Coordination in Large Scale Software Development

Successful software development requires tight coordination among subgroups involved in the development process. Coordination is difficult because of the division of labor, interdependence and uncertainty inherent in large software projects. A survey in 65 software development projects reveals that informal communication is necessary for coordination under these circumstances. Results show that software professional got much of their information from other people. They perceived that interpersonal techniques for getting information from beyond their immediate work group were underused, while more formal procedures for tracking routine information were overused compared to their value. Technically uncertain projects and highly interdependent ones had staffs who were poorly informed and were poorly coordinated. When project members had a large network of personal contacts outside the project, information flow improved, especially when the project was uncertain. The paper concludes with organizational and technological suggestions for increasing the flow of relevant information across functional boundaries in projects.