In modern times, you can’t afford any bad software. Software development is a vital process for any modern business to thrive, and you need a proper development team for proper development. But modern software development isn’t just about banding a bunch of programmers together.
Today, let’s look at ten crucial software development team roles you must have in your team and their roles and responsibilities.
Team composition is always affected by the scale and complexity of a project. So, before we dive into the roles, let’s start with how the team composition changes with the scale of a project.
How Project Type And Complexity Affects The Team Structure
| Project Stage | Team Size | Roles |
| Discovery | Up to 5 specialists | Product owner, project manager, business analyst, software architect, UI/UX designer |
| MVP Development | 6+ specialists | Product owner, project manager, business analyst, UI/UX designer, software engineers, test engineers |
| Product Development | Agile: 9 specialists for smaller-scale projects. For larger projects, several agile teams may work together | Product owner, project manager, business analyst, UI/UX designer, software architect, software engineers, test engineersOptional: test automation engineers, performance engineers, DevOps engineers, Security Engineers |
Software Development Team Roles In A Typical Team
1. Product Manager/ Product Owner
A product owner has a complete idea about the project and understands all client perspectives and needs. The goal of a product owner is to reach all the expectations of the client with their final product.
A Po must possess multiple qualities to achieve perfection:
- Must be flexible
- Has to be creative
- Should always stay diligent
- Must make analytical decisions
- Should always follow market trends
- Should regularly perform business analysis with experience
- Should be cooperative with teammates to create the perfect product
Product owners usually follow the agile methodology, which grants them the ability to have higher flexibility. This is a great plus for more complex projects since requirements can change at any time. Some companies even have more than one PO, considering they all have the right skills.
2. Business Analyst
Business Analysts translate business needs into requirements for the product. BAs help a business to create the right goals to achieve and also assist in defining the right requirements during the early stages.
The qualities of an ideal business analyst include:
- A strongly developed imaginative mind
- The ability to reach the right choice
- Adapts to changes
- Considers all possible ideas
- Able to analyze all available data
- Data-oriented mind
Business analysts become more crucial when the product owner doesn’t have enough time to set the requirements for product development. BAs create documentation of current requirements and compare them with existing policies and protocols to meet the best quality requirements.
The role of a BA cannot be left out of any team regardless of the project scale since this is someone who knows a business inside-out and can help anyone make the right decisions to create real business value.
3. Engineering Manager
Software development relies heavily on technology that is the current system infrastructure. An engineering manager can take all the requirements presented by the business analyst and create a flow that shows how the requirements can be fulfilled with different features in the application and how the features should be implemented.
4. Software Architect
Software architect makes all the non-coding related product development decisions. They are responsible for dictating the right coding platform and tools, reviewing the code, and ensuring quality while avoiding any complexity in the process.
A software architect is the best of both worlds: a person who has a great idea of programming and knows how to manage people the right way by understanding their mindset and communicating ideas accordingly.
A software architect is also responsible for the finances regarding the entire project, ensuring the budget isn’t going overboard while creating simple features and end products. A software architect must possess critical thinking skills and, above all, has to be highly responsible.
Check out our latest top garage management software!
5. Software Developers
This is an indispensable role. There can be one or more software developers in a software team extension model. They handle creating codes or utilizing low-code platforms to create the final product. Software developers are a vital element in successfully delivering the final software product.
You should look for the following traits when hiring software developers:
- Follows trends
- Is eager to learn new skills
- Has the ability to teach themselves
- Understands different concepts
- Solves obstacles with creative thinking
- Ask the right questions
- Maintains time restrictions
6. UX/UI Designers
They can be considered mind readers since UI/UX designers must understand the most appealing and convenient way for the users to design the user interface accordingly.
They are responsible for creating the best user experience for maximum customer satisfaction, and they deploy various techniques to verify whether their design is viable for the target audience.
The most mentionable qualities of a good UI/UX designer include:
- Creativity in solving issues
- Attention to details
- Ability to notify easily
- Ability to fix user issues frequently
- Understanding business goals
- Finding unique perspectives to appeal to users
- Workflow based on user studies and research
- Ability to work with different tools to deploy the right solution
The main focus of a good UI/UX designer is always the usability and functionality of a product. A UI/UX designer doesn’t just design an interface for the users to interact with; they are also a great way to learn more about the minds of your target audience.
7. QA Engineer
The main objective of a QA engineer is to test the product after development to check if it aligns with the business requirements. The QA engineers always focus on quality and provide useful, well-timed feedback.
