A good working definition of “Done”

Posted on by Mike Burrows

Ever got into one of those discussions about what constitutes “done”, “done done”, or even “done DONE done done”? It’s done when it’s code complete? Tested? Deployed?

What you’re really discussing there is not the actual work, but the process and its policies. That’s not a bad thing to discuss (quite the contrary), but still it risks missing the point.

How about a definition of done that’s not about roles or activities (“code complete”, “tested”, etc)? Try this one for size:

How (if at all) does your process confirm to you that someone’s need was indeed met?

Update: How do you identify the need in the first place?

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One thought on “A good working definition of “Done””

  1. Pingback: Experiences on Building Empathy and Trust w/ Metrics – Lean Experiments

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