With the majority of the businesses moving forward with technological advancements for their businesses. it is vital for the growth of your business to understand, what is software development, how it can benefit you, and how to outsource a team.
If you have been considering outsourcing your software building project and don’t know where to start? In this article, we will explore and answer, in detail the most frequently asked questions about building, outsourcing and working with a Software Development Team. As well as Best Practices to ensure your works efficiently.
What is a software development team?
A Software Development Team is made up of developers or product engineers that use their expert knowledge of engineering and programming languages in developing software. With the assistance of designers, they conduct user interviews, market research, and design a product to improve the end-user experience.
What are the roles in a software development team?
PROJECT MANAGER
May not be a subject matter expert but is responsible for the budget, risk, schedule, and contract management of the project.
PRODUCT OWNER
Focuses on a product and its features. Their main role is to take care of business value optimization and product suitability. They concentrate on the constant changes by using the agile methodology.
TEAM LEAD
This role is usually filled by one of the developers, who has leadership qualities and is responsible for sustaining communication between the different role players.
TECH LEAD
Would be an individual with the technical knowledge of the product and team members. Tech leads resolve issues associated with the integration with external providers, or those regarding hardware.
FULL-STACK DEVELOPER
Is a jack of all trades, with a wide range of knowledge and skills. They have the ability to implement a solution on the architectural layer of the system including the view, business logic, and database.
FRONT-END DEVELOPER
They are the point of contact between the end-user and the provided business solution. They should have the capability to deliver the most favorable application reception by the user, i.e. interface responsiveness, content clarity, and user experience.
BACK-END DEVELOPER
Would be a qualified programmer whose focus is on developing business logic and data layers. Their work is integral to the system’s functioning and the efficiency of the product.
QA LEAD
Quality Assurance Lead is accountable for building and managing the QA team. Their key responsibilities are to maintain proper relations between QA team members and the persons accountable for areas of the system under construction, by mitigation of conflicts, praising good work, and motivating to further self-development.
QA ENGINEER
They would be in control of selecting tools that permit the automation of processes that authenticate software quality.
TESTER
Their duty is to run manual checks, thus ensuring that system verification by using it analogically.
UI DESIGNER
UI designer’s main responsibility is to design the user interface, they do this by transferring content, style, graphics that will be observed by the client or product to a system presentation layer.
UX DESIGNER
UX designer’s duty is to ensure the end-user experience whilst using the product is maximized. Part of their core function is to analyze user behavior and study competitors in the same sector to continuously improve human-computer interaction.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) ABOUT SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TEAMS
How are software development teams structured?
When considering the structure of a development team there are 3 main types to select from: The generalists, specialists, and a hybrid team structure. This would be based on various factors predominantly the project’s complexity, time and budget.
Generalist
Generalists are a team of experts with extensive skill sets, capable of end-to-end development of the whole project. This is the most popular team structure for outsourcing companies.
Specialist
A specialist product team structure consists of experts with very particular skill sets with profound knowledge of every aspect of the project. This arrangement is common especially in niche projects, that require subject matter expertise.
Hybrid
A hybrid project team structure offers the best of both worlds with a combination of generalists and specialists. This can prove to be expensive and time-consuming.
How do I create a software development team?
Without a clear planning and goal of the business’ precise engineering needs that need to be filled in mind, creating a software development team can prove to be an exhaustive task. Therefore, you must have a detailed recruitment plan, to ensure you employ the services of qualified individuals with great attitudes and good communication skills. To avoid duplication of skills, perform a thorough skills gaps analysis on the existing team prior to adding new members. If you do recruit contractors, ensure to treat them like an employee and make them feel like an important contributing member of the team who adds value. It goes without saying that the main ingredient to successful teams is to have great communication. Software development team who do not struggle in keeping all stakeholders constantly informed on the progress of the project and understand what their role is and have bought into making the project a success.
How do software engineers organize their teams?
The key factors in ensuring all deliverables are met is depend on the organization and division of roles and responsibilities shared amongst the team members. Specific project planning and teamwork between internal and external team members are fundamental to ensuring software development projects are a success.
What is the team size in agile?
There is no prescribed Agile team size, however, the Scrum guide recommends between three to nine members for a development Team. Optimal size would be small enough to remain agile and large enough to complete significantly complex project.
What makes a good software development team?
As with any group a good software development team should be made of enthusiastic group of individuals, who can be productive working independently and be able to communicate well within a team.
A team that can collectively meet and exceed client’s expectations in developing remarkable products and services. Creating a Top Team requires effective communication, strong culture, shared goals, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, independence, and provided with all the tools required to succeed.
