How To Build a Software Development Team Successfully

Companies within many industries and of all sizes need software development services. It may be for internal business software programs, such as proprietary customer management or inventory applications. It may be for business applications to sell to other companies. Or it may be for apps or games to sell to consumers. No matter the end product, all organizations that build software must assemble or hire competent software development teams.

In fact, building a successful software development team may be one of the most important actions your business can take, given that their work can heavily contribute to company success or failure. An effective team can help you run your business more efficiently, generate revenue, and contribute to a positive reputation, while an ineffective one can have the opposite impact.

In the following sections we discuss the roles and responsibilities of individuals on these teams, team member characteristics to look for, possible team structures and development models, and specific steps to take. But first, let’s take a closer look at exactly what a software development team is.

What Is a Software Development Team?

A software development team is a group of professionals that develops software. The development can be for a variety of software types, including business applications, consumer applications, smartphone apps, or games. Together, these teams follow the software development lifecycle (SDLC), which includes the following steps.

• Initial contact. This meeting typically happens between the project manager and the client to get a basic understanding of what the client needs.
• Discovery. Another meeting or meetings may be held to gather more specific information about project needs.
• Product design. Based on information gathered in the previous steps, product designers prepare the interface based on prototypes.
• Development and quality assurance (QA). Ideally, these two steps happen simultaneously, with QA professionals periodically ensuring standards are met, and engineers writing code and correcting any issues found along the way.
• Launch. The product is launched, either within a company as a proprietary application, or in the marketplace with accompanying promotion and sales.
• Maintenance and support. The product is maintained and updated with new features. The product team provides support for the customers using it.

Forming a good software development team isn’t always easy. Traits of a good team include close collaboration, skill, self-management, dedication to meeting shared goals, confidence that those goals can be met, cross-functionality accountability, efficiency, effective communication, and trust.

Roles and Responsibilities

For software development team success, defining roles and responsibilities is critical. Also critical is knowing which roles are essential up front and which can be added as the team grows. The following list describes common software development team roles in order of how essential they are, with the most essential listed 1st.

• Engineers. This role is listed 1st because you cannot have a software development team without software developers, or engineers. These professionals are at the core of software development, creating code that is the foundation of every product. They work closely with other team members, including designers and product testers, and may even serve dually in those roles.
• Technical lead. Next on the list is technical lead, who organizes and supervises the engineers. This person not only understands the needs of the project, but also has technical know-how and can help solve problems that come up, either on the development side or from the client.
• User interface (UI)/user experience (UX) designer. UI and UX designers are another critical component to a software development team. These professionals work with engineers to ensure products are easy for end users to learn and use. A product could be technically excellent—yet, if it is difficult to use, customers will associate it with frustration, implement improper workarounds, or, worst of all, avoid it altogether.
• Quality assurance (QA) expert/product tester. QA experts and product testers are also essential, given that they thoroughly and rigorously test software products to ensure they meet quality and functionality standards. This is another area that can cause customers to defect if it is not done properly.
• Project manager. Project managers work to ensure software development teams meet deadlines and stay on budget. To do so, they may schedule, host, and document meetings, secure resources needed by the team, and monitor the team’s performance.
• Scrum master. The role of the scrum master is to implement Agile principles and ensure compliance by the team. They also ensure the client doesn’t interrupt sprints with unexpected changes, such as new features. On some teams, the project manager may serve in this role.
• Business manager. The business manager ensures that software development goals meet the company’s long-term needs. Specific tasks include initiating projects, providing project vision and strategic planning, and approving milestones. While not critical, this role is important for ensuring software development projects are in alignment with the overall company vision.
• Product manager. A product manager is responsible for the success of a specific product. Each manager may oversee several products. Key responsibilities include using the business manager’s vision as a jumping-off point for creating a product road map. The product manager also helps to identify features for the product. Depending on company needs and business team member skills, the business manager may take on this role.
• Business analyst. Business analysts work alongside software development teams to ensure business needs of the project are met. They may use data to generate reports about development progress or to find areas where processes could be improved. They may also help define product features and resolve issues between technical and product teams.
• Chief architect. Larger companies may require someone to coordinate workflow between teams, and that is the role of the chief architect. This role needs to be filled only if your development operations are too complex to operate effectively without it.

Critical Characteristics

To ensure a software development team will deliver what you need, it is important that each team member be of the highest caliber in terms of both skills and attitude. Here are a few specific characteristics to look for.

• Able to think critically. Software development projects don’t always go as planned. When challenges come up, you want people who will be able to implement innovative solutions.
• Ambitious. Team members should always be striving to do more. It may mean seeking a higher position or simply learning and growing in their skills.
• Eager to learn. Workers who are set in their ways and resistant to adopting new methods don’t make good collaborators. So look for those who are eager to learn.
• Empathetic. A high emotional quotient (EQ), which determines how well a person can identify their own and others’ emotions, is essential in today’s business world because it enables one to work well with others, including leaders, co-workers, and customers.
• Experienced. Engineers and other professionals on the team must have the appropriate training and experience for the work they are hired to do.
• Flexible. Everyone should be able to expect a certain level of consistency in their work. But team members should be flexible enough to roll with unexpected changes in the workflow or schedule.
• Innovative. Software development is not always a straightforward task. Team members who can bring creativity to the process help to bring uniqueness to each product.
• Motivated. While everyone needs validation and praise, seek out and hire individuals who are also invested in team accomplishments.
• Passionate. People who enjoy what they do are more likely to do it well.
• Proactive. Workers should feel comfortable tackling a task or making a suggestion, even if it’s something they haven’t specifically been assigned to do.
• Responsible. Team members should take responsibility for their tasks and for their mistakes.
• Stress-resistant. People who have methods for managing their own stress can be valued team members. They both maintain their cool in difficult situations and serve as examples for others who want to do the same.

