Agile Cross-Culture with Games
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Agile software development means collaboration, and increasingly this collaboration will cross boundaries of organizational and national culture. The session introduces models of culture and explores the impact of cultural differences on software development processes and methods, especially those involving the practices common in agile development. The session will be organized around two collaborative games that illustrate how cultural differences interact in the software development workplace. Our aim is better understanding of the issues and how to manage them.
See attachments for front-matter of notes, and sample materials for game.
Earlier versions of this session were presented at Agile 2007 and OOPSLA 2008. This version involves substantial improvements to the game design.
Agenda (Offset 0:00)
• 0:00 − Part 1: What is Culture? • 0:15 − Activity 1: Cultural Radar Game • 0:45 − Part 2: Dimensions of Culture • 1:00 − Activity 2: Cultural Monopoly Game • 2:30 − Part 3: Effects of Cultural Differences • 2:45 − Retrospective:
Game Activities:
Session Activities
Game 1: Cultural Radar
• Activity: Our first game involves a quick magazine-type questionnaire that each participant completes describing a company they know well. The answers to the questionnaire are then used to build a balance wheel that exposes the key elements in the organizational culture of that company. Participants then each present circulate in order to find other wheels that share the same balance, and those that are most different. We then tabulate the findings, and brainstorm ways for different models to work together.
• Reflection: In a short brainstorming session, participants will then be encouraged to discuss issues related to cultural differences between organizations that they have experienced and how they were addressed.
Game 2: Cultural Monopoly
• Activity: Our second activity involves a simulation board game. Participants move around the board, simulating the events of an agile software development project. The structure of the game models the iterative and collaborative structure of an agile project. Cards are drawn to indicate the cultural dimensions involved in the development team. In order to make progress, participants need to learn about the effects of the cultural dimensions on various agile practices. They will participate in a role-play simulation activity where the strategies will be used in both appropriate and inappropriate ways. The effectiveness of these strategies will be reviewed in the context of agile software development.
• Reflection: to deepen participant knowledge, participants will review and analyse software development scenarios in relation to Hofstede’s theory. How cultural differences affect and impact different aspects of the software processes will be reviewed in function of the cultural dimensions of Hosftede’s model.
- Understand models of culture
- Understand the dimensions proposed to understand cultural differences
- Experience similarities and differences in organizational culture via “Wheel” game
- Experience interplay of cultural differences and agile development process via “Monopoly” game
- Understand how to foresee and manage potential cultural differences in the agile workplace
