An exploratory study of facilitation in distributed requirements engineering

There is an increasing need to build an understanding of group facilitation in distributed requirements engineering. Group facilitation is an important element of group approaches to requirements engineering, which is being challenged by the emergence of distributed practices in software specification and development. Thus thorough empirical investigation of human facilitation in computer-mediated requirements meetings is needed. This paper presents an exploratory study of facilitation in distributed requirements teams. Three professional facilitators mediate 15 three-person groups in an experimental simulation of software requirements negotiation. Facilitation in face-to-face meetings is contrasted with four group settings in which the facilitator is physically separated from the group or co-located with key stakeholders. Rich qualitative and behavioural data enables an understanding of differences and similarities in the facilitation of face-to-face and distributed groups and of aspects that were detrimental or beneficial to their facilitation. The empirical evidence indicates that a reduced richness of social behaviours in computer-mediated group settings (1) made the group facilitation problematic but also (2) enabled certain facilitation support in the medium itself. The findings of the study are discussed in the light of existing models of the role of the facilitator. Advice from the expert facilitators is presented in the form of recommendations for the facilitation of distributed requirements teams, and worthwhile directions for further research are outlined.