Producing Knowledge: The Use of the Project Team as a Vehicle for Knowledge and Skill Acquisition for Software Employees

This article finds that a considerable proportion of learning and skills development for software workers occurs through learning from colleagues and other software professionals. Although the authors observed that employees were generally satisfied with the formal training they received, very little knowledge acquisition actually takes place as part of a recognized training programme. Knowledge is frequently gained through project-based work both from other team members and the team or project work necessitating individuals to update their skills set. The data used within this article were collected using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques within five software organizations in Scotland.