Nowadays, the construction of a house (unless it is a hut in the wilderness), is most likely not done by the owner of the house, but rather by a whole team of contractors who are knowledgeable about their work. However, in order for the end result to be precisely what the owner envisions, it is essential for the owner to make frequent visits to the construction site in order to monitor the development of the project and ensure that it is proceeding as planned. However, the control functions can also, to a large extent, be entrusted to people who have been specifically hired for that purpose. Building construction is a good analogy for the process of developing software that is relevant to modern realities. When developing serious software, there are always a large number of specialists involved in a variety of roles in SDLC. It is essential for there to be a Product Owner (PO), a Project Manager (PM), and a Technical Lead (TL) on the team in addition to the developers.
The three main roles in the SDLC
- The “product owner,” also known as the “PO,” one of the most important roles in SDLC, is a business representative who acts as a voice for the various stakeholders. The PO is also known as the requirement owner because it is their responsibility to ensure that development is carried out in a way that is compliant with the requirements of the project.
- The project manager, also known as the PM, is someone who can be considered a representative of the team. The job of the PM is to organise meetings and negotiations while also coordinating the work that the participants are doing.
- The TL, or team lead, is the person who concentrates on the technical implementation and provides advice on how to convert preliminary concepts into technical solutions. In addition to this, they keep an eye on the product’s architectural logic and resolve any other problems that arise.
How the Lead Roles Communicate with One Another During the Development Process
The PO is responsible for developing tasks, outlining requirements, and establishing priorities. The PM will outline the scope—part or all of the suggested tasks—the team can take into the sprint once the team has reviewed and evaluated the tasks. This will be done based on information about the team’s estimates and velocity. This may be done in either an incremental or an all-at-once manner. The Commitment letter is drafted by the PM, and once it has been approved by the PO, the team is ready to begin the sprint. In addition, the PM is responsible for organising any and all necessary meetings for those involved in the project. In the meantime, the TL is assisting in the transformation of the preliminary ideas into software solutions, constructing the architectural logic of the product, and supervising other technical tasks. After the sprint tasks have been completed, the PM will prepare the reports (including reports on the tests performed). This information is then forwarded on to be reviewed by the PO as well as stakeholders such as the CEO of the client, investors, and other individuals who provide feedback and make the final decision to proceed or not proceed (whether to release the achieved results).
What is Needed for SDLC Management Roles?
In the following section, we will examine each of the roles and the manner in which they should be carried out in order to ensure that the project lives up to your standards with regard to the requirements, timelines, and costs.
Product Owner (PO)
The primary functions of the PO are to establish priorities and determine the overall course of action. The PO is responsible for effectively conveying the interests of the stakeholders to the development team because he or she represents those stakeholders.
PO Skills
The perfect PO possesses a variety of important skills, including the following:
- knowledge of the business sector;
- a thorough knowledge of the product’s specifications and goals;
- the capacity to participate fully in the process;
- a capacity for prioritising, accepting responsibility, and recognising key elements;
- the capacity to inform the primary decision-maker of decisions (if that person is not the PO themselves);
- the capacity to effectively communicate with the team (i.e., to produce quality User Stories);
- understanding of how to communicate new requirements and maintain the accuracy of existing ones;
- a perspective on the future.
It is essential to have a crystal-clear understanding as well as the ability to communicate it. The team runs the risk of veering off course if the PO is unable to adequately explain the requirements or arrange them in the appropriate order. To put it another way, it is possible that an essential task will not be completed, or that an action will need to be repeated, which will both result in additional expenses. A trustworthy vendor can assist if the PO isn’t very familiar with the User Stories.
It is important to keep in mind that the PO and the business owner are not the same person. Sadly, these two functions are frequently confused with one another. Obviously, there is a way to combine the two of them. There are times when a company proprietor will say something along the lines of, “It’s easier for me to take part as a PO than it is to impart my experience and knowledge of the domain to someone else.” However, staying in contact with the development team, monitoring progress, maintaining a record (documenting) of what has already been accomplished, and scheduling additional tasks are all jobs that require time and focus on the part of the worker. For instance, the standard team schedule at Django Stars during a current sprint includes research on backlogged tasks in order to get ready for the next sprint. This process is referred to as “Backlog Refinement” in the Scrum framework. Although this helps us avoid downtime, it typically requires maximum involvement from the business representative. As a result, the proprietor of the company needs to conduct an honest assessment of his capabilities. It is recommended that individuals who are unable to participate in regular calls with the team at least once per week and promptly answer questions posed in chats hire a PO. Those who are unable to do so should look into hiring a PO. The good news is that if your company does not already have a candidate who is qualified for the position, the right vendor can provide you with one. If you have a lot of expertise but not a lot of time, more involvement from a business analyst (BA) might be able to help compensate for some of your worries. Also, it goes without saying that the more detailed the requirements are, the fewer times our team will need to get in touch with a company representative. But there is one more important nuance that should be taken into account in this situation, and that is the fact that the PO must be ready to make decisions and must have the authorization of the business owner. Or, if the owner of the company wants to make the most important decisions, PO needs to be able to get in touch with them as soon as possible. After all, the rate at which decisions are made is an extremely important factor for any company (not to mention the fact that delays lead to cost increases).
