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It seems like your team is at war within your own company. You are actually building a wall! That doesn't feel right, and doesn't feel any more positive than wh

It seems like your team is at war within your own company. You are actually building a wall! That doesn't feel right, and doesn't feel any more positive than what the previous comment was describing.

lifeisstillgood 6y ago
Perhaps think of it more as a cell wall - some things can pass through by osmosis, but ti is a much more controlled thing.
pulse7 6y ago
I don't see it as a wall, but defined order (how new tasks are put into the queue) instead of chaos (when sales people come directly to the developer's desk and order new requests without others involved)...
madeofpalk 6y ago
But this is exactly why we have these processes! Companies have trouble prioritising and planning _at scale_ - they're constantly at war with themselves - so we introduce a process to manage the inefficiencies of many people, with conflicting priorities and points of view, trying to develop a product.
theshrike79 6y ago
It's not a wall, more like a moat with a drawbridge :) The drawbridge is lowered every two weeks and that's when the team delivers and demonstrates the stuff they did during that time. This is also the time the stakeholders get to present the prioritised list of work that needs to be done during the next two weeks (Product backlog). During the two week period if the stakeholders need to communicate to the Fort of Scrum, they can shout from the other side of the moat and the Scrum Master is the only one with access to the only tower in the castle where the shouting can be heard. The team has complete autonomy and peace to work for the two weeks.
- dopidop 6y ago
  And here I am, building tunnel under the moat, being cozy with the stakeholder in order to influence his decision and secure some sprints that make sense ( for my team, I absolutely don’t care about the product, it’s a lost cause behemoth, the product will be fine. )
  - beardedetim 6y ago
    I thought someone was digging a tunnel next to mine!
mmcnl 6y ago
I don't think so. Within a company departments can have different interests that sometimes clash. A mature team would notice this tension and signal this to the stakeholders. I think developers often think that people outside scrum teams have a well thought through plan of things they are doing. That's often not the case, they're just trying to figure out what they need to do to get things done. If a team signals that business people need to make a priority call, that brings a lot of clarity. I think it's a good sign.
louwrentius 6y ago
Exactly, it seems to me they aren't taken seriously / respected by the business side as professionals that can work autonomously. Using scrum/agile to fix a lack of trust, not sure how that's going to work out long-term.
- ozim 6y ago
  I would describe someone who has defined process, defined check-in periods, defined communication lines and is following it as a professional. How do you work as a professional autonomously without setting rules for work and setting up process for regular progress check-in?
ozim 6y ago
I propose that you read "The Phoenix Project (A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win)". I don't feel like I am building a wall, I am building a structured approach to communication and software building that is predictable to deliver value to our business and our customers.

It seems like your team is at war within your own company. You are actually building a wall! That doesn't feel right, and doesn't feel any more positive than what the previous comment was describing.

lifeisstillgood 6y ago

Perhaps think of it more as a cell wall - some things can pass through by osmosis, but ti is a much more controlled thing.

pulse7 6y ago

I don't see it as a wall, but defined order (how new tasks are put into the queue) instead of chaos (when sales people come directly to the developer's desk and order new requests without others involved)...

madeofpalk 6y ago

But this is exactly why we have these processes! Companies have trouble prioritising and planning _at scale_ - they're constantly at war with themselves - so we introduce a process to manage the inefficiencies of many people, with conflicting priorities and points of view, trying to develop a product.

theshrike79 6y ago

It's not a wall, more like a moat with a drawbridge :) The drawbridge is lowered every two weeks and that's when the team delivers and demonstrates the stuff they did during that time. This is also the time the stakeholders get to present the prioritised list of work that needs to be done during the next two weeks (Product backlog). During the two week period if the stakeholders need to communicate to the Fort of Scrum, they can shout from the other side of the moat and the Scrum Master is the only one with access to the only tower in the castle where the shouting can be heard. The team has complete autonomy and peace to work for the two weeks.

dopidop 6y ago
And here I am, building tunnel under the moat, being cozy with the stakeholder in order to influence his decision and secure some sprints that make sense ( for my team, I absolutely don’t care about the product, it’s a lost cause behemoth, the product will be fine. )
- beardedetim 6y ago
  I thought someone was digging a tunnel next to mine!

mmcnl 6y ago

I don't think so. Within a company departments can have different interests that sometimes clash. A mature team would notice this tension and signal this to the stakeholders. I think developers often think that people outside scrum teams have a well thought through plan of things they are doing. That's often not the case, they're just trying to figure out what they need to do to get things done. If a team signals that business people need to make a priority call, that brings a lot of clarity. I think it's a good sign.

louwrentius 6y ago

Exactly, it seems to me they aren't taken seriously / respected by the business side as professionals that can work autonomously. Using scrum/agile to fix a lack of trust, not sure how that's going to work out long-term.

ozim 6y ago
I would describe someone who has defined process, defined check-in periods, defined communication lines and is following it as a professional. How do you work as a professional autonomously without setting rules for work and setting up process for regular progress check-in?

ozim 6y ago

I propose that you read "The Phoenix Project (A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win)". I don't feel like I am building a wall, I am building a structured approach to communication and software building that is predictable to deliver value to our business and our customers.