Development Teams: What They Are and Who is a Part of Them

Development teams are relatively small groups of specialists who provide their services in the IT industry. With their help, many companies and customers implement their projects and create the software products they need. The choice of the team that will be engaged in development largely determines the result and further success.

Those who plan to use the services of developers or want to hire the whole team of such experts should understand how they are organized from the inside, what they are, and what specialists they consist of.

Types of a development team

In the IT sphere, there is such a notion as development teams that include specialists of different profiles. At the same time, groups can differ by various criteria and characteristics. And they consist of employees with specific skills and qualifications. If IT staff augmentation is required, you will be able to understand what specialists are missing and who can help to increase the list of services provided.

Let’s distinguish three main types of teams:

• Universalists. They include universal developers who can perform various tasks and work with multiple software components. Usually, they are small IT teams that fulfill not complicated projects in the short term;
• Profile specialists. It is where not multitasking developers work, but people, each of whom performs strictly specified functions. In such a team, the roles are distributed, and no one completes the tasks of other specialists. These are excellent teams of professionals capable of performing complex and innovative projects;
• Hybrid teams. Here the features of the first and second types are combined. Specialists with a comprehensive profile and experts in specific areas work within one group. Practice shows that this type is optimally suited for large-scale projects with a large budget.

When selecting a staff of IT specialists for a new company, it is essential to decide in advance what type and level of complexity of projects you plan to work on.

Roles on IT teams

To better understand how all development processes are managed, you need to know not only the types of teams but also who fulfills what roles in the team.

The classic or standard set of professionals includes the following roles:

• Product Owners. These people know better than others about what the finished product should be, the development of which has just begun. The whole team asks all the questions directly to the owners. If it is outsourced development, then the role of owner or project manager is played by the client;
• Account managers. They do not directly participate in program development. Their task is to communicate with clients, build connections and maintain relationships. The account manager largely determines how satisfied customers will be with the process and results of cooperation with the company;
• Project managers. Act as intermediaries in the development of software and web projects. These managers must unite the participants, assemble the right team, monitor deadlines, control work processes;
• Designers. The development team includes UI and UX designers. They are the ones who create IT projects and develop internal structures and external designs. Without them, no development team can be considered as such. These are some of the main actors;
• Developers. These are the ones around whom the team is formed. They are responsible for software development and create applications based on technical requirements. Several developers (front-end, back-end, and full-stack) usually work on one project at once;
• Testers. Or QA engineers. They are responsible for the quality of the finished software product. Their main task is to find and eliminate bugs, flaws, and other errors in the project.

Each link of the IT development team has its own importance. Therefore, the team must consist of professionals, and qualified specialists, each of whom knows their business and responsible approaches to fulfilling tasks.