C2M: a maturity model for the evaluation of communication in distributed software development

Communication is essential in any software development project, particularly those globally distributed where geographical, temporal, and cultural distance may hinder the effectiveness of communication. The challenges imposed by distance often characterize communication as still one of the main drawbacks of globally distributed projects. Therefore, establishing communication processes and practices is relevant to support a team’s work. These processes and practices need to be updated and aligned with the team’s needs. Thus, assessing and evaluating the maturity of such communication processes and practices is paramount. This article presents a Communication Maturity Model called C2M which aims to help organizations identify the maturity of communication-related aspects by providing an approach for revealing what practices need to be improved. The model is composed of 4 levels of maturity (causal, partially managed, managed and reflective) and 4 areas of maturity (people, project, organizational and engineering) which are organized into 15 maturity factors, each factor comprising a set of practices. The model has 58 practices and each has its specific objectives. The model was empirically developed and evaluated in three well-defined phases. In the conception phase, methodological procedures (Tertiary Study, Systematic Literature Review, and Interviews) were carried out in order to gather relevant information for designing the first version of the C2M model (alpha version). Then, in the refinement phase, two focus group meetings were held in two organizations in order to identify how effectively the model attends its purpose. The results led to a second version of the C2M model (beta version), analyzed by a survey with experts who assessed the representation of the third version of the C2M model—omega version (evaluation phase). All results achieved so far suggest that the model can assist in discovering the maturity level of the communication processes and practices in globally distributed projects. Future works will focus on developing a software tool to help with self-assessment.