How Do Agile Teams Manage Impediments?

Context: Impediments are blockers that prevent teams from working efficiently and achieving their goals. They are central to the continuous improvement of agile teams. However, common agile methods like Scrum only provide limited guidance on how to handle impediments. Hence, agile teams develop individual ways of impediment management and would benefit from understanding overall aspects that need to be considered as well as from insights into the approaches of other practitioners. Objective: This study seeks to solidify and enhance the understanding of how agile teams identify, document, and resolve impediments in practice. Method: Based on an earlier interview study, an online survey was conducted that collected the experiences of 26 participants from the agile community. Results: The results provide a quantitative overview of the different ways teams identify, document, and finally track/resolve impediments. Based on this, the underlying impediment management process has been enriched and additional insights were gathered. Conclusions: The process and survey results are expected to aid practitioners in defining their own approaches for handling impediments and provide an overview of the various options found in practice.