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The Product Increment and
The Definition Of “Done”
Road to Mastery — Season 2 — Episode 3
[revised for 2020 Scrum Guide update]
There can be plenty of confusion in the workspace over the smallest and simplest terms. Those performing the work must share a common definition of “Done”.
“The Failure to have absolute transparent definition of Done is the undoing of everything you do in Scrum.” — Ken Schwaber
The entire point of Scrum is to create Done Increments.
- The Definition of Done is a commitment to the Increment.
- The Definition of Done is a shared understanding of completeness.
- The Definition of Done is a shared understanding of quality.
- The moment a Product Backlog item meets the Definition of Done, an Increment is born.
Done Increments are essential for Scrum’s empiricism. Done increments provide real evidence of real results instead of pseudo-progress reports.
The Definition enables inspection if the work performed on a Product Backlog item qualifies as an Increment. Almost done is not done. It’s either done or it isn’t. There is no such thing as 80% done. What’s more,
“If a Product Backlog item does not meet the Definition of Done, it cannot be released or even presented at the Sprint Review.” -SG