Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way people work, leading to an increase in remote work. Although remote work brings numerous benefits, it also comes with novel challenges. For instance, remote work has been shown to affect communication, collaboration, and inter-actions. These are key aspects of agile methodologies, which are frequently used in software development. Against this background, we did a literature review to gain an overview of how collaboration is affected in remote agile teams. Our results demonstrate that, in fact, there is a loss of communication, collaboration and social interaction, potentially leading to harmful long-term effects. Among them are reduced trust, psychological safety, and engagement. In summary, we contribute to the nascent research on remote agile settings in two ways. First, we provide a consolidated overview of the intricate effects of remote work that introduces novel challenges for organizations and leaders. Second, based on our findings, we question whether the focus in remote agile work is still on people and collaboration.
Paper Type
Short Paper
DOI
10.62036/ISD.2025.24
Effects of Remote Work on Communication in Agile Software Development: Is the Focus Still on People and Collaboration?
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way people work, leading to an increase in remote work. Although remote work brings numerous benefits, it also comes with novel challenges. For instance, remote work has been shown to affect communication, collaboration, and inter-actions. These are key aspects of agile methodologies, which are frequently used in software development. Against this background, we did a literature review to gain an overview of how collaboration is affected in remote agile teams. Our results demonstrate that, in fact, there is a loss of communication, collaboration and social interaction, potentially leading to harmful long-term effects. Among them are reduced trust, psychological safety, and engagement. In summary, we contribute to the nascent research on remote agile settings in two ways. First, we provide a consolidated overview of the intricate effects of remote work that introduces novel challenges for organizations and leaders. Second, based on our findings, we question whether the focus in remote agile work is still on people and collaboration.
Recommended Citation
Bissinger, B., Fellmann, M., Pruss, H.H. & Rödel, N. (2025). Effects of Remote Work on Communication in Agile Software Development: Is the Focus Still on People and Collaboration?In I. Luković, S. Bjeladinović, B. Delibašić, D. Barać, N. Iivari, E. Insfran, M. Lang, H. Linger, & C. Schneider (Eds.), Empowering the Interdisciplinary Role of ISD in Addressing Contemporary Issues in Digital Transformation: How Data Science and Generative AI Contributes to ISD (ISD2025 Proceedings). Belgrade, Serbia: University of Gdańsk, Department of Business Informatics & University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences. ISBN: 978-83-972632-1-5. https://doi.org/10.62036/ISD.2025.24