Definition of Done in Scrum (DoD)-What can you do to Mature It?

Hi guys! During the last weeks, I have been coaching a couple of teams. The Definition of Done In Scrum (DoD) topic always pops up. The topic itself is not a challenge, but in this blog I would like to explain how teams can mature their Definition of Done (DoD).

For the ones that are a bit distracted and do not know what Definition of Done (DoD) means, I will explain by referring to Wikipedia:

The exit criteria are used to determine whether a product backlog item is complete. In many cases, the DoD requires that all regression tests should be successful. The definition of “done” may vary from one scrum team to another, but it must be consistent within one team.

In case you have some difficulties coming up with a proper Definition of Done, some time ago I wrote a blog post that talks about it. You can find it here in “15 Topics to Include in Your Definition of Done“.

But how can you as a Scrum Master or team push yourself to improve your Definition of Done?

Definition of Done In Scrum - How To Improve it

The answer is very easy, and what I will describe now is the process that I use with my teams.

When you create your Definition of Done, think about all of the tasks that must be done in order to put the story into production. Be imaginative and really include everything, even tasks that might be out of your own team control. Go for it, and include everything!

When you are done, you will get what I call the “Future Definition Of Done”. This is the most ambitious DoD that you will create.

The next step is to create a new Definition of Done. This is the one that will be used by the team. In order to build this DoD, just pick up the topics from the “Future Definition of Done” that the team can tackle at that moment. Most probably, this will be a reduced list of what you created before. Do not worry, that is fine. When you finish, you will have two different DoDs.

Now that you have two Definitions of Done, your job is to help the team pick a new topic from the Future DoD. This can be achieved, for example, in the Agile Retrospectives. From time to time, you can use your Agile Retrospective to ask the team, “What is the new topic they would like to include on the current DoD?”

At some point, you will be able to move all the topics from the Future DoD to the current DoD. At that point, you should be proud because you are a very mature team.

If you have topics on the Future DoD that are out of your control, use them as normal impediments that you as a team would like to see solved. This might be tricky but if you get the right support from management, you are actually helping the company to improve as a whole. You are increasing efficiency by reducing the hand-overs and enabling the company to release software faster.

Hope you liked my idea! I would love to hear your feedback, so please leave your comments below.

Luis