What does a Software Development Team Look Like?

Introduction

If you are curious about what makes a successful software development team, we are here to help. This guide will go over positions in a team, criteria for a strong software development team, how to structure your team, improve team communications, and steps for building and managing a successful team. With this, you can build a strong team that can easily take on software development projects. 

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Positions in a software development team

There are a few positions to fill to have a strong software development team. A position could be unnecessary for some projects or extremely important for others. Nevertheless, they will be listed below so that you can make your judgment on whether this position is necessary for you.

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Business Unit Manager: This person will be more involved with achieving business than project goals. They make sure that goals are met and contribute to the company’s success in the long term. Some of the responsibilities include initiating the project, providing a clear project vision and strategic plan, and signing-off key milestones.

Product Manager: A product manager can be merged with a business unit manager in smaller teams and companies. They are responsible for overseeing the success of a specific product rather than the business as a whole. They translate the vision into a roadmap and develop & define the criteria & features of the product.

Business Analyst: A business analyst connects a project's technical and business sides. They analyze data to improve processes and generate reports. They often work with product managers to improve features, roadmap, and more. 

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Project Manager: This person ensures that the software development team completes the project on time and within budget. Their responsibilities include scheduling, hosting, and documenting relevant meetings, securing the software development team with necessary resources, and monitoring performance. 

Technical Lead: A technical lead acts with the software development team and acts as a point of contact for the project manager and business analyst. They supervise the technical direction of the company. Their role involves taking responsibility for the entire technical project, implementing code standards and procedures, detailing the structure of the project, and meeting requirements.

Developer: Developers are the ones in action. They develop and deploy features and update the technical lead and project manager on their progress through project reports.

UI/UX Designer: These designers work with the team from start to finish. They cooperate with product managers to create a viable user experience and support the software development team through the build process.

Quality Assurance/Product Tester: Towards the end of the process, quality assurance testers are in the position to say whether the project/product is up to par. They can certify that developers meet the criteria and conditions defined in the requirements and actively engage and guide the team through the quality assurance process.

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Finding the right team members that fit you and your business perfectly is difficult. However, there are a few things to look out for that can make this hiring process easier. Ideally, you want a few critical thinkers ready to find the best solution and optimal ways to reach it. Another thing to look for in your next team player is domain expertise which can simultaneously meet business needs and fulfill technical needs. Check for prior projects that your software developer completed, as this is an indicator of the quality of their work. And lastly, don’t go for the cheapest offer as you pay for what you get. High-quality work will come with a higher cost, but it will be extremely worth it to go for sensible pricing than whatever’s the cheapest.

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Steps for building and managing a successful team

There are a few steps and criteria to build and manage a successful software development team. From the hiring process to the completion of the project/product, you will need to handle a lot of things to make sure things go as expected.

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Hire people passionate about their job: When hiring software developers, see if they have a passion project or coding something for fun. Google implemented a policy where their software engineers are allowed to spend 20% of their time working on personal projects or ideas. This boosts creativity, energy, and enthusiasm.

Evaluate and cultivate soft skills: Believe it or not, the success of a collaborative software development project depends a lot on soft skills and emotional intelligence. When hiring, look for those with enhanced soft skills and cultural fit.

Clearly establish objectives: As with any successful project, every team member needs to know their responsibilities and the deadline to meet them. The project manager can set out SMART goals to better guide the team while still reminding them of the bigger goal, which is the purpose of this project/product.

Provide good tools and environment for your team: Cross-functional and collaborative teams can only work together so well with the provided tools and work environment. Ensure that you have all the necessary tools to make remote collaboration easy and a work environment where everyone feels welcomed and inspired to work.

Ensure convenient access to information: Transparency is a good way to communicate. Information is the core of any situation, so resources should be easily accessible and available to every team member. Moreover, developers need to know that they are valued and have complete, transparent access to information.

Encourage the discovery and replenishment of talents: It is easier than ever to find the perfect fit for your team from around the country or even the globe. With the contribution of numerous talents, you will likely see fresh ideas and point-of-views.

Empower team ownership & hold teams accountable: Having trust in your team members will make them feel more comfortable and, as a result, more productive. However, when something goes wrong, hold people accountable. Provide updates on the project, recognize and celebrate “shared success.” A good process deserves a good celebration.

Improve team communication: Effective team communication can make or break the team. It will establish common goals among team members, build a sense of belonging, and strengthen interpersonal relationships. First, it is necessary to define roles and goals from the beginning. Most times, workplace miscommunication comes from unclear distinctions in roles and responsibilities. Encouraging questions and making mistakes is an easier way to improve and progress throughout the project. Another good tip is to hold retrospective meetings and give critical feedback to improve communication. 

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Conclusion

Software development teams can be tricky to build. You may still make mistakes when building your team, which might be costly and even lead to catastrophic failure. Keeping in mind some of the information above, you will have a better chance of building a strong team that can work on these projects creatively and successfully. If you are having trouble building your team, we have something that can help. Dirox offers a business process outsourcing service where we build a software development team for you and transfer it after every legal procedure is completed. Take the heavy responsibility of building a team from scratch, and give our expert consultants a call now!

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