Why Teamwork is Essential on a Software Development Team

A software development team at work.

There’s an outdated perception that coding and software development careers are mostly solo endeavors. People may think of coders sitting at desks, punching away at code, having little to no interaction with managers, teammates, or clients.

While some solo coding is part of the job, another huge, essential part is teamwork. Professional coders practice pair programming, collaborate on projects, and strive toward aligned team goals.

In this post, we’ll explore what it’s like to work on a software development team and how to get started.

What It’s Like to Work on a Software Development Team

While there’s no set, typical day for a professional software developer, here are some ways a day on the job might unfold:

Getting Started: 

  • Check emails, Slack, or other forms of team communication
  • Plan the day by figuring out what to prioritize
  • Quick check-ins with teammates about projects/tasks if necessary

Meetings

The amount and frequency of meetings varies from company to company and team to team, but software developers can expect to meet with:

  • Managers
  • Other team members
  • Project stakeholders

These meetings cover project progress, new features, training, development updates, and more. You might meet regularly with the entire team, and/or subteams that focus on areas of expertise, project goals, and other factors.

Pair Programming

As we said above, coding can be a solo activity, but it can also be collaborative. As a professional coder, you might participate in Pair Programming, a common practice where one coder writes code while another oversees their work, provides suggestions, and watches for errors. Pair programming is a great example of coding as teamwork – and it’s used by professional teams across industries. We include regular pair programming in our coding bootcamps as a way to learn, and as a way to prepare students to work on professional software development teams.

Tasks and Projects

As you move through the day, you’ll work on solo or team-based projects, depending on company and team needs. You’ll code, test, debug, and more. At points, you may need to seek input from a manager or team member. Successful coders are team players, so all team members should be ready to ask for help and provide help to others throughout the day.

What makes a good team member? 

The fundamental qualities of a good teammate are the same for coding jobs, sports, construction, healthcare, and just about any other collaborative, goal-oriented effort.

As a baseline, you have to show up, complete your work, and do what you can to make others’ jobs easier, not harder.

Good communication is a great foundation for all of this, especially in tech careers where people work separately yet simultaneously on the same project, which can happen fairly often in software development. In our coding bootcamps, we focus on building important skills like communication, teamwork, and collaboration, as well as fostering and encouraging creativity. We also focus on building project portfolios filled with both solo and group projects so graduates can demonstrate their well-rounded abilities to employers.

Want to learn how to code and be part of a software development team?

At Tech Elevator, you’ll learn how to be an effective member of a professional software development team. Read about our curriculum, and get your application started today!

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Written by Vinny Sanfillipo,
Senior Director, Career Development