Effects of agile practices on social factors

Programmers are living in an age of accelerated change. State of the art technology that was employed to facilitate projects a few years ago are typically obsolete today. Presently, there are requirements for higher quality software with less tolerance for errors, produced in compressed timelines with fewer people. Therefore, project success is more elusive than ever and is contingent upon many key aspects. One of the most crucial aspects is social factors. These social factors, such as knowledge sharing, motivation, and customer collaboration, can be addressed through agile practices. This paper will demonstrate two successful industrial software projects which are different in all aspects; however, both still apply agile practices to address social factors. The readers will see how agile practices in both projects were adapted to fit each unique team environment. The paper will also provide lessons learned and recommendations based on retrospective reviews and observations. These recommendations can lead to an improved chance of success in a software development project.