scholarly journals Exploring Workflow Mechanisms and Task Allocation Strategies in Agile Software Teams

2017 ◽  
pp. 267-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainab Masood ◽  
Rashina Hoda ◽  
Kelly Blincoe
Keyword(s):  
Task Allocation ◽  
Software Teams ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
Allocation Strategies ◽  
And Task

scholarly journals How agile teams make self-assignment work: a grounded theory study

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 4962-5005
Author(s):  
Zainab Masood ◽  
Rashina Hoda ◽  
Kelly Blincoe
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Theory Analysis ◽  
Grounded Theory Study ◽  
Software Teams ◽  
Software Companies ◽  
Agile Practices ◽  
Facilitating Conditions ◽  
Agile Software ◽  
Agile Teams

Abstract Self-assignment, a self-directed method of task allocation in which teams and individuals assign and choose work for themselves, is considered one of the hallmark practices of empowered, self-organizing agile teams. Despite all the benefits it promises, agile software teams do not practice it as regularly as other agile practices such as iteration planning and daily stand-ups, indicating that it is likely not an easy and straighforward practice. There has been very little empirical research on self-assignment. This Grounded Theory study explores how self-assignment works in agile projects. We collected data through interviews with 42 participants representing 28 agile teams from 23 software companies and supplemented these interviews with observations. Based on rigorous application of Grounded Theory analysis procedures such as open, axial, and selective coding, we present a comprehensive grounded theory of making self-assignment work that explains the (a) context and (b) causal conditions that give rise to the need for self-assignment, (c) a set of facilitating conditions that mediate how self-assignment may be enabled, (d) a set of constraining conditions that mediate how self-assignment may be constrained and which are overcome by a set of (e) strategies applied by agile teams, which in turn result in (f) a set of consequences, all in an attempt to make the central phenomenon, self-assignment, work. The findings of this study will help agile practitioners and companies understand different aspects of self-assignment and practice it with confidence regularly as a valuable practice. Additionally, it will help teams already practicing self-assignment to apply strategies to overcome the challenges they face on an everyday basis.

Division of labor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phanish Puranam
Keyword(s):  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Heuristic Approaches ◽  
Object Based ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Task Division ◽  
And Task

Division of labor involves task division and task allocation. An extremely important consequence of task division and allocation is the creation of interdependence between agents. In fact, division of labor can be seen as a process that converts interdependence between tasks into interdependence between agents. While there are many ways in which the task structure can be chunked and divided among agents, two important heuristic approaches involve division of labor by activity vs. object. I show that a choice between these two forms of division of labor only arises when the task structure is non-decomposable, but the product itself is decomposable. When the choice arises, a key criterion for selection between activity vs. object-based division of labor is the gain from specialization relative to the gain from customization.

Provider selection and task allocation issues in networks with different QoS levels and all you can send pricing

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nihat Kasap ◽  
Haldun Aytug ◽  
S. Selcuk Erenguc
Keyword(s):  
Task Allocation ◽  
And Task

scholarly journals Context-dependent expression of the foraging gene in field colonies of ants: the interacting roles of age, environment and task

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1837) ◽  
pp. 20160841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista K. Ingram ◽  
Deborah M. Gordon ◽  
Daniel A. Friedman ◽  
Michael Greene ◽  
John Kahler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Light Exposure ◽  
Genetic Regulation ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
And Task

Task allocation among social insect workers is an ideal framework for studying the molecular mechanisms underlying behavioural plasticity because workers of similar genotype adopt different behavioural phenotypes. Elegant laboratory studies have pioneered this effort, but field studies involving the genetic regulation of task allocation are rare. Here, we investigate the expression of the foraging gene in harvester ant workers from five age- and task-related groups in a natural population, and we experimentally test how exposure to light affects foraging expression in brood workers and foragers. Results from our field study show that the regulation of the foraging gene in harvester ants occurs at two time scales: levels of foraging mRNA are associated with ontogenetic changes over weeks in worker age, location and task, and there are significant daily oscillations in foraging expression in foragers. The temporal dissection of foraging expression reveals that gene expression changes in foragers occur across a scale of hours and the level of expression is predicted by activity rhythms: foragers have high levels of foraging mRNA during daylight hours when they are most active outside the nests. In the experimental study, we find complex interactions in foraging expression between task behaviour and light exposure. Oscillations occur in foragers following experimental exposure to 13 L : 11 D (LD) conditions, but not in brood workers under similar conditions. No significant differences were seen in foraging expression over time in either task in 24 h dark (DD) conditions. Interestingly, the expression of foraging in both undisturbed field and experimentally treated foragers is also significantly correlated with the expression of the circadian clock gene, cycle . Our results provide evidence that the regulation of this gene is context-dependent and associated with both ontogenetic and daily behavioural plasticity in field colonies of harvester ants. Our results underscore the importance of assaying temporal patterns in behavioural gene expression and suggest that gene regulation is an integral mechanism associated with behavioural plasticity in harvester ants.

Effects of social group size on information transfer and task allocation

1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen W. Pacala ◽  
Deborah M. Gordon ◽  
H. C. J. Godfray
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
And Task

scholarly journals A Dual Privacy Preserving Algorithm in Spatial Crowdsourcing

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Shengxiang Wang ◽  
Xiaofan Jia ◽  
Qianqian Sang
Keyword(s):  
Waiting Time ◽  
Task Allocation ◽  
Privacy Protection ◽  
Privacy Preserving ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Location Information ◽  
Spatial Crowdsourcing ◽  
Allocation Efficiency ◽  
And Task

Spatial crowdsourcing assigns location-related tasks to a group of workers (people equipped with smart devices and willing to complete the tasks), who complete the tasks according to their scope of work. Since space crowdsourcing usually requires workers’ location information to be uploaded to the crowdsourcing server, it inevitably causes the privacy disclosure of workers. At the same time, it is difficult to allocate tasks effectively in space crowdsourcing. Therefore, in order to improve the task allocation efficiency of spatial crowdsourcing in the case of large task quantity and improve the degree of privacy protection for workers, a new algorithm is proposed in this paper, which can improve the efficiency of task allocation by disturbing the location of workers and task requesters through k-anonymity. Experiments show that the algorithm can improve the efficiency of task allocation effectively, reduce the task waiting time, improve the privacy of workers and task location, and improve the efficiency of space crowdsourcing service when facing a large quantity of tasks.

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