Abstract:
Self-organizing teams are a hallmark of Agile software development, directly
a ecting team e ectiveness and project success. Agile software development,
and in particular the Scrum method, emphasizes self-organizing teams but
does not provide clear guidelines on how teams should become and remain
self-organizing. Based on Grounded Theory research involving 58 Agile prac-
titioners from 23 di erent software organizations in New Zealand and In-
dia, this thesis presents a grounded theory of self-organizing Agile teams.
The theory of self-organizing Agile teams explains how software development
teams take on informal, implicit, transient, and spontaneous roles and per-
form balanced practices while facing critical environmental factors, in order
to become self-organizing. The roles are: Mentor, Co-ordinator, Translator,
Champion, Promoter, and Terminator. The practices involve balancing free-
dom and responsibility, cross-functionality and specialization, and continuous
learning and iteration pressure. The factors are senior management support
and level of customer involvement. This thesis will help teams and their
coaches better understand their roles and responsibilities as a self-organizing
Agile team. This thesis will also serve to educate senior management and
customers about the importance of supporting these teams
