Article

Evaluating the Transition for Self-Managed Teams through Analysis of Roles in Agile Product Development Process in a Technology-Based Startup

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Abstract

Self-managed teams are key elements to deliver value to the customer in the development of agile projects in the software industry though not so often described in manufacturing literature. Here one collected a background theory on self-managed teams developed on the basis of software projects and sought to apply the frameworks and roles encountered to a manufactured product development using the concepts of agile product development. Complex Adaptive Space (CAS) and Agile management were the lenses in which the subject was studied and the fundamental role of the coach was discussed as a provider for evolving team maturity. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied to a technological base startup located in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the mid of 2018 in an attempt to evaluate how product development projects and specifically how self -managing teams was approached by the company. Through the analysis of the answers it was evidenced that the company work in its projects following a traditional model, i.e. a centered leader and team members as task executors. Therefore, under the view of the self-managed team theory the main team roles were adapted to the business scenario in a tentative to optimize the way projects are guided. This study elucidates the absence of depth discussion on the topic of self-managed teams in manufacturing projects and the discussion shows that is possible to adapt the concepts developed for the software industry to product development context in order to lead to excellent and more innovative projects.

Keywords: project management|self-managed teams|coach|product development|business value

How to Cite:

de Souza, G., Melo, I. C. & Amaral, D. C., (2020) “Evaluating the Transition for Self-Managed Teams through Analysis of Roles in Agile Product Development Process in a Technology-Based Startup”, The Journal of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering 36(3).