A Bayesian Network Model to Assess Agile Teams' Teamwork Quality

Abstract

The Agile Manifesto states that agile projects should focus on individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Agile teams are self-directed and considered one of the most valuable assets of the project. This requires the team members to be collaborative and embrace the concept of whole-team responsibility and commitment. Factors that influence teamwork quality such as team orientation, team leadership, and coordination in addition to highly specialized skills and corresponding division of work are barriers for achieving team effectiveness. To assist on the assessment of agile teamwork quality, in this paper, we present a Bayesian networks-based model. The model considers agile teams principles and industry best practices. We validated the model with simulated scenarios. The results are promising and encourage its usage to assess agile teams teamwork quality to promote continuous improvement.