To structure an efficient, dedicated software development team, you should have more than developers. Today, there are multiple different roles necessary for the appropriate software development lifecycle. But besides the team structure, there is a need to consider other critical factors like talent and communication to build a high-performing development team.
In Exoft, effective and results-driven consist of the following roles:
- Product owner;
- Project manager (PM);
- UX/UI designers;
- Business analyst (BA);
- Software developers;
- Team lead / Tech lead;
- Scrum master.
In this blog post, we will analyze each role and its key responsibilities deeper.
Product Owner
The product owner takes responsibility for everything related to the product. He listens to briefs and designs a solution that will create value and meet customer requirements. Product owners are always involved at each project stage and adapt to all possible changes. Thus, they must fully understand business requirements and know the existing market trends.
Most professional product owners have numerous skills. For example, they must be creative enough and propose many ideas to help them design a product that will match the customer’s brief. Also, they should be analytical since their role covers data-driven decision-making. Product owners traditionally interact with business analysts and customers the most. Besides, they cooperate with quality assurance (QA) engineers and testers for ensuring a high-quality final product.
Project Manager
Project managers are in charge of developing, organizing, and delivering a project. They take responsibility for breaking each project down into modular parts and designing the workflow. Project managers also assign tasks to team members and deal with contracts, budgets, or timeframes.
At the same time, they mitigate risks and manage unpredictable circumstances and delays. It means that the efficient PM must ensure all things perform correctly and authorize different changes in delivery.
A qualified project manager must show strong leadership and organizational skills since they are obliged to coordinate with various team members. Moreover, they should be incredibly good at communication because they connect all project parts and keep in touch with clients. Thus, project managers mostly interact with team members, customers, and stakeholders.
UX/UI Designers
The key responsibility of UX designers is to provide a smooth and user-focused solution. It means that a UX designer should imagine himself as the end-user who interacts with the relevant product. Therefore, they focus on different aspects related to the experience, including usability, functionality, and performance. Meanwhile, the role of UI designers is to focus specifically on software and make it significantly intuitive and straightforward for the end-user.
UX/UI designers should have a creative flair, along with a strong design focus. Also, they must have analytical skills and the ability to think outside of the box. If UX and UI designers are not merged into one position on small projects, they typically interact with each other. Finally, they cooperate closely with software engineers to ensure the design will work thanks to the appropriate code.
Business Analyst
The task of business analysts is to deliver the customer’s commercial needs. Therefore, they must understand the client’s business goals correctly and help them identify clear objectives. After that, such objectives are converted into viable software solutions.
Business analysts are involved from the start of the development process as they must connect the customer’s requirements with the actual state of the project. In this case, they conduct market research, analyze competitors, and determine the target audience.
Business analysts must have strong number skills since they interpret information for backing up their decisions. Besides, they need to show their critical thinking and creativity because they “translate” the customer’s requirements into a deliverable software solution. Lastly, business analysts often cooperate with product owners and project managers.
Software Engineers
Software developers are the ones who build the final product thanks to coding in various programming languages. Considering the experience level, development teams may contain junior, middle, and senior software engineers. At the same time, companies group developers according to their technical skills and specializations, not the experience level. Therefore, there can be front-end, back-end, or full-stack developers.
Software engineers must be curious since they always test various codes when building a software solution. Also, they should have a strong eye for detail, which allows identifying any broken code, and a solid knowledge of various programming languages. During the software development process, programmers cooperate with UX/UI designers.
Team Lead / Tech Lead
Team leads are responsible for the overall performance, motivation, productivity, and organization of their teams. The particular role is often assumed by software developers. A team lead ensures all team members cooperate efficiently and stay on track for delivering the necessary software on time. Meanwhile, tech leads must oversee all technical or hardware requirements that do not relate to the development process. Therefore, tech leads are responsible for providing technical direction and integrating external hardware.
Like project managers, team leads must have strong leadership and communication skills, which is critical for interacting with all team members involved in the IT project.
Scrum Master
The key responsibility of the scrum master is to make the project team follow agile methodology and its frameworks. The particular role also enables scrum masters to remove obstacles, create a productive environment, and help the entire team cooperate efficiently. Although a scrum master is a leadership position, this person has no authority over his colleagues.
To be a successful scrum master means to have strong leadership, organizational, or even coaching skills. Besides, a project management background, along with the appropriate understanding of agile methodologies, is crucial for each scrum master. Thus, scrum masters are people who interact with all team members depending on their responsibilities.
Conclusion
Apart from software engineers, a successful development team needs a project manager, a business analyst, UX/UI designers, and so on. For instance, a scrum master is crucial for ensuring that your development team follows agile methodologies. Ultimately, to create a high-performing team, you should provide a clear structure, along with collaboration and communication. That allows hiring the best talents from diverse backgrounds and bringing new ideas and perspectives.