The qualities a QA engineer must have are:
- Has to have a perfectionist mindset
- Has a strong focus on planning tests accordingly
- Performs detailed tests
- Creates well-structured plans
- Analyzes client requirements as well as business requirements
- Mediates between requirements to find the best quality
8. Scrum Master
A scrum master is a vital element of the team when the whole team is working with agile software development practices. A scrum master is there to coach the entire team on agile development methods and the best ways to achieve true agile throughout the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
A scrum master must contain the following qualities:
- Must have a thorough knowledge of agile methodology
- Must understand the importance of the Agile Manifesto
- Should be able to understand the mindset of each team member
- Must be able to provide detailed instructions on agile processes
- Should be able to create agile workflows for team members to follow
9. Testers
While the QA testers check the software for quality assurance, software testers check for functionality and possible issues that may lie within the software that prevents users from achieving an uninterrupted user experience.
Software testers run a product through multiple testing procedures once the development is complete, and their goal is to find all the underlying issues within the surface-level interface and the application’s source code that can cause bugs.
A good software tester must have the following qualities
- Critical thinking abilities
- Ability to see the problem from unique perspectives to offer the right solution
- Must be able to work under pressure
- Must constantly maintain deadlines
- Should be able to determine the right tech stack for the right solution
- Should possess knowledge about multiple tech stacks to deploy a suitable solution
10. Team Leader
The team should have a great team leader to round up the entire product development team. A team leader is one who maintains and manages all the people in different roles within the product development team and ensures that all the different functions of the team are operating in parallel.
A good team leader must maintain a balance between all the members to ensure a seamless development process to optimize the SDLC and ensure faster product delivery by offering necessary instructions for all members accordingly.
Common Skills That Your Software Development Team Should Have
1. Problem-Solving Mindset
Each software development team member must have the ability and mindset to solve different problems efficiently. Software development is a complex process, and issues can arise at any time in any development phase.
When your development team is full of people who know how to solve each problem correctly with creativity and ingenuity, the development process has fewer chances to slow down and offer a better product.
2. Creative Coding
Coding isn’t just about inputting formulas to simulate a function. A good software developer can get highly creative with the source code that offers unique solutions to user problems. For creative coding, a programmer must put themselves in the shoes of the user and come up with solutions that they find the most appealing.
3. Project-Based Objective Setup
The entire work structure of any software development is project-based. Each new project always brings in new challenges that the whole development team must overcome by putting their skills to the test.
It also allows the developers, as well as the business owners, to explore different business opinions, systems, and technologies to come up with new ideas. Project-based objectives also allow the team to work within a proper timeframe structure, allowing them to move on to the next project easily.
4. Eager To Learn New Things
The modern software market is constantly shifting and changing, and the user requirements are changing along with it. To keep up with the constant change and fulfill the unique requirements of different users, all team members must learn new technologies to update their knowledge base.
5. Eager For Team Collaboration
Better team cohesion allows for better cooperation through continuous communication that helps all team members stay on the same page.
Good software developers don’t just code the day away in a dimly lit room; they are excellent professionals with interpersonal skills that can help share knowledge between teammates to implement better solutions within the product.
Tips To Build A Great Software Development Team
1. Cover All Possible Skillsets When Hiring
When hiring developers, it’s not a good idea to fill the team with more of the same just so the project can be completed faster. You should look for people with different skills that complement each other, and each skill can bring unique value to your final product.
2. Communicate Your Goals And KPIs With The Team
When recruiting your team, you need to discuss your goals and KPIs with your team before they get started with development. Good development starts with a clear goal set for the whole team, and it doesn’t happen until you specify your requirements to the team.
3. Hire A Diversified Team
In the age of remote workplaces, it’s easier to hire a diversified team that has different levels of skill sets with unique approaches to a software development situation. Pick a team that can bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the entire team and allow the team to grow and broaden everyone’s mindset.
4. Make Information More Accessible For The Team
Access to the right tools and information is crucial if you want your entire development team to continue operating seamlessly. Making all required data available enables greater transparency among teammates and allows for better insights into possible improvements.
5. Use Automation Wherever Possible
Automation is a great relief for removing the monotone of repetitive processes and other vital development elements like software testing and even feature development.
No matter how skilled your team is, always leverage automation wherever possible to free up more time for your development team so they can focus on either different operations or overall product improvement.
FAQ
A DBA manages and maintains the database systems used by the software, ensuring data integrity and performance.
A technical writer creates documentation, user manuals, and guides to help users understand and use the software.
A release manager plans and coordinates software releases, ensuring smooth deployment and version control.
A security engineer focuses on identifying and mitigating security risks in software applications.
A systems analyst analyzes and designs information systems, ensuring they meet business needs.
