A Mapping of an Agile Software Development Method to the Personal Productivity of the Knowledge Worker. A Systematic Review of Self-Help Books

Abstract

This work explores the problem of how to increase knowledge worker productivity by performing a systematic literature review of personal productivity self-help books. The assumption was that personal productivity self-help books are based on the same underlying concepts and that these concepts can give insight into the personal productivity of the knowledge worker. The intent was to identify these concepts, compare them to the state-of-the-art on knowledge worker productivity and the software development method Scrum. The working hypothesis was that Scrum increases productivity by creating the environment and providing the tools needed by the knowledge worker to perform to his highest potential and produce value for the organization. The research design followed the guidelines for systematic reviews in software engineering by Kitchenham (2004). The research scope was based on a definition of personal productivity. Forty personal productivity self-help guides were chosen in a fair and systematic way from Amazon.com using a software program and rigid selection criteria. These books were read and analyzed by one researcher. Twenty-six concepts of personal productivity were identified and defined from the forty personal productivity self-help books. The concepts were compared to the definition of knowledge workers, personal productivity and ten knowledge worker productivity factors and found to be relevant to the personal productivity of the knowledge worker. The concepts were also mapped to the software development method, Scrum.