Definition of done

What It Means

The Definition of Done is a shared, written description of the quality a piece of work has to reach before a Scrum TeamScrum teamThe small, self-managing group that does the work in Scrum: one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers, typically 10 or fewer people. See more counts it as finished. In the 2020 ScrumScrumA lightweight framework, defined in the Scrum Guide, in which a small team delivers work in fixed-length Sprints of one month or less and adjusts after each one. See more Guide's terms it's a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures the product requires. As soon as a Product Backlog itemProduct backlogIn Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team. See more meets it, that item becomes part of the Increment. Anything that falls short isn't released or shown at the Sprint Review; it goes back to the Product Backlog.

How People Say It

• "Is it done, or done done?"
• "It's coded but it doesn't meet our definition of done yet."
• "Let's add accessibility checks to the DoD."

The Breakdown

How to create a Definition of Done

1. Check whether your organization already has one as a standard. If it does, every Scrum Team must follow it as a minimum.
2. Without an organizational standard, the Scrum Team writes one suited to the product.
3. List the quality checks that must be true of every finished piece of work, in plain words anyone can verify.
4. Keep it where the whole team and the stakeholders can see it.
5. Hold every item to it before calling it finished.
6. At each Sprint RetrospectiveSprint retrospectiveThe last Scrum event of each Sprint, where the Scrum Team looks at how it worked and picks the changes most likely to make it more effective. See more, look at it again and raise the bar when the team is ready.

What happens to an item

Short version to try today (Buhata's own example). For a household "clean kitchen," write three checks everyone agrees on: counters wiped, dishwasher run, floor swept. The job isn't done until all three are.

Where It Comes From

The Definition of Done comes from the Scrum Guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. Its November 2020 edition made it the commitment for the Increment, one of three commitments alongside the Product GoalProduct goalIn Scrum, the long-term objective for a product, a future state the team plans toward, kept in the Product Backlog as its commitment. See more and the Sprint GoalSprint goalThe single objective a Scrum Team sets for one Sprint, agreed at Sprint Planning, which gives the team a shared focus while leaving room in the exact work. See more, as Scrum.org explains.

Good to Know

When several Scrum Teams work on the same product, the 2020 Scrum Guide says they must agree and follow the same Definition of Done, so work from each team meets one bar. The Sprint Retrospective is where the guide has the team inspect it. An organization's standard works as a floor: every Scrum Team follows it at least, and a team can hold its own work to more.

Related Terms and Categories

• Sprint retrospective

  The last Scrum event of each Sprint, where the Scrum Team looks at how it worked and picks the changes most likely to make it more effective.

• Product backlog

  In Scrum, the ordered list of everything needed to improve a product, and the single source of work for the Scrum Team.

• Scrum team

  The small, self-managing group that does the work in Scrum: one Product Owner, one Scrum Master and the Developers, typically 10 or fewer people.

• User story

  A short description of something a product should do, written from the point of view of the person who needs it, often in the form "As a, I want, so that."

Productivity methods and focus