Analysis of the effectiveness of global virtual teams in software engineering projects

Global software development projects use virtual teams, which are primarily linked through computer and telecommunications technologies across national boundaries. Global virtual teams rarely meet in a face-to-face context and thus face challenging problems not associated with traditional colocated teams. To understand the complex issues in a virtual project environment during the requirements definition phase of the software development cycle, we conducted an exploratory research study, involving 24 virtual teams based in Canada and India, working on defining business requirements for software projects, over a period of 5 weeks. The study indicates that ease of use of technology, trust between the teams and well-defined task structure influence positively the efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction level of global virtual teams.