Definition of Done

The Definition of Done explains everything we are going to do for each item in the Product Backlog (all types of test, documentation, etc).

There should be a shared understanding of what it means for a piece of work to be “Done”. This definition of “Done” must be discussed and agreed upon by the Scrum Team at the beginning of the project so that future Increments would be releasable.

Composition

The Definition of Done usually contains the following:

• Development processes (e.g. programming, testing, documenting)
• Non-functional features (e.g. security, maintainability, scalability)
• Quality criteria and acceptance criteria

Responsibilities

Normally, we expect the definition of “Done” to come from the organization level. This works as the minimum constrains for the project, and then the developers can add more to the Definition of Done, to make it suitable for the project. When there is not a Definition of Done in the organization, the whole concept is defined by the Development Team.

Scaling

Teams can have different Definitions of Done in scaled Scrum, to reflect their approaches to development. However, those definitions should:

• Contain all the constrains set by the organization, or those needed for the whole project (the minimums)
• All definitions should be compatible, and capable of creating one integrated Increment at the end of each Sprint

External Resources

• Scrum Guide, a definition of the Scrum framework by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland
• Nexus Guide, a framework for scaling Scrum by Ken Schwaber et al.
• The Scrum Master Training Manual, a free ebook on Scrum, and the Professional Scrum Master™ (PSM™ I) exam
• Scrum Awareness, a free email course on Scrum framework