In addition to the characteristics of individuals, characteristics of the team as a whole are important as well. They include the following:

• Diversity. A team that is diverse in terms of education, socioeconomic background, race, sex, gender, physical ability, and many other factors is a team that will provide the variety of perspectives needed to develop software successfully and solve problems effectively.
• Invested in quality. Teams that agree on quality standards will ensure that each product is the best it can be, bringing satisfaction to customers and success to the company.
• Trust. Teams whose members trust each other will collaborate more efficiently and, therefore, perform more effectively.

Team Structures

The traditional structure for a successful software development team is an in-house group that works together in the same location. However—as proven during the pandemic—remote work arrangements offer many benefits, including access to global talent, increased productivity, lowered costs, decreased worker stress, greater worker satisfaction, and reduced employee turnover. Remote workers are still direct employees, and you should still have certain expectations of them, such as their working hours and level of productivity.

Independent contractors can be added to teams when you have more work than the core team can handle or when you need specific skills that your team doesn’t have. Independent contractors can work on-site or remotely. The benefits of this arrangement include flexibility in easily ramping up or down the size of your team, the potential for accessing outside skills, and the chance to work with individuals you might want to hire.

You can go even further outside your internal environment by hiring a nearshore team, which is a team provided by an agency (like BairesDev) that supplies software developers. A nearshore team provides benefits such as removing the hiring process from your plate, getting a team with project-ready skills, and saving money you would otherwise spend on employee salaries and benefits. Unlike an offshore team, a nearshore team also shares time zones, languages, and culture.

Development Models

Successful software development teams typically work with a specific methodology, which enables them to meet deadlines, stay within budget, and build high-quality products. Here are some of the benefits of a few of the most popular approaches.

• Agile works well for projects that require continuous product updates or for projects that aren’t fully defined upfront.
• Scrum, like Agile, is useful for projects that require a high level of creativity or when many project elements are unknown.
• Waterfall is best for teams with extensive documentation needs, or for projects where parameters (such as goals and requirements) aren’t likely to change.
• Kanban works well for projects that have a lot of moving pieces or when you are managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Lean is best when you must complete a project as quickly and efficiently as possible.
• Hybrid is an approach that combines others. It is best when no other methodology seems quite right for the project.

Steps To Take

Ready to build a successful software development team? Here are the steps you will need to take.

Hiring

1. Identify project goals and objectives, including details about the product itself. In job postings, appeal to applicants who are interested in helping to meet them. Invite candidates to submit a description of their experience with this type of work.
2. Structure your team based on project needs. For example, some projects might need more of a focus on development, while others might need more of a focus on product promotion or administration. Identify these needs before determining which roles are needed.
3. In the hiring process, evaluate both technical and soft skills. Ensure each new employee has both the know-how to accomplish the needed tasks and the personality to contribute to overall project goals.
4. Choose team leaders who will motivate team members and enable them to do their best work.
5. Whether you hire an in-house team or look for an outsourced solution, quality labor doesn’t come cheap. Be prepared to pay well for team members who will contribute the needed skills and expertise to your projects.

Supporting

1. Provide programs needed for engineering tasks, communication tools, and applications—like timers that alert workers when to take a break from sitting—to maintain health.
2. Offer a good working environment including things that support health, such as ergonomic workstations, reasonable deadlines, water bottles, and nutritious snacks.
3. Set up effective communication practices and make them known to all team members. Leaders should set an example of active listening and proactive information sharing.
4. Even the best leaders can’t solve every problem, so empower team members to make decisions on their own. Then back them up even when those decisions don’t lead to the best results.
5. Promote mentoring, which can help both mentors and mentees. Mentors benefit when they coach mentees because they refine what they know and practice leadership skills. Mentees benefit from having someone more experienced guide them through both technical and professional aspects of their job.

Evaluating

1. Communicate and evaluate expectations so everyone knows what they will be evaluated on and what constitutes the best possible outcome.
2. Hold teams accountable. Evaluation should include actions like determining what success looks like, holding regular team discussions, benchmarking, evaluating results, and debriefing after every project.
3. Don’t let successes go unnoticed. When a team reaches a milestone, performs a task especially well, or goes above and beyond to meet a tight deadline, note these accomplishments in a public forum, host an event, or give each team member a gift card.
4. Use successes to drive further achievements. Teams that have accomplished something together will be even more motivated to match or beat their own progress.
5. Evaluate individual team members as well, and look for opportunities to give more responsibility to those who are doing the best work.

Summing Up

Creating a winning software development team is harder than it may seem. But companies that take the many factors mentioned here into consideration should end up with a team that works effectively together, performs well, and develops products that propel the business toward success.