Definition of "Done" in multiple Team projects

Hi All,

To heat more discussion. I am answering some questions from the M Plaza (www.mplaza.pm) and missed this:

When multiple teams are working on the same project, how many Definitions of Done should they use?
a. There can be multiple definitions, as long as they are capable of creating a potentially releasable Increment
b. There should be only one Definition of Done for all teams
c. There can be multiple definitions, as long as they are well communicated and understood among teams and with the customer
d. Each team defines its own Definition of Done independently of others

I answer b, but it is incorret and M Plaza consider a. as correct answer.

In Scrum Guide, related this: "If there are multiple Scrum Teams working on the system or product release, the development teams on all of the Scrum Teams must mutually define the definition of “Done.”

What should i consider?

Someone who took the exam?

Regards.

Márcio.

If there is a single product, then there should be a single product backlog. If there is not a consistent definition of "done" understood by all teams working off this backlog, what impact do you anticipate on this having on the teams' ability to integrate their code, and work sustainably over a period of time? Do you think that the state of work would be transparent for all to see, particularly the Product Owner?

I take now the similar question in Scrum Open Assessment:

"When many Development Teams are working on a single product, what best describes the definition of "done?"

Correct answer: C)

A) Each Development Team defines and uses its own. The differences are discussed and reconciled during a hardening Sprint.

B) Each Development Team uses its own but must make their definition clear to all other Teams so the differences are known.
Correct answer
C) All Development Teams must have a definition of "done" that makes their combined work potentially releasable.

D) It depends.

Feedback: Scrum requires an Increment to be releasable. This is an Increment of product. Many teams working on a single product are expected to deliver such an Increment."



Well, i will assume this, that is all Scrum Teams must have the same definition of "done".

Thank you for your help.

Márcio.

All STs having the same definition of DoD

or

All STs having the different of DoDs that make their combined work potentially releasable.

Which one is 100% correct, I am confused since the first definition I thought is true as per scrum guide but latter definition is also endorsed by reputable forums.

Can an expert advise?

Check this picture and the correct answer:

without being an expert.

The heart of scrum is empiricism. So you have inspect and adapt an Increment (not only that, but let's take the other things away for now). If the teams don't have definition that matches all together how could they release the increment ?

And no it doens't have to be the same definition because if you work on different features, maybe your need of definition of Done is not the same (think about documentation or different norms for certain features or simply because they are different teams).

The correct answer is :  

a. There can be multiple definitions, as long as they are capable of creating a potentially releasable Increment

which is consistent with the question of Open Scrum :)

 

My interpretation and coaching is that if there is an Organizational Definition of Done, it used by all teams.  Each team can then have their own Defintiion of Done to add unique or more stringent criteria.  For example, if the Organizational Definition of Done states that the code needs to be deployed to Production, a team's extension could be that it is deployed to Production and had been in use for 5 days without a significant issue being discovered. 

If an Organizational level Definition of Done is in place then all Scrum Teams will use that Definition of Done and can have their own more stringent supplement.  If there is no Organizational Definition of Done, then each team must have their own. 

We re talking here about a single product (complex one of course) , example robots, iOT Dev., (a Saas/on-premise, Desktop / web / mobile ERP) with multiple teams. Each team has a DoD but :

All Development Teams must have a

(

• a newly agreed,
• combined,
• sum of the DoDs,
• Best of,
• common rules
• or what all the teams agreed together,
• a combination of all above,
• etc,
• do not forget organization common rules if any,
• Standards rules (RFCs, References, etc.)

)  

definition of "Done" that (this is the most important / valuable) makes their combined work potentially releasable. (to keep within scrum spirit)

Let's validate this through an example: one of the teams uses python and they validate their code with a static analyser.

• Can they add error and warning-free code analysis to the DoD?
• Should it be part of all team's DoD?
• What if another team also uses python with a different analyser? Should they convert the entire codebase?
• Or should this stuff be banned from the DoD as is?

The only meaningful solution, which is comfortable for everyone, is to have a common denominator that guarantees the integrity of the increment, and in addition, all teams can work out their specific rules, fitting their stack, environment and conventions.

a. There can be multiple definitions, as long as they are capable of creating a potentially releasable Increment

A) Each Development Team defines and uses its own. The differences are discussed and reconciled during a hardening Sprint.

B) Each Development Team uses its own but must make their definition clear to all other Teams so the differences are known.

C) All Development Teams must have a definition of "done" that makes their combined work potentially releasable.

I would say answer c. is correct.

Hello Márcio,

I think all different peoples may have different answers for your question. So, Let me share my experience.

We are working in a "Product Based" company and 250+ developers are working on a single product. So, we collaboratively decided common DOD for all the teams and all are following same DOD in every sprints. 

Thus, by this practice, we can judge that every team maintaining same quality for each done increment. 

Hi, everybody,

I'm new here and this is my first post.

Regarding the topic raised by Marcio, in 2016, the correct answer should be "If there are multiple Scrum Teams working on the system or product release, the development teams on all of the Scrum Teams must mutually define the definition of “Done.”"? on hypothesis that we have a single product in development, but multiple Scrum Teams?

Thanks and regards!