This paper firstly explores the decision-making process in agile teams using scrum practices and secondly identifies factors that influence the decision-making process during the Sprint Planning and Daily Scrum Meetings. We conducted 34 semi-structuredinterviews and 18 observations across four agile teams. Our findings show that a rational decision-making process is sometimes followed in the Sprint Planning and Daily Scrum Meetings and that three factors can influence the rational decisionmaking process: sprint duration, experience and resource availability. Additionally, decisions are not always made in a collaborative manner by team members. This research contributes to the decisionmaking literature and project management literature by highlighting difficulties pertinent to decision-making in agile teams.
Against the backdrop of the growing adoption of Kanban in a variety of software development domains, this paper reports on how a Systems Thinking approach was used to implement Kanban within a business unit of a government organization. Based on an in‐depth case study in the development organization, we describe how Kanban practices such as visualization, manage flow, classes of service, and board design were implemented. Stages in the double diamond design thinking process of exploring an issue more widely (divergent thinking) and then taking focused action (convergent thinking) were incorporated to adapt Kanban practices such as board design. Positive experiences included improved visibility, improved collaboration, and improvements in lead time. Challenges included lack of team buy‐in, setting work‐in‐progress limits, and short‐term Kanban coach. We present the key lessons learned and offer practical recommendations on how teams can better produce knowledge work in today's fast‐paced dynamic business environment.
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