotive engineering practice, as automotive companies increasingly include agile ways of working in their plan-driven systems engineering—or even transition completely to scaled-agile approaches. However, it is unclear how knowledge about human factors (HF) and technological knowledge related to the development of AVs can be brought together in a way that effectively supports today’s rapid release cycles and agile development approaches. Based on semi-structured interviews with ten experts from industry and two experts from academia, this qualitative, exploratory case study investigates the relationship between HF and AV development. The study reveals relevant properties of agile system development and HF, as well as the implications of these properties for integrating agile work, HF, and requirements engineering. According to the findings, which were evaluated in a workshop with experts from academia and industry, a culture that values HF knowledge in engineering is key. These results promise to improve the integration of HF knowledge into agile development as well as to facilitate HF research impact and time to market.

The Value of Communication Management in Agile Project Environments

In today's business environment, a less agile way of working is no longer a business choice. Implementing the agile method is not for fashion and not for keeping up with the “newest and greatest” trend. Without the agile method, it is difficult to implement any other strategic initiatives, such as digital transformation. Agile development focuses on the evolution of user needs and then uses a step-by-step approach as well as an iterative approach to software development. This paper finds that communication is vital in agile project management. The author puts forward some opinions on the communication management of agile projects, including the establishment of the information portal and agile communication matrix. Additionally, a literature review is performed to illustrate how certain variables, concepts, and models can assist in project management. This study takes a design-science-investigate approach to assess pre-existing literature.

Knowledge Retention Challenges in Information Systems Development Teams

Information systems development (ISD) is an integral part of organizational agility in today’s competitive business environment. High turnover, agile ways of working, and fluid work environments pose challenges for ISD. This paper explores the erosion of knowledge retention (KR) arising from ISD staff churn in a New Zealand-based financial organization in the aftermath of a major earthquake. In this exploratory study, the authors develop a causal model of KR in the ISD context, which articulates the challenges to and consequences of ineffective KR at the routine and exiting stages of KR. The model identifies four challenges—coordination complexity, insufficient resources for knowledge retention, insufficient attention to knowledge retention, and slow staff replacement and handover processes—that can affect the loss of ISD knowledge when routine and exiting KR fall into disarray. This study also reveals that role stress and reduced ISD agility reinforce the cycle of knowledge loss.

Rise of the Gig Economy and Further Trends in the Work Processes

In today's business environment, telework has become more common. It provides a win-win situation for employers and employees. Namely, for workers, the benefit is the flexibility to work when they want and where they jobs, across geographies. On the other hand, employers reduce labor costs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of workers who did their work from home increased significantly and it is predicted that this way of working will continue its growth trend not only due to the flexible and agile ways of working. but also due to the cost reduction opportunities this change brings.

Changes to team autonomy in large-scale software development: a multiple case study of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) implementations

Large-scale transformations of agile ways of working have received more attention in the industry in recent years. Some organizations have developed their own solutions for scaling, whereas many have chosen trademarked frameworks. In large-scale agile software development, many developers and development teams carry out work simultaneously. When autonomous teams need to coordinate toward a common goal, they must sacrifice some level of autonomy. Development, testing, and integrations need to be coordinated with other teams and aligned with an organization´s programs or portfolio. Through the conducting of 28 interviews and 17 on-site visits, this multiple case study explored how team autonomy changed in three agile software development organizations that implemented the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). The positive changes to team autonomy that they experienced as a result included getting a better overview, making better long-term decisions, giving and receiving help, and signaling limitations. We found two negative impacts on team autonomy: limited feature choice and enforced refinement. The study extends previous research on large-scale agile software development and improves our understanding of impacts on team autonomy.

