Agile methods as stress management tools? an empirical study

Abstract

Project-based work is considered a prototype for modern knowledge work, but is also often linked to stress. Complementing or substituting for conventional project management, agile methods are on the rise, but the implications of these methods for stress on employees still remain largely hidden. This article presents the results from qualitative case studies in software development that show how diverse agile methods are lived in practice and how these variations affect stress levels. The results unveil how agile methods, under certain assumptions, can protect team members against stress and voluntary self-exploitation - offering a safe space that is, however, fragile and requires accompanying organisational backing.

Relationships between Agile Work Practices and Occupational Well-Being: The Role of Job Demands and Resources

“…Furthermore, by promoting agile work practices within the organization, attractive and people-oriented values such as respect, courage, and commitment come into sharper focus and change the way team members feel [23]. Finally, agile teams are supported to focus on their core work and to experience the value they contribute to the big picture, which is positively associated with well-being [16].…”

“…For example, an iterative approach not only enables a rapid response to changes but can also ensure a sustainable pace of work through balancing the workload during a work period [14]. In addition, the iterative process provides the opportunity to regularly experience success and minimize the risk of major failures [16]. Furthermore, a high level of team autonomy and consultation in decision-making can reduce stress at work [44] and is negatively related to exhaustion [45].…”

“…Furthermore, a high level of team autonomy and consultation in decision-making can reduce stress at work [44] and is negatively related to exhaustion [45]. For example, by planning the tasks together before the next iteration, the team can have a good, shared estimate of how much work is realistically achievable, which can prevent overload and create regeneration potential between iterations [16]. To conclude, we assume an overall positive effect of agile work practices on well-being.…”

“…Agile work provides an environment that supports the fulfillment of those needs by fostering important job resources [9,12] and psychological empowerment [13]. In addition, agile work practices have the potential to decrease stressful demands by promoting a sustainable pace [14], by fostering self-organization [15], and by offering a safe space to team members [16]. Agile work practices may relate to employees' perceptions of work design and work characteristics [8,12,17], which in turn are important predictors of occupational well-being [18].…”

New Management Approaches in Digitized Work as the Cure for Inequality?

“…Therefore, management loses sight of the possibility of (re)acting flexibly in response to changes, deviations from the plan, and unforeseeable circumstances, of using implicit (experiential) knowledge, and involving all stakeholders in planning processes. Software developers are confronted with contradictory demands in their work, because they are supposed to develop products while being flexible, creative, and innovative-while, on the other hand, also performing a lot of documentation and control duties (Pfeiffer et al 2019). For many years now, there has been a joke that developers and engineers are not developing and engineering, but only fixing the presentation for the next management meeting: They are so-called 'Power-Point engineers' and 'Power Point developers'.…”