TACT: An insTrument to Assess the organizational ClimaTe of agile teams - A Preliminary Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5753/jserd.2021.1973Keywords:
Organizational climate, Agile software development, Human factor influenceAbstract
Background: Measuring the organizational climate of agile teams is a challenge for organizations, mainly because of the shortages of specific instruments to agile methodologies. On the other hand, finding companies willing to participate in the preliminary validation of an instrument is a challenge for researchers of the organizational climate. The preliminary validation allows identifying problems and improvements in the instrument. Objective: We present the preliminary evaluation of TACT. TACT is an instrument to assess the organizational climate of agile teams. Its initial version comprises the Communication, Collaboration, Leadership, Autonomy, Decision-Making, and Client Involvement dimensions. Method: We planned and executed a case study considering three development teams. We evaluated TACT using open-ended questions, quantitative methods, and TAM dimensions of Intention to Use, Perceived Usefulness, and Output Quality. Results: TACT allowed to classify the organizational climate of the teams for the Communication, Collaboration, Leadership, Autonomy, Decision-Making, and Client Involvement dimensions. Some items were assessed negatively or neutrally, which represent points of attention. TACT captured the lack of agile ceremonies, the difficulty of the product owner in planning iterations, and the distance in leadership. In addition, TACT dimensions presented high levels of reliability. Conclusions: TACT captured the organizational climate of the teams adequately. The team leaders reported intention of future use. The items that compose TACT can be used by researchers investigating the influence of human factors in agile teams and practitioners who need to design organizational climate assessments of agile teams. By using an instrument adapted to assess the organizational climate of agile teams, an organization can better identify issues and improvement actions aligned with agile values, principles, and practices.
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Copyright (c) 2022 Eliezer Goncalves, Patrícia Lima, Cristina Cerdeiral, Bruna Diirr, Gleison Santos
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