Knowledge Transfer in Software Development Teams: a Gamification Strategy to Encourage Collaboration
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Abstract
Software development projects are knowledge-intensive because they involve rigorous management processes that must articulate with good knowledge and management practices. This integration is closely
related to knowledge transfer, which is necessary for these projects. However, lack of collaboration, poor communication, lack of motivation to share knowledge, and the inability to make it available are some of the difficulties of knowledge management in software development projects. On the other hand, gamification influences people’s behavior, promoting motivation, commitment, and collaboration in work teams. In this sense, gamification can be a potential strategy to transform these difficulties. It is adopted in this research in the design of GamifiK, an approach to encourage knowledge transfer in software development teams by promoting collaboration. GamifiK integrates good knowledge management practices, gamification elements, and collaboration as a soft skill for knowledge creation and transfer. A pilot study was conducted in an academic context to evaluate the preliminary performance of the strategy and its possibility of being validated and implemented in
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