Understanding Lack of Trust in Distributed Agile Teams: A grounded theory study

Background: Trust fuels team performance and contributes to build an effective and cohesive team. The self-organizing and collaborative nature of Agile teams increases the importance of trust in software development teams. Trust is, however, affected in distributed teams. Aim: To investigate the emergent key concerns, particularly the impact of trust, in distributed Agile teams. Method: Through a Grounded Theory study that explores distributed software development from the specific perspective of Agile practitioners, we interviewed 45 participants from 28 different software companies in the USA, India, and Australia. Results: In this paper, we present the reasons for lack of trust and its adverse effects in distributed Agile teams that emerged from our analysis, using the causal-consequences theoretical model. Conclusion: Understanding the causes and consequences of lack of trust can develop awareness of the importance of trust in distributed teams, and pave ways for effectively building trust in project-oriented contexts.

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