The purpose of Scrum is to create a potentially releasable Done Product Increment, in order to realize business value. Many teams struggle in improving their Definition of Done. The technique described here allows for greater transparency on what the Definition of Done is, and what the next steps are.
The intent is to provide a structure for the teams to reflect, and then build a plan on what to introduce to improve the quality of their Product Increment. This could be run during a Sprint Retrospective, before starting a team, or at any time during a Sprint.
Setup
Draw three nested triangles on a whiteboard or flip chart, as show in the image below. Label the centre rectangle “Now”, the middle rectangle “Next”, and the outer rectangle “Future”. Use this to guide the team. I like using colors to emphasize the green future!
Invitation
Invite the Scrum Team to build a path to a more rigorous Definition of Done, that would mean that the Product Increment can be released with no further work.
Process
Generation
The team thinks of everything they want to include in the DoD, believing they can do anything. This should cover everything, with no limits or restrictions. Each member writes their ideas on separate post-its and sticks them all on the wall next to the rectangle.
Now
The team works together to place the items they think they are handling into the area marked “Now.” They must all agree that the items there are what they are currently working on or can accomplish in the next Sprint. Everything on this list should show their current practices. Common examples include checked-in code, all unit tests passing, and peer reviews.
It is critical to highlight that the team will be held accountable to this definition, in the next Sprint.
Next
Do the same for the space labelled “Next”. This will consist of items that the team could add to their definition of Done in the short term. These may require a little research, practice or change in behavior. This isn’t about planning when to do them, more an indication of intent. Typical examples include: pair programming, Test Driven Development, automated UI testing, automated deployment to an environment.
There is a reason that the team hasn’t been able to put these in their current definition, as they require some work and effort or purchases to be able to achieve.
Future
Do the same for the space labelled “Future”. This will be the items that require significant investment of time, energy and materials to be able to accomplish. This may require purchase of equipment or tools, negotiation to use tools within a tightly controlled environment, or significant changes to team practices. These aspects are the more challenging to achieve.
Done Exercise
Call to action
The team updates their Definition of “Done” to include the “Now” items. The items may need to be broken down for more granularity or re-worded for more clarity. I would encourage you to complete this now, so that you have a clear definition of Done agreed.
Imagine running this at a Nexus/scaled level – creates some great discussions!
The remaining items can then be ordered in to a rough Backlog. These are then captured as actions so that the entire team has transparency around what they are going to include next. The rate at which you pull these into your Definition of Done will be dependent on the what the Scrum team can accommodate. It is critical that everyone appreciates that this will improve the outcomes of the whole organization.
Conclusion
Done is central to transparency, and having a Done Increment that can be released is the key indicator of an effective Scrum Team. To get to this place, requires effort and focus. The whole team and their stakeholders need to support a ruthless focus on quality, to achieve this value.
A real example of how an organization embraced this, and reaped the rewards is the fashion retailer ASOS. Read about their story here. I was fortunate enough to be there for part of their journey, and the effort to achieve the high levels of flow were significant, however the efforts repaid the organization in being able to support exponential growth.