What an Agile Software Development Team Structure Looks Like
An Agile team is a group of developers who operate based on the Agile methodology; two key characteristics include being self-organized and cross-functional.
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Join For FreeYou’re convinced that outsourcing is the way forward as far as software development is concerned. After all, it’s branded as the quickest path to get your app to the market. However, you need to consider a few factors before hiring a dedicated team for your company.
One important point that deserves your attention is the structure of the dedicated team. As software involves frequent revisions, you’ll need to engage a team that operates based on the Agile principle.
If you hire a conventional team, you’ll have to deal with complications when implementing changes during development. But then, what is an Agile team? How do you identify one? Read on, and you’ll have a better idea of what it’s all about.
Agile Team: What Is It?
An Agile team is a group of developers who operate based on the Agile methodology. It’s a team built to produce deliverables efficiently and aligned to the business' goals. Two common characteristics of an Agile team are that they are self-organized and cross-functional.
You don’t have a Project Manager dictating the tasks in an Agile team. The members worked towards a common goal and hold each other accountable for the results. By deviating from the conventional structure, an Agile team is less restrained, offers more innovative ideas, and is quick to respond to any issues.
Developers in an Agile team are also expected to work in different areas of development. This means that an Agile team is made up of professionals who are skilled in various disciplines. A programmer is expected to be able to handle usability testing and vice versa. Without a strictly-defined role, an Agile team can move quickly in turning ideas into a working prototype.
How Is the Agile Software Development Team Structure Different From a Traditional Team?
If your collaboration is constrained to traditional teams, working with an Agile team will be a refreshing change. It may take a while to get accustomed to how an Agile team works. Here are how an Agile team differs from its traditional counterpart.
Traditional Team vs Agile Team
The traditional team operates on a linear, rigid process and is overseen by a project manager. The project manager becomes the center point of the team and is responsible for coordinating the team members’ workflow. Also, problems encountered during development are escalated to the project manager before remedial actions are taken.
Meanwhile, an Agile team does not have a centralized leadership role. It is self-managed, where team members are expected to schedule the workflow around the agreed goals. In the event of problems creeping up in development, the team would sort it out independently.
If you’re working with a traditional team, you’re expected to provide concrete requirements in order to get the job started. However, it’s hard to provide firm requirements, as there are bound to changes along with the development. This is where an Agile team would shine, as they are conditioned to work with evolving requirements.
There’s also a remarkable difference in how both teams approach testing. A traditional team will make testing a separate stage, but Agile teams would integrate testing as part of the development. The agile team would focus more on the product itself rather than creating documentation. The opposite is true for a conventional team.
Roles and Responsibilities in the Agile Software Development Team
Members within an Agile team operate based on Scrum, a process framework defined within the Agile principle. They are organized into the following roles and responsibilities:
Product Owner (PO)
The Product Owner has intricate knowledge of how the end product should look. They are responsible for defining the project requirements that the rest of the team abides with. The PO is the link between the Agile team and the business side of the product. Also, the PO acts as the gateway between the customers and the team.
Scrum Master
A Scrum Master is well-versed in how the Scrum process works. Instead of developing the product, they are responsible for ensuring the process works flawlessly. The Scrum Master tackles issues that could affect the productivity of the team and keeps the team coordinated as a whole.
Development Team
The Development team is made up of team members who are multi-disciplined developers; they handle the actual part of building the product. They are self-organized and assign parts through a collective agreement. Each of the team members could handle a few roles in coding, UI/UX, and testing, as an Agile team is cross-functional.
Working with an Agile dedicated team goes a long way in reducing development time and cost but with superior quality. By now, you should have a good idea of what to look for when outsourcing your IT projects.
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