Tips for the PO
When contributing to a project for the development of software, the PO is responsible for taking into account a variety of nuances. For instance, here are a few things that you should be on the lookout for:
- PО and testing.
When the PO is trying to get approval for the work that the team has developed, they will frequently try to test it themselves. However, the PO needs to be aware that QA is responsible for testing. In addition, the strategy of “I’ll click it myself and see if everything works” is insufficient in this situation. The PO needs to have its own acceptance criteria, which should take into account business logic, user functionality, and the value of the product for the user. In contrast, quality assurance (QA) conducts more in-depth checks to ensure that all of the functionality works as it should, that there are no bugs in the code, and that everything works effectively.
- PO and stakeholders.
In order to deliver the results of the sprint, the PO must first review them, and then the business party must decide whether or not to proceed. This indicates that the PO, along with all of the relevant stakeholders, must be involved in every biweekly meeting (when there are 2-week sprints). As a result, it is essential to plan such activities on the business side in order to involve everyone who ought to see the results before they are made public.
- PO and feedback.
If the PO is not the very last link in the decision-making chain, then any changes to the product require feedback from the individuals who are the very last link. If there are going to be any revisions, they need to be argued for because this helps the team understand where and how the product can be improved. If we understand the ultimate goal, the priorities, and the context, we will be able to offer the most effective solutions as a technology partner.
Project Manager (PM)
The Project Manager (PM), one of the most essential roles in SDLC, is an critical component of the team, and one of their responsibilities is to ensure the smooth operation of all processes and clear and open communication between the business and the vendor. As the individual who is in charge of monitoring the development progress and the resources, the PM will have to do the following:
- Schedule the tasks and period of time necessary to prepare versions and releases in accordance with the project roadmap;
- control the development cycle;
- synchronise and coach the development team;
- provide a time/effort report and a feature delivery report;
- make sure the Product Owner and the team are effectively communicating.
Who is the PM to the PO?
An effective project manager (PM) should have a thorough understanding of the project, be able to foresee potential challenges and devise solutions to those challenges, and work to smooth out any rough spots in the team’s ability to collaborate. At Django Stars, on the other hand, the PM’s role is not that of a barrier between the PO and the team, but rather that of a liaison who ensures that all participants receive sufficient information for their work and decision-making, debugs the process, and ensures that communication between all parties involved remains uninterrupted.
What can the PO do for the PM?
In order to prevent any misunderstandings from occurring, it is imperative that the PO does not be reluctant to make use of this support and promptly and clearly communicate any new decisions to the PM. The level of mutual understanding that is reached is directly proportional to the accuracy of the time and cost estimates that are generated for the development of the project.
Team Lead (TL)
The PM and TL are actually like parents in that they give the team everything they need to develop and create, including requirements, priorities, context, and solutions. It is up to you to determine who will play the roles of “mom” and “dad” on the project. It is entirely up to you who you choose as the project’s “dad” and “mom.” Just remember that a TL is only chosen by the vendor since the team must trust them in order for them to be given the job.
The following is a list of the responsibilities that the TL is able to take on:
- imagining the ideal architectural response;
- tracking the implementation of the solution;
- dialoguing with the PO;
- assisting in the proper decision-making process in cases of disagreement (relating to technical solutions);
- helping to verify the road map (concerning the possibility and advisability of choosing and opting this or that solution).
The PO to the TL is who?
In addition to coordinating the activities of the engineering team, the TL provides assistance with planning to the other lead roles that are involved in the software development life cycle. In addition, the TL is responsible for ensuring that the developers’ estimates are accurate and in line with the velocity of the entire team. It is helpful for the PO, who is ultimately responsible for the results of development, to base their prioritisation decisions on the suggestions made by the TL. And this is the individual who can show the PO better ways to manage their primary responsibility, which is to deliver the best result with the least amount of effort.
TL’s Expectations of the PO
In light of the fact that choices regarding the product’s architecture and the specifics of its development are dependent on this, it is beneficial for the PO to draught up a roadmap three to six months in advance. When the team has a comprehensive understanding of what is being done, how it is being done, and why it is being done, and when it sees where the project is heading (not only with the planning horizon of the next two weeks but also in the annual perspective), the team is in a better position to benefit the company by making reasonable proposals, improving the quality, and optimising the resources. Additionally, the PO should not be reluctant to confer with the TL. Before making any decisions, it is important to determine whether or not the PO understands any of the technical points being discussed. In point of fact, even a relatively minor adjustment to the product design can have a significant effect on the architectural implementation. After that, the TL anticipates that the PO will inform them as quickly as possible about the intentions and reasons for the changes that were made to the requirements. This will allow the TL to take into consideration the dependencies that exist between the various components of the project.
