Motivational Factors for Distributed Software Development Teams

Over the last decades it has been observed that many companies around the world have started to adopt Distributed Software Development (DSD) to create competitive advantages. Aiming to increase such advantages, many of these companies add some team motivation techniques to DSD. However, the motivation of DSD teams reveals some peculiarities that should be taken into account. This paper presents a literature review on motivational factors in distributed software development. More specifically, the goal was to identify and categorize key success factors in the motivation of distributed teams. We have identified eleven success factors. We categorized each factor according to a proposal integrating Maslow's and Herzberg's motivational theories. The findings show that the factors that motivate distributed software teams are related to different levels of motivation. Despite the distinct levels each factor is associated, we concluded that even the factors related to higher motivational levels are dependent on the most elementary ones. These findings suggest that motivational factors have to be carefully considered when working with distributed teams.