Examples of Team Members and Roles Needed to Support Agile Software Development
Examples of Team Members and Roles Needed to Support Agile Software Development
Government
- Product Owner (PO): Responsible for maximizing the value delivered by the team and ensuring that the Team Backlog is aligned with customer and stakeholder needs.
- Tester: Government user to test features and functionality of the system.
- Contracting Officer (CO): Authorized to bind the Government contractually and direct contractor action.
- Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): Performs functions specifically delegated to them by the CO in writing for the particular contract/order. This individual may also serve as the Product Owner.
- Project Manager (PM): Government manager of the Agile process. Also sometimes called Product Owner. Not to be confused with Program Manager.
- Legal: Provides legal review of all documents and actions.
Contractor
- Developers: Software architects who design the system and write code.
- Designer: Building wireframes and prototypes and defining critical structures and flows.
- Project Manager: Manages the team’s execution of the project.
- Tester: Tests features and functionality of system to uncover software bugs in functional and non-functional areas of the system; ensures system functionality.
- Interface: Ensures system can communicate with other systems or people as needed. This is not a required team member; membership depends on project needs.
Best Practices
- Each requirement should be individually assessed to see which roles are or are not needed.
- Some roles are only needed during certain stages of the requirement and may roll on or off.
- Some federal agencies, such as United States Digital Service and 18F, have team members who can fill the contractor roles.
- Developers and tester roles should be cross functional individuals who are able to work either position.
- Automated testing is encouraged where the tester can write and run automated tests that are supplemented with exploratory testing.