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Experience with "Sie/Vous" - Culture and Scrum ?

Last post 03:24 am November 16, 2013 by Anonymous
2 replies
Anonymous
03:28 pm November 15, 2013

Hello,

there are some cultures like German and French, where they have two types of "you".
A formal "you" and a non formal "you". I am looking for experience with this formal "you" culture.

I have the feeling that this formal culture creates a distance between the people.
This is enhanced with formal clothes.

Imagine you would talk with your team members always in a formal way ...

Regards,
Sandra


02:57 am November 16, 2013

Scrum emphasises ease of collaboration over more constrained behaviors that limit co-operation. Formality in clothing or modes of address are unhelpful if they reinforce inappropriate power relationships. That isn't always the case though; if everyone uses equivalent formalities the field may be leveled. Or to put it another way: si tout le monde est "vous", pas de probleme.

In Scrum terms, I reckon it is better to focus on good etiquette than formality. Debrette's says that "good etiquette" is behavior that puts people at their ease...and much depends on context and audience. That's as true in agile ways of working as anywhere else.


Anonymous
03:24 am November 16, 2013

At the moment there is an atmosphere like this: "someone else did something wrong", "Team XY does not their work", "bugs are new requirements", ...

I think "feeling at their ease" is some of the most basic when you start with Scrum. How can you request people to ask for feedback and to give feedback, when there is a distance?


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