Team Performance Factors in Distributed Collaborative Software Development

This paper investigates the interactions of high and low performing distributed student teams using a set of categories to examine their written communication. The teams were involved in a software development project involving two universities located in different countries. This study tracks the progression and changes in the categories coded for each team’s communication throughout the project’s time line to determine characteristics of high and low performing teams. Introduction Throughout the years, technology has developed such that it allows for effective communication between groups of individuals to be conducted remotely. Groups are usually formed with a common goal or purpose towards which all group members work together. Communication and interaction among group members is both inevitable and necessary if they are to be successful in achieving this goal or the purpose. Studies have shown that a group’s performance can be affected by one or more factors. One of these is a group’s interaction and behaviour (Mills, 1967). In order to identify team interaction and behaviour in problem solving and in managing and co− ordinating their activities, many studies have developed and used categories to analyse a group’s communication (Bales, 1951; Danziger, 1976; Olson, et al, 1992).