Distributed Agile Development is gaining prevalence in the global software engineering field. However establishing and negotiating common ground across geographical, temporal and cultural borders can be a challenging process for distributed team members. This paper reports on early findings of one case study and investigates how common ground or mutually shared understanding takes place within one globally distributed agile team. The paper presents an extended version of the 3C Collaboration model, drawing upon existing literature of raising awareness cues through the use of boundary objects. The research seeks a greater understanding of how common ground is negotiated across boundaries. The case study data was obtained from semi-structured interviews within a financial context. The findings suggest that team members use multifaceted techniques to enhance common ground for better collaborative practices to take place.

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We find that the aims of the projects are similar, emphasising the application of the knowledge and skills from the taught element of their course in a complex development project, often including interactions with a real client. Although we show in this analysis that projects serve a similar purpose in the IS degree courses, the associated learning outcomes and the assessment practice varies across the institutions. We identify some gaps in the skills and abilities that are not being assessed. In further work we are planning to consult final year students undertaking their projects and their supervisors, in order to gain an understanding of how project assessment criteria are actually put to use.

Agile methodologies in software development are gaining prominence in global settings where distributed crosscultural software teams collaborate on projects, addressing the needs of dynamic business environments. However, undertaking collaborative work in distributed settings can create significant challenges, especially as a number of agile principles and practices rely on physical proximity and face-to-face interactions. An interpretative qualitative approach using case studies has been adopted to gain deeper insights into how such teams work. The analysis is being informed by theoretical concepts of awareness, common ground and boundary objects. Early findings suggest that distributed team members use multifaceted techniques, such as shared software artifacts that evolve over time to negotiate and enhance common ground for better collaborative practices to emerge. It is expected that research undertaken will provide a framework to understand this process. Practically, the research will propose guidelines for global software teams planning to adopt agile methods in distributed environments.

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