This is my first DRAFT … return occasionally to get the latest story :)
Context
As outlined in http://blogs.msdn.com/b/willy-peter_schaub/archive/2009/08/20/vsts-rangers-projects-summary-of-projects-covered-on-this-blog.aspx we have completed a large number of successful Rangers projects, have just started some new ones and will shortly send out invitations to new Rangers projects.
In all of these invites and associated kick-off meetings we talk about personas such as Core Rangers, Core Members, Feature Area Leads, Contributors, Reviewers, Subject Matter Experts, etc. … huh? To make an informed decision and ensure that you end up in the right role, we should probably dust off the cobwebs, the uncertainties and summarise the roles and expectations.
… in a nutshell …
Type of Rangers
At this stage the Visual Studio ALM Rangers have three types of Rangers:
| Core Ranger | A ranger who has successfully shipped a Rangers solution, as development lead. |
| Extended Ranger | A ranger who is employed by Microsoft, typically in the product group, services, DPE or UE. |
| External Ranger | A ranger who is not employed by Microsoft, typically a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional or Community Lead. |
Acronyms: | DPE – Developer and Platform Evangelist | UE – User Education |
Ranger project roles
| | Definition | Expectations |
| Program Manager (PM) | This could be a thesis … in essence a PM assembles a team, aligns the team around a product idea and “ships” the product. | |
| Product Owner (PO) | Owns the product developed by the Rangers and often acts as an interface between the Rangers and product team. | - Passion, ownership, commitment … euphoric about product
|
| Development Lead | Leads, guides and supports the project team, taking responsibility for product quality, team infrastructure and addressing team impediments. | - Passion, ownership, commitment … lead by example, not chatter
|
| Reviewer | Reviews content developed by the project teams. | - Critical and candid feedback at all time
- Bandwidth crunch is often encountered late in the project, when reviewing Alpha, Beta, Release Candidate and Maintenance releases
|
| Contributor | Contributes content to the project team, such as guidance, hands-on-labs or programs. | - Takes ownership and responsibility for own action items
- Never go “dark”
- Bandwidth crunch is early in the project
|
| Feature Area Lead | Works with development lead, taking ownership for a specific and focused feature area within the project. | - Typically feature lead and a contributor
- Coordinate contributors
- Deliver status to dev lead regularly
- Cannot go “dark” ever!!!
|
| Subject Matter Expert | An expert who lives and breathes in the topic area addressed by the Rangers project. | - Support the team technically
- Passion and experience in technology
|
In each Rangers project the Core team consists of the Product Manager, Product Owner, Development Lead, Feature Area Leads and optionally a Scrum/Ruck Master.
Hope this helps …