TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the impact of feedback on remote SW development teams
AU - Cavalcanti, Ana Beatriz
AU - Alves, Carina
AU - Araújo, João
N1 - info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017%2F2018) - Financiamento Base/UIDB%2F04516%2F2020/PT#
Funding Information:
This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 and Call number 41/2017 - and by the organization NOVA LINCS, under the Grant UIDB/04516/2020, with the financial support of FCT.IP from Portugal.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - Context: Feedback is essential in the routine of software development teams. It provides information on professionals’ performance, align goals, and manage conflicts. The growing adoption of the remote work model has created new challenges for the effective use of feedback by organizations. Despite the recognized importance of feedback, few studies focused on understanding how feedback practices are currently conducted in remote software development teams. Objective: This work aims to explore the impact of feedback on software development teams working remotely. In addition, we aim to provide valuable insights on how teams can optimize the outcomes of feedback practices. Method: We adopted a mixed-method approach to investigate how feedback practices are conducted in remote software development teams. We performed a multivocal literature review to map the benefits, challenges, and good practices mentioned in the literature. Then, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 leaders and managers to understand their perceptions about feedback practices. Finally, we surveyed 83 team members to understand their perceptions and feelings about receiving feedback. Results: We found out that the key benefits of feedback include a boost in individual engagement and team performance. In contrast, common challenges involved in remote feedback are communication gaps due to the adoption of digital channels and difficulty in providing and receiving negative feedback. Finally, our study proposes good practices to improve the feedback outcomes, such as: using multidimensional indicators to evaluate team members, providing a tangible goal-oriented development plan, and adopting continuous feedback follow-up. Conclusion: We synthesized evidence from multiple sources by adopting three research methods to understand the effects of feedback on remote software development teams. Finally, we provided a set of actionable insights on how to optimize the feedback on remote software development teams.
AB - Context: Feedback is essential in the routine of software development teams. It provides information on professionals’ performance, align goals, and manage conflicts. The growing adoption of the remote work model has created new challenges for the effective use of feedback by organizations. Despite the recognized importance of feedback, few studies focused on understanding how feedback practices are currently conducted in remote software development teams. Objective: This work aims to explore the impact of feedback on software development teams working remotely. In addition, we aim to provide valuable insights on how teams can optimize the outcomes of feedback practices. Method: We adopted a mixed-method approach to investigate how feedback practices are conducted in remote software development teams. We performed a multivocal literature review to map the benefits, challenges, and good practices mentioned in the literature. Then, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 leaders and managers to understand their perceptions about feedback practices. Finally, we surveyed 83 team members to understand their perceptions and feelings about receiving feedback. Results: We found out that the key benefits of feedback include a boost in individual engagement and team performance. In contrast, common challenges involved in remote feedback are communication gaps due to the adoption of digital channels and difficulty in providing and receiving negative feedback. Finally, our study proposes good practices to improve the feedback outcomes, such as: using multidimensional indicators to evaluate team members, providing a tangible goal-oriented development plan, and adopting continuous feedback follow-up. Conclusion: We synthesized evidence from multiple sources by adopting three research methods to understand the effects of feedback on remote software development teams. Finally, we provided a set of actionable insights on how to optimize the feedback on remote software development teams.
KW - Feedback practices
KW - Interview
KW - Multivocal literature review
KW - Remote software development
KW - Survey
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85211756926
U2 - 10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107649
DO - 10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107649
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85211756926
SN - 0950-5849
VL - 179
JO - Information and Software Technology
JF - Information and Software Technology
M1 - 107649
ER -