The effects of working agile on team performance and engagement

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relationship between the agile way of working and team performance and engagement. Furthermore, psychological safety climate was investigated as a mediator of this relationship. As organizations are increasingly adopting the agile way of working method beyond the information technology (IT) setting, the authors researched its effects in teams across a variety of functional domains.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data was collected from 97 agile teams working in various functional domains in a multinational bank. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsResults indicated that the agile way of working is directly and positively related to team engagement and performance. Moreover, psychological safety climate acted as a partial mediator of each of the respective outcomes.Originality/valueThis study illustrated that the agile way of working is beneficial for teams beyond the IT setting, as it is positively associated with psychological safety climate, engagement and performance across functional domains.

Agile management to secure competitiveness in times of digital transformation in medium-sized businesses

With the digital transformation, companies will experience a change that focuses on shaping the organization into an agile organizational form. In today's competitive and fast-moving business environment, it is necessary to react quickly to changing market conditions. Agility represents a promising option for overcoming these challenges. The path to an agile organization represents a development process that requires consideration of countless levels of the enterprise. This paper examines the impact of digital transformation on agile working practices and the benefits that can be achieved through technology. To enable a solution for today's so-called VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity und Ambiguity) world, agile ways of working can be applied project management requires adaptation. In the qualitative study, expert interviews were conducted and analyzed using the grounded theory method. As a result, a model can be presented that shows the influencing factors and potentials of agile management in the context of the digital transformation of medium-sized companies.

Agile and generic work values of British vs Indian IT workers: a culture-clash case

PurposeAfter deciding to become agile, many information technology (IT) units struggle; they underestimate the needed managerial expertise to alter their current culture toward an agile one, particularly when cross-cultural (f)actors are involved. Given that work values are the key to an organizational culture, the study derived a set of agile work values of culturally diverse IT professionals together with a set of well-known generic work values. Consequently, the authors illustrate that managers in charge of the transition to an effective agile culture must pay serious attention to the specific value constellations of its often highly diverse workforce.Design/methodology/approachA literature review resulted in an initial list of agile work values. Then, mainly through a Delphi round, 12 agile-specific work values were established. These were survey rated, along with the validated set of 18 generic work values, by 102 British and Indian IT professionals in a digital service and consulting firm that was requested by its client to become agile. The observations made in 14 feedback group-interview-type dialogs enriched the surveyed data further.FindingsIn the current exploratory study, four generic value dimensions were complemented by two agile-specific ones: team communication and shared responsibility. Among the British and Indian (on-site and offshore) workers, only 2 of the 30 current work values were shared while 7 significant value differences were found, explaining the noted employee bitterness, productivity losses and client disengagement. This situation was reflected in the many discrepancies between the professionals' ideal agile way of working and how their unit was currently functioning.Originality/valueThe multi-method study shows an over-optimistic approach to becoming agile in a common cross-cultural context; insights are gained on how to optimize agile ways of organizing IT work when British IT workers collaborate with Indian IT workers. It may benefit many agile practitioners and managers working with(in) cross-culturally mixed and partly remote teams.

Digital Eco-system Development Proved its Sustainable Success under the Technology Covid-19 Disruption: Asia’s Silicon Valley Singapore Global ICT Power House South Korea

The study of “Digital Eco-system Development Proved Its Sustainable Success under the Technology & Covid-19 Disruption: Asia’s Silicon Valley (Singapore) & Global ICT Power House (South Korea) ” has its objectives under the context of COVID-19 pandemic and technology disruption as follow; 1)to study the scenario of digital eco-system development of Singapore and South Korea; 2) to study the government’s policy of Singapore and South Korea in its digital eco-system development; and 3) to propose the best Practices of digital eco-system development of Singapore and South Korea for further development in other countries. The qualitative research with document study and e-interview among 25 key informants from all of the relevant stakeholders: the policy, the private sector, and the marginal workers. Narrative description was used. Findings found Best Practices of digital eco-system development from both countries which aligned with most of the findings such as the Boston Consulting Group (2020) and others could be applied in other countries as follow; 1) The strong leadership and concrete and achievable vision from top management of both countries. Holistic, inclusive and sustainable development is the dominant flagship of both countries : The Skill Future of Singapore, and the Digital New Deal of South Korea; 2) The Partnership model with integrated strategy under the Win& Win Principle with clear innovation goals at all levels: “the Skills Future of Singapore” from Engineer Good Program to the last mile people in the Touch Community Services; and the 1) the Meister High schools 2) the Digital Upskill by each own company; 3) the Tax Credit, Tax Incentive measures; 4) the Training Levy Grant system; and 5) the SME Training Consortiums of South Korea. 3)The broad perspective and agile way of working. According to a study by Boston Consulting Group, effective 'Agile leadership' was found to have an impact on all the successful digital transformation projects. Leaders must manage change with a broader mindset and apply agile behavior broadly across the eco-system: Asia’s Silicon Valley” with its fully back up mission of “A Smart Nation”; and the “Korean New Deal” with its futuristic of digital eco-system as its national eco-system composed of its main Digital New Deal composed of the Green New Deal and the Human New Deal overarching social safety net, climate change and economic growth under the sustainable and inclusive development.