Other Key Software Development Team Roles
Business Analyst
The involvement of a business analyst in the project begins at the very beginning, right after the conclusion of the negotiation phase of the deal, and in some cases, even earlier. The primary duty of a business analyst is to maintain open lines of communication not only with the client but also with the development staff. Customers will typically begin by considering their objectives. On the other hand, developers think about code and features, concentrating on how to accomplish what the client wants and how to solve the client’s problems; however, there is a significant disconnect between the client’s objectives and the software’s capabilities. As a result, a Business Analyst (BA) is required to precisely determine what it is that the customer requires. The BA is responsible for gathering the client’s requirements, conducting analyses to determine what features should be created, and defining how these tasks should be completed. They also conduct research on the software’s competitors in order to ensure the software’s continued viability in the market and its ability to compete with products already on the market. The Business Analyst is also responsible for determining the demographics of the product’s target market, developing wireframes, and writing a technical task if the client did not provide all of the necessary information. In light of this, the responsibilities of a Business Analyst include the planning of the optimum software development cycle in accordance with the requirements of the customer, the preparation of documentation, and the establishment of efficient communication between the customer and the development team.
UI/UX Designer
UI/UX designer is one of the roles in SDLC. This individual on the development team is likely the most creative member of the group. The primary duty of the UI/UX designer is to produce an interface that is visually interesting and to ensure that the user has a positive experience overall. In order to create mockups and the design of the software interface in accordance with guidelines and the most recent trends, a designer will use wireframes that have been created by the client or the business analyst. A designer is the person responsible for planning the user experience that will make the software easy to use. You will be able to test the prototype on a real device before beginning the development cycle because the designer will also be responsible for creating the prototype. The prototype will reflect the functionality and appearance of the final product. The process of writing code for the software doesn’t begin until the client has given their stamp of approval on the software’s layout.
Developer
One of the most important position in a team is the developer. Developers are similar to translators in that they take human language and the language of graphics and transform them into the language of digital technologies that computers and other devices can comprehend. There are multiple tiers of developers on the software development team, including junior, middle, and senior developers; each of these tiers represents a different level of experience and expertise gained through work. In addition, developers specialise in a variety of areas, which means that each developer utilises a unique set of programming languages and works with a distinct collection of frameworks and tools. As a consequence of this, development teams typically consist of multiple developers who use a variety of tools. For instance, a standard mobile app development team includes both Android and iOS developers in addition to backend programmers.
QA Specialist
In order to maintain the product’s high standard of quality throughout each stage of the programming development process, QA (Quality Assurance) specialists are required. They test the software and go through it from start to end in order to find bugs, and then they report their findings to the development team so that they can fix the bugs. There are some customers who are confused about the function of a QA Specialist. The fallout, on the other hand, can have an effect on the entire product if software testing is performed improperly or not performed at all. In order to ensure that users have a positive experience with the product, it is necessary to find errors in the product before it is distributed to customers. In addition to these responsibilities, a QA Specialist is responsible for performing general testing on the software to ensure that it complies with the requirements that have been outlined.
UAT Specialist
UAT Specialist also is one of roles in SDLC. As a customer, you should anticipate that the software provider you work with will perform a comprehensive range of software testing for the purpose of ensuring that your software satisfies a variety of different quality assurance standards and criteria. Therefore, quality assurance experts will need to carry out the final tests to ensure that the software functions properly in a variety of different situations that could occur in the real world. The final step before the software is made available to the public is called User Acceptance Testing (UAT). The software development company that you are working with must have the resources necessary to carry out user acceptance testing in a timely and well-coordinated manner. User acceptance testing is frequently the factor that causes a delay between the software solution’s completion and its public release.
A suitable development Team composition can ensure the success of your project.
The success of the project depends on a number of factors, including the business idea itself, the user experiences and software’s appearance and feel, the system’s reliability and security, and a host of other factors. The team’s makeup is one of the most crucial factors. As can be seen, there is a much wider variety of roles within a software development team than “just developers.” This complexity is due to the fact that “just developers” is an oversimplification. A well-designed organizational structure for software development should include developers who specialize in a variety of programming languages and frameworks, QA specialists who specialize in testing for both performance and security, and a large number of other unique specialists. The bright side, on the other hand, is that it is not necessary to have all of those specialists hired on a permanent basis all the time. A reputable software development company will assess your requirements and select the appropriate team structure to meet your objectives within your budget constraints.
References
Meshchankina, I. (2021, September 16). Roles and Responsibilities in the SDLC | Django Stars. Software Development Blog & IT Tech Insights | Django Stars. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://djangostars.com/blog/roles-in-the-sdlc/
Software Development Life Cycle: Team Roles and Responsibilities. (2020, December 17). SCAND. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://scand.com/company/blog/main-roles-and-responsibilities-in-the-software-development-cycle/