Knowledge Sharing in Agile Software Teams

Abstract

Traditionally, software development teams follow Tayloristic approaches favoring division of labor and, hence, the use of role-based teams. Role-based teams require the transfer of knowledge from one stage of the development process to the next. As multiple stages are involved, the problem of miscommunication due to indirect and long communication path is amplified. Agile development teams address this problem by using cross-functional teams that encourages direct communication and reduces the likelihood of miscommunication. Agile approaches usually require team members to be co-located and only facilitate intra-team learning. To overcome the restriction in co-location and support organizational inter-team learning while supporting the social context critical to the sharing of tacit knowledge is the focus of this paper. We also highlight that humans are good at making sense of incomplete and approximative information.