Who is in a software development team?
A software development team typically consists of a:
Project Manager
Product Owner
Team Lead
Tech Lead
Full-Stack Developer
Front-end Developer
Back-end Developer
QA Lead
How many people are in a software development team?
The average size of a software development team is between seven to nine members, this is reliant on the complexity of the project. According to the Scrum guidelines, teams of larger sizes require too much effort and time for communication.
How is a DevOps team structured?
The DevOps team, as the name suggests consists of individuals with skills in both development and operations. This may include a release manager responsible for coordinating and managing applications from development to production, to automation architects who oversee maintaining and automating a team’s CI/CD pipeline.
Is QA part of the engineering team?
Yes. QA engineers are an essential part of the development process.
They are responsibly to ensuring the end user and client is satisfied with specific competence and quality requirements of the end-to-end software development process.
What are software process models?
A software process model is a diagram that shows the step by step course of the actual process. Each model shows a process from a various perspective and what the results there of. Software Processes is an amalgamation of activities for specifying, designing, implementing, and testing software systems.
How do you build software?
Conceptualize for an innovative product that will solve a problem
Develop the product with a target audience in mind
Release the product
How do you structure a team?
When it comes to structuring a team, the most used terms are forming, storming, forming, and performing. (Bruce Tuckman, “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups,” 1965 Psychological Bulletin, 63, 384-99). Which details the stages a team goes through before they reach an easy productive flow. However, as time may not be a luxury when there are deadlines to be met, these below guidelines may assist in structuring an effective team.
Select a team structure relevant to your project.
Start small. Small teams are easier to manage.
Make use of project management software.
Retain updated and easy to manage documentation.
Communicate clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each team member.
Vision and mission statements that govern the principles of the team.
How do you organize your team?
There are numerous simple advice and recommendations that every managing team needs to be aware of when responsible for decision-making on any organizational activities.
Communicate collective goals to commit team members to make a cooperative effort to reaching them
Make a list of activities that the team is required to complete reach the goals
Define the strengths and opportunities the team members have at their disposal to reach set goals
Outline the challenges that prevent team members from attaining shared goals and making a cooperative effort
Follow a defined framework that follows a process aligned with your goals.
How do software engineers manage their teams?
Decide on the size of the team – This is highly dependent on the size of the project.
Outline the roles & responsibilities of each team member.
Communicate and ensure understanding of the project specifications.
Create a conducive work environment that inspires productivity.
Avail tools that simplify the work process and eliminate unnecessary obstacles.
What are the categories of software?
System software, application software, and programming language software.
System software is designed to run the computer hardware and the application programs. It is the platform provided to the computer system where other computer programs can execute. The system software act as a middle layer between the user applications and hardware. The operating system is the type of system software. The operating system is used to manage all other programs installed on the computer.
Application Software
Application software is a type of computer program that performs a specific personal, educational, and business function. Each program is designed to assist the user with a process, which may be related to productivity, creativity, and/or communication.
Programming Languages
The programming language of coding can be used interchangeably, this is the third category of computer software which is utilized by the programmers to write their programs, scripts, and instructions. which can be executed by a computer. The programming language can be considered as a fundamental element that can be used to build computer programs and operating systems. Programming languages are JAVA, C, C++, and other languages.
How do software teams work?
Software development teams usually use a project management platform to assist in delivering their projects in time. This tool enables the teams to work together as a unite and track all elements of the project.
Is a software engineer?
A software engineer is a qualified individual with the skill to apply the discipline of software engineering to designing, developing, maintaining, testing, and evaluating computer software. 20. What are the roles in Agile?
Agile teams typically consist of:
Product Owner (PO)
PO is most often the main stakeholder of the project, who has exceptional knowledge and data of the user and the product and therefore is responsible for the internal side of development.
Scrum Master
Scrum master owns the process and synchronizes the team’s work, by being a master facilitator and overseer of the team’s productivity.
Development team
Agile development team comprises of front-end and or back-end developers, UX designers, and QA testers, much like a traditional team.
Is Agile software development methodology?
Yes, Agile software development is a collective of software development methodologies based on iterative development. There is constant varying of requirements and solutions found through camaraderie between self-organizing cross-functional teams.
Selecting or building a software development team that is highly productive and motivated is not impossible. As with any project you embark on, you must ensure that every individual in the team is best suited for the task at hand or needs to ascertain if the team organizational structure matches your project.
If you still have unanswered questions, you would want them answered by a team
