Agile teams as complex adaptive systems (CAS)

Self-Organizing teams have been studied in various forms and they are considered as an autonomous team operating with minimal dependencies. With the advent of agile methodologies in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the focus shifted to the team attributes that lead to successful project delivery as compared to the individual attributes only. Agile methodologies are considered as another alternative process as compared to traditional software engineering practices for developing software products and systems. The focus on emphasizing and integrating people and team factors into the software development process forms a core part of agile development. This paper investigates the contemplation of the agile team as a complex adaptive system (CAS) for improved probability of successful project delivery. This is discussed as an important attribute while identifying the key characteristics of agile teams as part of an overall framework of the important characteristics of an agile team that leads to successful project delivery.

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