Definition of done

It's not really the sprint itself, the sprint ends on the last day of the sprint regardless.  We manage user stories in JIRA and all of them have a "done" state for a sprint.  A lot of them have sub-tasks or stories that have to be "done" for the main story to be done.  At the end of the sprint, all user stories are done, except for those that have been moved back into the backlog for whatever reason.

The "Definition of Done" relates to the Increment, as that is the artifact which is potentially subject to release. However, there can be several levels of Done, including those which pertain to individual backlog items such as the acceptance criteria of user stories.

In an agile way of working, inspection and adaptation ought to occur as close as possible to the time and place of work in order to minimize waste. Observing multiple levels of done within a "Definition of Done" can help to facilitate this.

I certainly wouldn't refer to a Sprint as done. Sprints are an event with a timebox, and they finish at the end of that timebox.

The Scrum Guide refers to both Product Backlog Items and the Increment as being "Done".

I believe the focus should be on the Increment meeting the definition of "Done". The Development Team should deliver a "potentially releasable Increment" at least at the end of each Sprint - this means that the Increment must be subject to the definition of "Done".

Think about when it would be helpful to have new Increments of the product.

In order for an Increment to be considered releasable, it cannot contain anything that is not "Done".

What would be the impact if when you finish work on a Product Backlog Item (PBI), you make sure your next Increment would still meet your definition of "Done" if that PBI is included?

Thanks!

Now it's clear :)