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Software Project Management in a Changing World pp 247–273Cite as

Motivating Software Engineers Working in Virtual Teams Across the Globe

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Abstract

The motivation of software engineers affects the quality of the software they produce. Motivation can be viewed in terms of needs. The key need for a software engineer is to ‘identify with their task’ which requires being given a task that is challenging and understanding the purpose and significance of the task in relation to the complete system being developed. Software engineers’ needs are complex – they also require regular feedback, trust, appreciation, rewards, a career path, and sustainable working hours. Furthermore, amongst other fixed environmental factors, these motivators require sensitive tuning in line with a software engineer’s personality and career stage. Creating this personality-job fit is not easy in a co-located environment, so how can project managers motivate teams of individuals distributed across the globe?

This chapter reflects on some of the motivational issues that managers of virtual teams may encounter. Some background theory is presented for a deeper understanding of how to manage team motivation. Recommendations are drawn from a case study where issues raised by practitioners working in virtual teams serve to highlight and magnify known motivational issues. Project managers play an important part in software engineer motivation. If they can create a working environment that motivates individuals in the team, they will find that team members are more likely to turn up to work, are less likely to look elsewhere for employment, will work harder to meet deadlines, will take more pride in their work, and will share their knowledge, concerns, and ideas for innovation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Effort is just one of the E’s in the calculus; other E’s include energy, excitement, enthusiasm, emotion, expenditure of time, expenditure of money, and expenditure of passion.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are extended to the many practitioners who gave their time and made this study possible. Also, thanks are given to the reviewers and colleagues who commented and proofread early versions of this chapter. This work was supported in part by Science Foundation Ireland grant 10/CE/I1855 to Lero – the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre (www.lero.ie).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, Lero – The Irish Software Engineering Centre, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Sarah Beecham

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  1. Sarah Beecham
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Correspondence to Sarah Beecham .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Günther Ruhe

  2. Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden

    Claes Wohlin

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Beecham, S. (2014). Motivating Software Engineers Working in Virtual Teams Across the Globe. In: Ruhe, G., Wohlin, C. (eds) Software Project Management in a Changing World. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55035-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-55035-5_10

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