Lavoro agile emergenziale tra obblighi di tutela della persona ed esigenze dell’impresa

The need to contain the pandemic in the past year has given a formidable boost to the use of human resources in a smart way. Companies have had the opportunity to employ their employees by derogating from the rules defined in Law 81/2017. The emergency discipline has introduced a simplification that has apparently facilitated the use of remote work performance, leaving the structure of responsibility for companies unchanged. This extraordinary opportunity to experiment with the agile way of working has led companies to use their human resources remotely without a precise risk analysis, without adopting adequate security measures, without regulation on management, disciplinary and control power. Smart working was used as a business continuity tool, but according to Istat, the Italian labor market has experienced a drop in productivity, a drop in efficiency, as well as negative consequences on the interpersonal relationships of workers. The study intends to examine how, during the use of smart working, extensive employer obligations to protect the physical and moral personality of employees persist and the need for an adequate risk assessment that allows the preparation of timely information on the health risks and on the processing of personal data. The need to protect companies, personal data being processed and secret company data in the case of smart working suggests adopting an organizational system that develops new methods of remuneration linked to the achievement of objectives and that allows effective and efficient internal disciplinary control. on the worker and on the activities so as to allow, in the most serious cases, the possible intervention of the police with computer search tools. The final reflections analyze the need / opportunity to organize the use of smart working in a uniform manner within the company, enhancing the potential of smart contracts via blockchain to protect employers' needs for accountability.

View Point (Editorial)

Agile helps teams focus on developing team-oriented goals, reflecting on their work and making needed adaptations at regular intervals and using agile practices to have authentic group interactions which lead to improved team dynamics and fostering innovation (Smith and Sidky, 2009). According to a recent survey (VersionOne, 2019), the top three reasons organizations adopt the agile way of working are to accelerate software delivery (74%), enhance ability to manage changing priorities (62%) and increase productivity (51%). To help mitigate the chaos, stress and anxiety, an agile mindset that welcomes uncertainty, embraces challenges and views failure as a learning opportunity can help us survive, and perhaps even thrive, in our new environment.

Outcome of selective dis-integration on supply chain efficiency and organisation performance

Supply chain has become the spine of commerce. Business today consistently demanding coordinated and integrated way to manage the supply and demand flow. Marketplace has evolved into a dynamic, customer centric smarter and agile ways of working. This has prompted to relook at the information technology (IT) linked integration. IT and systems integration are facilitating supply chain management (SCM) for improved supply chain efficiency (SCE). This study examined the direct relationship between SCI and SCE and SCI and organisation performance (PER) and the relationship between SCE and PER by classifying different variables associated and drawing an analytical model. Furthermore, to fit into the demand driven economy, this study introduces a new attribute named selective dis-integration (DIS) and examined its' impact on SCE and PER. Data sample for this study are collected through mixed survey and model is tested using non-parametric partial least square regression.

