Demo for Silke — Panda Story — Episode #11
After talking to Silke and Britta, Ray is somewhat relieved that Silke does not see the demo on Monday as the actual review, at least that is his hope. He makes his way to the team room of the backend team to discuss the plans for Monday with Ken. To his disappointment, Ken isn’t there when he arrives in the team room, which prompts Ray to have a quick word with Howard.
Ray: “Hey Howard, can I interrupt you for a minute.”
Howard: “Yeah what’s up?”
Ray: “Was Silke just here in the room?”
Howard: “Yes she was. She wanted something from Ken about the SuS Suite.”
Ray: “We have to stop her disturbing the team.”
Howard: “That’s why I sent her to you with, but yes, it was just a happy circumstance as Ken had gone to the front end team and she just had missed him.”
Ray: “Britta will prepare something for all of us to reflect on Scrum and the transformation of the last few weeks.”
Howard: “Hopefully with management as well.”
Ray: “Yes, Silke will be there among others, at least that’s the plan.”
Ken comes back from the front end team and joins Howard and Ray.
Ken: “Hi you two, good news. I’ve just been to the frontend team, I think the click dummy is presentable for the show.”
Ray: “That’s good news, do you think we can show it to Silke on Monday?”
Ken: “There are still a few bugs in it, nothing dramatic, but it needs to be fixed. I hope we can get it done by Monday.” <looks towards Howard> “We’ll have to discuss in our next Retrospective, how we’re currently dealing with this. The demo for Silke one day before the review has to remain an exception.”
Howard: “Definitely, a lot of things need to change here, for everyone.”
Ray: “Well I won’t keep you any longer Ken. I’m looking forward to Monday. Have a good weekend.”
Ken: “You too Ray.”
Howard, Ken and Ray confidently go into what they hope will be a quieter weekend. Monday the following week is the last day before the review and the important start of the fair on Tuesday with the presentation of the SuS Suite to the fair audience. When he arrives at the office, Ray goes straight to the team room to help Ken and the team prepare the demo.
Ken: “Good morning Ray. How was your weekend?”
Ray: “Good so far, I’m a little nervous about the show and the demo today, hopefully everything works out?” <looks questioningly at Ken>
Ken: “I think everything will work, in an hour or two everything should be ready for the demo. I know the bugs, we can work around them for now. When did Silke want the demo?”
Ray: “She didn’t say exactly, but as far as I know there are still board meetings this morning, so probably sometime in the afternoon then. I’ll try to get a hold of her if that’s possible during the board meeting.”
Ken: “Ok, thanks, I’ll see you later then.”
Ray is visibly relieved that everything is set for the demo and leisurely walks to the coffee kitchen to get something to drink. Silke is standing in front of the coffee machine, making herself a coffee.
Silke: “Good morning Ray, when can we hold the demo today?”
Ray: “You have a board meeting right now, am I right? So afternoon should suit us all.”
Silke: “The meeting is postponed until this afternoon. The full board wants to know if the SuS Suite is ready for the fair.”
Ray: “Does that mean you’d like the demo beforehand?”
Silke: “In an hour or two would be good, yes.”
Ray: “I don’t know if the suite will be ready for demo then. The team is still working on the last bugs.”
Silke: “Don’t worry Ray, I just want to get a good feel for the new features, the rest will be up to you.”
Ray: “Then I’ll see you in the team room later.”
Silke: “See you later.”
Silke grabs her coffee and leaves the kitchen. Ray also goes back to his office to get the poster for the fair. He goes through the product backlog of the SuS Suite again and compares it with the ideas of the poster. Before heading back to the team room, he finishes his coffee. Back in the team room, he looks at Ken to assess the situation before joining him.
Ken: “Ray, the demo is in about an hour, when is Silke coming?”
Ray: “I think in a few minutes.”
Ken: <looks startled> “In a few minutes, I thought not until the afternoon, why didn’t you let me know?”
Ray: “Texted you on chat, didn’t you see that.”
Ken: “I guess not, I was busy getting ready.” <obviously annoyed>
Ray: “Yeah sorry, should have called.”
While Ray and Ken are still talking a bit about the new features, Silke comes into the team room. Sshe walks over to Ray and Ken.
Silke: “Good idea of you to have the fair poster here, so we can match it up.”
Ray: “That was the idea, yes.”
Silke: “Ken, let’s see the new features.”
Ken demonstrates the new features to Silke in the click-dummy, without mentioning that this is only a click-dummy. Silke is very happy with what she sees at first sight and because of Ken’s knowledge, no errors occur.
Silke: “That looks great, thank you. I would like to try some more, may I?”
Silke doesn’t wait for the answer and enters new values directly into the mask for the route calculation.
Silke: “There seems to be a mistake, the calculation doesn’t work.”
Ray: “Strictly speaking, that’s not an error.”
Silke: “What do you mean?”
Ray: “We knew we wouldn’t be able to implement all the new features in time for the fair, so we decided to use a click dummy that just simulates the functions.”
Silke: <gasps> “Ray seriously, when were you going to tell me this?”
Ray: “Actually not at all, I thought if I presented it at the fair there would be no problem. I didn’t know when I made the decision that there wasn’t enough budget for me being there.”
Silke: “I would have liked more transparency, Ray, that’s quite disappointing now. But the click dummy still looks great, I don’t think anyone will notice.” <pauses briefly> “I don’t know where I’m going to get the budget at such short notice yet, but you should both come to the fair. <looks at Ray and Ken> I hope you’re not busy tomorrow, I can’t present it, I haven’t remembered where I can and can’t click, you’ll have to take care of that.”
Ray: “Now I am relieved, I already had a bad conscience that you might not understand.”
Silke: “I am disappointed! But I had another talk with Britta on Friday and it was very helpful. I think we all still have to learn what Scrum means for us as a company. For the fair it is ok now.”
Ken: “I’ll be able go to the fair tomorrow, Ray can you make it as well?”
Ray: “Yeah, sure. We still have to discuss it with Howard because of the sprint change.”
Silke: “You do that and thanks for the demo and for your work.” <Silke speaks louder so everyone in the team room can hear>.
Ray and Ken are relieved that Silke took it that way and didn’t go through the roof. Every now and then the two are amazed at how calm Silke can be, unfortunately this isn’t very often the case. Presumably Britta’s influence has had some effect.
