The Agile software development lifecycle (SDLC) was developed with a clear goal: rapid delivery of software builds through an incremental and iterative process designed to adapt and improve software quality from an end-user perspective. The goal is readily adopted by IT departments and shops, though the process framework is not always adequately adopted.

Organizations adopting an Agile approach may find themselves resorting to traditional/waterfall SDLC practices due to inappropriate distribution of Agile roles and responsibilities. So, let’s take a look at the roles that support Agile software development.

Roles in an Agile team

This article explores the roles and responsibilities within the Scrum framework for Agile implementation. Some key differences in Agile team building exercise include:

• The development of holistic teams with cross-functional expertise
• Domain specialists with a broad knowledge and view of the business aspects associated with their work areas
• Stable team structures that can iterate and improve the SDLC workflows on a continuous basis.

Agile teams are often comprised of the following key roles and responsibilities:

Let’s take a look at each.

Product owner

The product owner represents the stakeholders of the project. The role is primarily responsible for setting the direction for product development or project progress.

The Product Owner understands the requirements of the project from a stakeholder perspective and has the necessary soft skills to communicate the requirements to the product development team. The Product Owner also understand the long-term business vision and aligns the project with the needs and expectations of all stakeholders. End-user feedback is taken into account to determine appropriate next-best action plans for the development throughout the project cycle.

The key responsibilities of a Product Owner include:

• Scrum backlog management
• Release management
• Stakeholder management

The Product Owner is knowledgeable of the backlog items added to the list as well as items selected for work. The Product Owner changes and sets the priority of backlog item list based on stakeholder feedback and project circumstances. The role also manages the release cycle planning to ensure that the development team can deliver updated project iterations on a continuous basis.

Finally, the Product Owner ensures that product development translates into value for the stakeholders. Communication with end-users, business executives, partners and the development team is therefore a key responsibility.