In The Scrum: An Ethnographic Study Of Implementation and Teamwork

Abstract

Agile software development have in recent years been widely accepted in industry, as well as being the target of much research. XP has been the main focus, while there exist relatively few studies of other Agile methods such as Scrum. This thesis describe an ethnographic study of a Scrum team in a project. The goal is to give a rich description of the use and application of Scrum. Special attention is given to the implications of differences in implementation from theory. Another focus is to reveal the dynamics of teamwork within the project. The main findings are that Scrum was easy to implement, and worked well, but is challenging when used to increase predictability. With regard to teamwork, Scrum supported a shared mental, communication and adaptability. The leadership function is however complex, and requires good interpersonal skills. Keywords: Agile, Scrum, Teamwork, Implementation, Software development, Software engineering