Software developers' perceptions of soft skills in software requirements engineering
Software requirements express users' needs and cons traints for a software system to be constructed in order to solve some real problems. Both research ers and practitioners from industry point out that well performed requirements related activities have very important role for successful realization of software projects. Software develope rs work on software requirements jointly with software users. Requirements elicitation and specif ication are especially important since they require software developers with multidisciplinary skills. These activities require not only technical skills but also non technical or soft skills. This article presents a qualitative study with software developers aimed at inquiring how they perceive sof t skills in software requirements activities. The study involved 14 software developers, who were int erviewed. Data analysis, based on inductive thematic analysis, resulted in three themes that re flect software developers' perceptions about soft skills. The study findings revealed that software d evelopers are aware of soft skills, recognize the need to improve them and understand their importance in everyday practice. Implications of the research findings for researchers, software develop ers and managers in software organizations are discussed.