Are we working well with others? How the multi team systems impact software quality

Background: There are many studies on software development teams, but few about the interactions between teams. Current findings suggest that these multi-team systems may have a significant impact on software development projects. Aim: The objective of this exploratory study is to provide more evidence on multi-team systems in software engineering and identify challenges with a potential impact on software quality. Method: A non-participatory approach was used to collect data on one development project within a large telecommunication organization. Verbal interactions between team members were analyzed using a coding scheme following the Grounded Theory approach. Results: The results show that the interactions between teams are often technical in nature, outlining technical dependencies between departments, external providers, and even clients. Conclusion: This article hypothesizes that managers of large software project should (1) identify external teams most likely to interfere with their development work, to (2) appoint brokers to redirect external requests to the appropriate resource, and to (3) ensure that there are opportunities to discuss technical issues at the multi-team level. Failure to do so could results in delays and the persistence of codebase-wide issues.