The Importance of Quality for Agility
An Excerpt from the Scrum Anti-Patterns Guide (7)
Hello everyone!
Welcome to the sixth excursion into Scrum anti-patterns—the Definition of Done.
The Definition of Done is simple: “Done” reflects releasable; we can deliver the Increment into the hands of our customers without any legal, moral, ethical, or financial repercussions. A done Increment is safe to ship, and stakeholders are satisfied with the Scrum team’s work.
Business Agility Requires Technical Excellence
The Definition of Done supports the organization’s path to business agility if properly done: It is one accomplishment to discover the “next big thing” your customers need. However, turning this learning into marketable products and services is very different if the Scrum team lacks the proper technical foundation: there is no business agility without technical excellence.
For this quality-driven approach to work, the Scrum team, the stakeholders, and the organization need a standard that brings transparency to the work of the Scrum team, enabling everyone to inspect the work—the Definition of Done.
Applying a Definition of Done does not entail consistently delivering the best possible quality. However, the Scrum team must provide such a level of quality that the Definition of Done meets the specifications and expectations of all internal and external stakeholders.
The Scrum Guide1 frequently mentions the Definition of Done to underline the importance of a widely known and accepted quality standard for a successful Scrum team and organization. As mentioned earlier, no business agility can be earned without technical excellence and high product quality—both are reflected and supported by the Definition of Done.
While an adequate Definition of Done does not guarantee a Scrum team’s success, its absence certainly accelerates its failure.
Creating a Successful Definition of Done
The Definition of Done is a lively document, regularly inspected and adapted by the Scrum team. If the organization has guiding principles on technical or quality standards, a Scrum team will incorporate those in its Definition of Done. However, beyond this smallest common denominator of quality, the team can lift the standard if it promises a return on investment.
When multiple Scrum teams work on the same product, they must align on a shared Definition of Done that applies to every Product Backlog item. Again, an individual Scrum team of the collective can choose to lift their team-internal quality standard above the shared one.
Definition of Done Anti-Patterns
Regarding the Definition of Done, I spotted some repeating patterns:
Flexible application: The Scrum team applies the quality standard when it is convenient but not as a first principle. (However, as a team, you either meet the quality standard defined by the Definition of Done or don’t. The standard is binary by nature.)
Individual shortcomings: Some team members interpret the meaning of “done” generously. (However, done means done, which means releasable to our customers without repercussions; see above. Whenever someone on the team says a Product Backlog item is done, there is no further need for inspection from a quality perspective.)
Bowing to outside pressure: The Scrum team ignores its Definition of Done to counter external pressure, for example, from the management. (While there may be “all hands to deck”-situations when the organization’s survival is at stake, coping with unrealistic deadlines in this way is a slippery slope. See also “Dying in Beauty” in the Food for Thought paragraph at the end of the chapter.)
No maintenance: A Scrum team creates a Definition of Done once, never to touch it again. (Any Definition of Done needs to be a regular topic for Retrospectives: Is our team’s quality still meeting the expectations of the stakeholders?)
Over the coming months, we will explore many critical Definition of Done anti-patterns in detail, sketching ways to overcome them.
Food for Thought
Dying in Beauty: Due to the lack of funds, your startup has little remaining runway before going out of business. In such situations, should a Scrum team skip its strict adherence to the Definition of Done to extend the runway in the hope of making another milestone that convinces investors to participate in a new funding round?
Land-grab: Scrum teams that become more knowledgeable in their problem and solution space tend to enhance their Definition of Done into areas outside their immediate responsibility to improve value creation. How far should they take this idea; is seeking the confrontation with other stakeholders worth the effort or a mere distraction of the Scrum team?
Governance: In a regulated industry, can Governance and Scrum teams coexist peacefully by integrating the legal requirements into the Definition of Done? Or will the respective Governance body always constitute an external approval gate unknown to Scrum?
Conclusion
The Definition of Done is an essential stepping stone for the Scrum team to deliver an Increment of expected quality. It provides a good return on investment from the team’s perspective and should guide the Scrum team toward accomplishing the Product Goals.
Creating and maintaining a Definition of Done is a long game that perfectly reflects the Scrum Value commitment. As a Scrum team, we want to constantly improve how we work, maximizing the long-term value creation for our customers while contributing to the organization’s sustainability. Therefore, the DoD is a critical investment of the team.
Neglecting the Definition of Done, on the other hand, will slowly but steadily erode the team’s capability to solve the customers’ problems, its reputation, and its contribution to the organization’s longevity.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Best,
Stefan
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Ken Schwaber & Jeff Sutherland: The Scrum Guide — The Definitive Guide to Scrum: The Rules of the Game, 2020.