The Launch of the International Journal of Digital Health: Ensuring Digital Transformation in Healthcare Beyond Covid-19

In recent years, digital health technologies have been evolving rapidly and there has been much interest and excitement surrounding their use in healthcare. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about a significant jump in the adoption of digital health innovations worldwide, and healthcare providers are now experiencing a tremendous increase in the number of patients seen through telehealth. Further, many organizations are rethinking their strategies to find better ways to adapt and improve the health ecosystem. However, many challenges have surfaced during this pandemic through fragmented health systems and the lack of interoperability in many healthcare systems worldwide has led to an unprecedented strain on hospitals and an overwhelmed clinical workforce. To truly move this field forwards in the new normal, it requires novel and agile ways of working and collaboration, step-change improvements in digital transformation strategies, and better integration of data, technologies and processes, so that the digital health solutions that are designed and developed can address real-world problems. The primary goal of the International Journal of Digital Health is to serve as a cross-disciplinary, collaborative resource for all who are interested in this area, so that advancements in digital health can be expedited. We encourage all submissions in this area so that a robust evidence base can be built in digital health.

REINSTATING AND ACHIEVING AGILE THROUGH NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING

It’s an Agile mania that is revolutionizing the software industry. The common meaning of Agile is to ‘move quickly and easily’. Using Agile methodology work is done in an easy and convenient way and projects are delivered in a serialized process rather than delivering it at the completion. This paper studies various ceremonies that are being followed in Agile way of working and discussed various solutions for the hangover problems that are creeping up during every sprint. Also, Machine Learning algorithms, in specific Natural Language processing will be used to devise a product that will be used to assist the product owners and team to estimate the user stories for the hassle-free delivery of product to market thereby avoiding any hangovers

The concept and competitiveness of agile organization in the fourth industrial revolution's drift

Corporate competitiveness is constantly being shaped by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the explosive development of technology, the globalization and the hyper-competition. The VUCA status has now become a permanent reality: volatility and complexity cannot be traced to traditional corporate operations. The Industry 4.0 projects a physical, a digital and a biological megatrend such as advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, new materials, personalized healing, self-driving cars. Through usage of the resources and knowledge sharing, the global economy is experiencing mutations such as the sharing economy, the peer to peer economy, the gig economy in the labor market and the Big Data in planning. Meanwhile, the disruptive innovations are transforming industries and gaining exponentially competitive advantage. The special business concepts were born and whom cannot be handled by models of classic macro and micro economics: the largest taxi company in the world does not own any taxicab (Uber), the largest accommodation company does not own any property (Airbnb), the largest telecommunication company has no infrastructure (Skype), the world's most valuable retailer has no inventory (Alibaba), the most popular media doesn't create its own content (Facebook), the world's largest cinema doesn't have its own movie (Netflix). In the meantime, those are treasuring huge profits, business influence and information capital. The competitiveness of their agile way of working can be proved. These call for changes not only in the market, but also in organizational and individual terms. An adaptive corporate structure and leadership, a self-organizing group, an agile working method hold companies in the direction of growing track and changes in the future. My research about discovering some aspects of agile way of working versus traditional organization work. My hypothesis is that employees are more motivated, effective and committed in an agile team than in a classic hierarchy or matrix. I added own business and project-based worker as their flexible, effective work is a must. My hypotheses are partially fulfilled.

Agile ways of working: A team maturity perspective

AbstractWith the agile approach to managing software development projects comes an increased dependability on well‐functioning teams, since many of the practices are built on teamwork. The objective of this study was to investigate if, and how, team development from a group psychological perspective is related to some work practices of agile teams. Data were collected from 34 agile teams (200 individuals) from six software development organizations and one university in both Brazil and Sweden using the Group Development Questionnaire (Scale IV) and the Perceptive Agile Measurement (PAM). The result indicates a strong correlation between levels of group maturity and the two agile practices iterative development and retrospectives. We, therefore, conclude that agile teams at different group development stages adopt parts of team agility differently, thus confirming previous studies but with more data and by investigating concrete and applied agile practices. We thereby add evidence to the hypothesis that an agile implementation and management of agile projects need to be adapted to the group maturity levels of the agile teams.