Scaling Software Agility

A Scalable Definition of Done

Recently, one of our clients was struggling a bit to finalize a complete, scalable and yet achievable, Definition of Done for a specific program. It will likely serve as a  template for other programs as well. They asked me to sit in on a final review and I willingly participated. I liked what they did, and with their permission, I’ve borrowed it and extended it a bit for the more general case.

First, I’ll start with the trick question I gave them:

Question: What’s the Definition of Done for a Sprint?……………Answer: the time box is over. Same goes for a PSI. (It may or may not be a good sprint or PSI, but it is definitely done.)

But here’s a more meaningful view for those adopting the Scaled Agile Framework:

A Scalable Definition of Done