Supporting agile team composition: A prototype tool for identifying personality (In)compatibilities

Extensive work in the behavioral sciences tells us that team composition is a complex activity in many disciplines, given the variations inherent across individuals´ personalities. The composition of teams to undertake software development is subject to this same complexity. Furthermore, the building of a team to undertake agile software development may be particularly challenging, given the inclusive yet fluid nature of teams in this context. We describe here the development and preliminary evaluation of a prototype tool intended to assist software engineers and project managers in forming agile teams, utilizing information concerning members´ personalities as input to this process. Initial assessment of the tool´s capabilities by agile development practitioners suggests that it would be of value in supporting the team composition activity in real projects.