Even Scrum teams have conflict (Part One)

What you are about to read is true, however some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent, etc.

At the beginning of the week, all was bright.

After lunch with CTO Darryl Booth—where we discussed how excited we were about the company and the direction it was going—I attended a meeting with Client Services Manager John Jensen, his staff, and San Bernardino County. The agency was singing our praises following their successful migration from Envision to EnvisionConnect.

When the meeting concluded, I sat back, grinning. The customers—internal and external—were happy. My team was wrapping up another successful sprint. The department was running like clock-work, and we were about to take a day off to celebrate Independence Day. Life could not be more perfect.

What could possibly go wrong?

...Never, ever ask that question.

Alforno—the number two most mild-mannered programmer on my team—burst into my office. "HL, please tell Sparky to check in his code?"

"What?"

"He finished his code, but he won't check it in."

"Really?"

Sparky—my number one most mild-mannered programmer—pushed his way in. "It's my code. I will check it in when I am ready and not before."

Alforno's voice grew louder. "No. It's the team's code, and we need it now. QA has to verify your fix before the review meeting."

Moe Howard pointed down from my wall calendar, reminding me that it wasn't April 1st.

Sparky's voice was even louder. "I have worked at Decade six years, and I have never been under such pressure. Every where I turn someone is asking when I will be done. It's like I have many managers, instead of one. How did it get like this?"

I tried to remain calm. "Come on in, guys. Have a seat."

As I closed the door, I thought I heard the voice of Rod Serling saying something about sign-posts.

 

To be continued...