Understanding the Definition of Done: What it Means and Why it Matters

Here’s how to create a Definition of Done (DoD):

1. Assemble the team for comprehensive discussions about customer needs and the product or project requirements.
2. Collaboratively identify specific criteria including functional, technical, and quality standards.
3. Involve other teams and stakeholders to ensure cross-team collaboration and alignment.
4. Document the defined criteria. Keep it concise for easy understanding.
5. Seek continuous improvement by regularly reviewing and refining the DoD.

When Is the Definition of Done Created?

The Definition of Done is created by the team during sprint planning. Product owners are responsible for backlog refinement and bringing new product backlog items into the next sprint. The goal is to create a shared understanding regarding these items before the sprint begins. 

During sprint planning, the team will define specific criteria and actions for each user story or product increment. Ideally, this ensures consistent quality throughout the project.

Common Pitfalls

It’s sometimes challenging for team members and stakeholders to agree on the Definition of Done (DoD). Team members have diverse perspectives and different levels of experience, which influences how they view the Definition of Done. Lack of communication, time constraints, and a lack of clarity can also pose challenges. Here are some other common pitfalls:

• Overlooking Criteria: When people are rushing to write a DoD, they sometimes miss essential criteria. This can result in unfinished or subpar work, customer dissatisfaction, and/or rework. Team members need time to identify the DoD.
  
• Obsessing Over Details: Spending too much time on the DoD can also be a problem. Excessive nitpicking and fine-tuning slows down the process. Teams need to balance quality without getting lost in minor details. To speed up the process, agile teams may want to learn about definition of done examples from other organizations for inspiration. 
  
• Feature-Specific Criteria: Individual features may have unique criteria or dependencies. It’s important that team members explicitly identify these issues to avoid confusion and disagreement during the sprint.
  
• Lack of Sprint Retrospectives: In order to keep improving, teams should conduct sprint retrospectives on a regular basis. Retrospectives allow the team to identify opportunities to improve their ability to write a DoD.
  

Definition of Done vs Acceptance Criteria

The Definition of Done is a set of criteria that determines when a task or project is considered complete by organizational standards. It outlines the minimum requirements that must be met for a deliverable to be considered a shippable product. The Definition of Done also sets quality measures to ensure consistency across different features and user stories.

In contrast, Acceptance Criteria are specific to each user story or feature. They outline the specific conditions or functionalities that need to be satisfied for the user story to be accepted by the project stakeholders. 

The Definition of Done ensures that all work meets a baseline standard, while Acceptance Criteria provides a more detailed list of specific requirements unique to each aspect of the project.

Definition of Done in the Organization

In crafting the Definition of Done, it's crucial to understand how the criteria varies across different levels of management, specifically at the team, program, and portfolio levels.