Communication Patterns and Practices in Software Development Networks

We present communication needs, patterns and practices found in networked software development projects. Based on 34 interviews in eight distributed interorganizational projects carried out by large, experienced organizations, we found no systematic approaches to communication. Instead, practices were invented on a need basis at the project level. We identified four communication needs, as well as nine communication practices that addressed those needs. Five of the practices were found in three or more projects, and therefore classified as patterns. We propose that systematic collection and dissemination of working communication patterns for networked product development projects could help managers better plan and execute such efforts.

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