The impact of personality traits on scrum team effectiveness: Insights from Vietnamese software development companies.

Abstract

Context: Scrum is the most popular methodology within Agile software development, but the internal dynamics of Scrum teams are not fully understood. As a new destination for software outsourcing, Vietnam widely uses the Scrum development method in its software development companies. This study investigates the impact of personality traits on Scrum team effectiveness in the Vietnamese software development industry. Objectives: This research aims to identify the effects of personality on Scrum team effectiveness. We developed a survey based on the HEXACO personality model and the Agile Team Effectiveness Model (ATEM). This includes gathering and analysing data on the personality traits and Scrum team effectiveness of software development professionals in Vietnam, covering various roles beyond developers. Methods: Our experimental study measures the personalities of team members based on the six HEXACO personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience, emotionality, and honesty-humility) and team effectiveness using ATEM’s three coordinating mechanisms (shared mental model, mutual trust, and communication). We used linear regression to verify the proposed hypotheses. Results: With a sample size of 181 participants, five out of six personality traits influenced two of ATEM’s coordinating mechanisms. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness positively impacted Shared Mental Models, while Extraversion and Emotionality affected Mutual Respect. Weaker relationships were found, but they lacked practical significance. The Honest-Humility trait did not influence effectiveness. Conclusion: Our study shows that personality has relatively small effects on Scrum Team Effectiveness. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness have the most significant positive effects on Shared Mental Models, while Extraversion positively affects Mutual Respect, and Emotionality has a negative impact on Mutual Respect. In summary, Scrum teams benefit from members with high scores in Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, and low scores in Emotionality.