Having a Definition of Done (DoD) helps your team know what they need to do when developing features, from the initial scoping process right through to releasing to customers.
Run this workshop at the beginning of your project and use it at sprint planning. Review and revise your DoD at the sprint review or retrospective and make changes as needed.
How to run the Definition of Done workshop
1. Brainstorm: What makes a story ‘Done’?
Write down and group all the factors to completing a story – what are the high-level activities that get a story done. Include activities you do now, and new activities that could be incorporated.
- Create stickies for all the things that contribute to getting a story ‘done’ – 10 mins
- Group similar items – 10 mins
- Decide which tasks the team actually want to include in their Definition of Done (the voting tool can help here) – 10 mins
Examples here could include:
- all acceptance criteria written and passed
- deployed on test server and tested
- deployed to customer behind feature flag
2. Timeline
Arrange the tasks in a timeline – what needs to be done, and when, in what order? Describe the activities at each stage that contribute to your DoD. This will help you refine which activities you definitely need.
3. Compile your final Definition of Done
Finalise your DoD from the activities you decided to include, and the order they are completed in. Use the DoD in your sprint & release activities.
4. Review and refresh
At appropriate intervals, review your DoD together to see if you need to add or remove any practices from it.
