The Definition of Done as a mutually agreed upon minimum set of standards.
Definition of Done is a checklist-driven agile management practice which drives compliance and contract negotiation. There are time in which there is a lack of trust, but maturity is most likely the reason for most to use Definition of Done. The best way to view Definition of Done is to consider it a tool assisting in onboarding to a new team or customer. There are many variations of new (new teams, teams new to a project, or a new customer) that the use the Definition of Done "training wheels" to refer to until it becomes second nature making sense and is beneficial for the team and their stakeholders.
Definition of Done is a checklist-driven agile management practice which drives compliance and contract negotiation. There are time in which there is a lack of trust, but maturity is most likely the reason for most to use Definition of Done. The best way to view Definition of Done is to consider it a tool assisting in onboarding to a new team or customer. There are many variations of new (new teams, teams new to a project, or a new customer) that the use the Definition of Done "training wheels" to refer to until it becomes second nature making sense and is beneficial for the team and their stakeholders.
Definition of Done should be a hygiene factor not an end in its own right. It's there to ensure things are done correctly. Where Definition of Done is good, it is to remind the team, that, for instance a story is not completed before it's tested and all bugs are fixed: developers often feel that they are done when code has been committed for the first time. Rarely the case. On occasion there were conversations between the team and the Product Owner about whether some items in the Definition of Done could be sacrificed in order to meet a particular deadline. These conversations were open and constructive. On many occasions, the Product Owner decided not to sacrifice the Definition of Done and to take the hit on the delivery date because they understood its importance to the long-term quality of the codebase.
The Definition of Done as a mutually agreed upon minimum set of standards. Different people have different ideas of what "done" means, depending on their background, maturity, skill, opinions, etc. Getting a team to a common definition makes assumptions explicit. The Definition of Done is an essential tool which should be agreed by the team and Product Owner - nothing is 'imposed'. Some high-performing teams see it as an important contribution to the organization's perception of their team's professionalism and success.
One technique is about trying to get teams to use several definitions of Done to consider different testing needs. For example Feature Done and Story Done are different. If you look at the types of testing for these 'levels,' you might be more creative about what kinds of testing we do when. Of course, you would like to do everything all the time, but it is not always possible. One example might be browser compatibility or testing on many devices. Not part of story done, but is definitely part of feature done.
Definition of Done is a great tool for team members to capture a “bigger” picture; the team members are rolling onto a project to get a picture for the expectations of their teammates and how they work. Not all agile teams are created equal or work together in the same fashion and this is a great tool to bridge that gap. Where you have a Scrum of Scrums scenario, a Definition of Done is a tool to ensure that each scrum is working towards the same definition of a done story which can become even more impactful when integration with services is involved, or testing is being performed outside of a sprint.
What the story is, what it will be when it is done, what testing goes on, are a continuing conversation. Definition of done is to assess feasibility, not for detailed requirements or outcomes. Therefore, overly detailed grooming is also often a waste of time, it’s all about using it as an agile technique to enforce communication and deliver better quality projects.
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