Software Development Process for a small team?

That’s pretty much the same way I work. There are a lot more people here, but on my projects, I am the programmer, and I have a graphic artist/usability web designer with whom I work. There is a “project manager”, but he is only there to ask us when the software will be released. We also have a technical writer to document everything and interact with our marketing department (which knows absolutely nothing about what we do).

Are you having any specific problems with which you’d like help?

Depending on complexity of the project, I would go with agile or scrum. You want to make sure that you are following process that in the event someone else has to be drawn into the project, they can pick up the work at any point and move forward with it. Being a smaller team only shortens the time between some steps, it doesn’t change the process for how the work gets done. If your business is successful, you will have multiple projects going on at the same time, and you will need documented process to keep all the balls in the air.

I also recommend Agile Development Methods. While you’re at it, check out 37Signals’ web site for their blog. These are the guys that created Basecamp, Backpack, Highrise…and (sort of) Ruby on Rails, which is an Agile-friendly development language. They have an eBook called Getting Real. It’s an inspirational book about working for results rather than blindly following process that doesn’t get you closer to the finish line. Their blog is chock full of ideas for working effectively in small teams. Basically, it’s all about communication and collaboration.