Describing co-ordinated activity in software engineering projects

A major challenge in managing the software process is achieving the effective co ordination of its constituent activities, resources and people. The field of software engineering has seen a number of strategies for improving co-ordination at the organizational, process and tool level. However, we believe that a gap exists between existing process-oriented methods for describing the software process and the situated, day-to-day activities in which software engineers engage; yet it is through these situated activities that effective co-ordination is achieved. We draw on concepts from organizational theory to formulate a framework for the description and analysis of co-ordinated activity in software engineering projects. The viability of this analytical framework is evaluated through its application to a real-world software project. The results suggest that the framework is viable and that its application yields some interesting insights into software engineering practice.