In my journey through the world of Agile and Scrum, one concept has consistently stood out as a cornerstone of success: the Definition of Done (DoD). It’s not just a checklist; it’s a commitment to quality that shapes the very essence of our work. Today, I want to share my insights on why the Definition of Done is crucial and how it can transform your team’s approach to delivering value.
What is the Definition of Done?
The Definition of Done represents the level of quality that your product must achieve before it can be considered complete. It’s that critical line we must cross to ensure we’re delivering a usable product at the end of every Sprint. According to the Agile Manifesto, we should aim for a working, usable product at least every few weeks. Scrum takes this a step further, insisting that we must have a usable working product at the end of every Sprint.
- Key Takeaway: The DoD is not merely a formality; it’s the foundation of risk mitigation in Scrum and all Agile practices. Without it, we risk building features that may not work or meet user needs.
The Importance of Transparency
Transparency is a fundamental principle in Scrum, and the Definition of Done plays a pivotal role in this. We have three types of transparency in Scrum:
- Transparency of the Future: This is represented by the product backlog, where we outline what we aim to achieve.
- Transparency of the Present: The Sprint backlog shows us what we are currently working on.
- Transparency of the Past: The increment, enabled by our commitment to the Definition of Done, allows us to reflect on what we’ve accomplished.
Without a clear DoD, the other two transparencies become irrelevant. If we cannot see what we’ve done, how can we understand where we are going? It’s essential to know the current state of our product—whether it’s finished or if more work is needed—before we can plan our next steps.
Risk Mitigation in Agile
In traditional project management, risk is often assessed across the entire lifecycle of a project, with extensive plans created to mitigate potential issues. However, Agile encourages us to plan more frequently and in smaller increments. This approach allows us to adapt quickly and avoid building features that don’t meet user needs.
- How to Mitigate Risk:
- Ensure you have a clear Definition of Done.
- Regularly review and adapt your DoD with your team.
- Foster open communication about what it means to be “done.”
A Test for Your Team
Here’s a practical exercise you can do with your team to assess your Definition of Done. During your next review, ask team members to articulate what the DoD is. If the response is vague or if someone says, “It’s on the wiki,” then it’s clear that your team lacks a solid understanding of it. A well-defined DoD should be something every team member can confidently explain.
Conclusion
The Definition of Done is not just a box to tick; it’s a vital component of Agile and Scrum that ensures we deliver quality products. If you don’t have a DoD, I urge you to create one. It’s the most important thing you can do to enhance your team’s effectiveness and the quality of your product.
If you found this discussion valuable, I encourage you to engage with me. I always welcome comments and questions, and if you’d like to chat further about Agile, Scrum, or DevOps, feel free to book a coffee with me through Naked Agility. Let’s continue the conversation and elevate our understanding of what it means to be truly “done.”
Definition of done in Scrum is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. Definition of done really represents the level of quality that your product has, but it’s almost that line you have to cross. If you look at the US Department of Defense guide detecting Agile, one of my favourite articles, you’ll see it talks about working product in front of real users every iteration, including the first. The Agile Manifesto talks about working usable product at least every few weeks, at least every few months, right? And Scrum is probably the strictest of them that says you need to have usable working product at the end of every Sprint. Every Sprint, you must have usable working product. That doesn’t mean you’re going to ship it, although why would you build a bunch of value and then not advertise it, right? But the minimum for Scrum, the minimum to be doing Scrum is that you need a usable working product at the end of the Sprint. That usable working product is the foundation of risk mitigation in Scrum. Ultimately, usable working product is the foundation of risk mitigation in all of Agile practices, right?
But it’s also that moment of transparency. If you think about the other transparencies in Scrum, you’ve got transparency of the future with the product backlog, you’ve got transparency of the present with the Sprint backlog, and then transparency of the past is the increment. The way we enable transparency of the past is through committing to the definition of done. Without that commitment to the definition of done, having a definition of done that represents usable working product and meeting it at the end of every Sprint, then the other two transparencies are irrelevant. Unless we can see what we’ve done, how can we know where we’re going? If you don’t know where you are and where you’ve been, how do you know how to get to where you want to be? You have to understand what’s in your product currently, whether it works or it doesn’t. Is it finished, or is there more work to do to make it get to that point before you can figure out how do we, if this is the future state and this is the current state, and our backlog represents a diff between those two states? If this is a false state, it’s not transparent where we currently are. Maybe we’re here, maybe we’re there, maybe we’re over here. If we don’t know, then we don’t know the journey we have to take between those two points, right?
So, definition of done is the commitment to quality that enables us to have that point. Then the next little journey is your Sprint backlog, but we still have to know where we are to know where at the end of the Sprint we need to be, right? So that’s that critical importance, and we use that as our risk mitigation in Scrum. In traditional models, you’re going to look across the entire life of the product, the project, right? You’re going to look at all of the risks that might possibly happen, and then you’re going to create a bunch of mitigating actions should those risks arise, and that’s part of your plan for the whole thing. But in Agile, we’re not planning that far ahead. We’re planning more often, but in smaller chunks to see if we get there.
So the way that we mitigate risk in that story, and we don’t go off in the wrong direction, we don’t build a bunch of stuff that doesn’t actually work, and then we find out later, right? That’s adding risk. We need that working usable product. So the definition of done is the most important and foundational concept in Scrum, and I would suggest all of Agile. Knowing what it means to be done is that important.
Yeah, so that definition of done being so important is absolutely critical to the success of any product. Here’s a good test that you can use with your team. If you have a team, if you work with a team, if you’re a leader and there are teams, right? Go ask somebody on the team, perhaps bring it up at the review. Ask what the definition of done is if they haven’t articulated it to you. If the answer is anything other than “our definition of done is this,” if it’s anything other than that, they don’t have one. If the answer is “it’s on the wiki,” they don’t have one. Because if it’s on the wiki and each individual member of the team can’t articulate it, what are the chances that they’re meeting it? Therefore, it does not exist.
So have a definition of done. Get one if you don’t have one. Definition of done is the most important thing in Agile and Scrum. Thanks for watching the video. If you enjoyed it, please like, follow, and subscribe. I always reply to comments, and if you want to have a chat about this or anything else Agile, Scrum, or DevOps, then please book a coffee with me through Naked Agility.
