Factors Influencing Team Performance in Software Development Projects

Abstract

The performance of software development teams is an important topic in the field of IT projects. Previous research has found that the factors such as communication, cohesion, mutual support, coordination of expertise, trust and value diversity affect performance of team members in software development projects. However, the findings of existing studies cannot be directly applied to the Sri Lankan context due to cultural and behavioural differences of people in Sri Lanka compared to western countries. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the team performance in software development projects in Sri Lankan IT companies, as Sri Lanka is one of the emerging countries engaged in software development projects. Thus, the study examined the factors influencing effective and efficient team performance in software development projects. This study mainly considered a sample of 186 IT professionals who work in large-scale IT companies in Sri Lanka, and the data was collected through an online questionnaire. Based on the results, the hypotheses were tested to identify the effect of each influencing factor on the performance of software project teams. It was found that communication, cohesion, trust, value diversity and coordination of expertise have significant positive effect on team performance. The findings of this study would be useful for managers, team leads and project managers to enhance the performance of software development teams.