PSM 1 Question - Who creates the DoD ?

What does the Scrum Guide say about this? Might the development organization also have a part to play?

Following is the part, in Scrum guide, where I believe scrum guide explains who creates DoD:

"If "Done" for an increment is not a convention of the development organization, the

Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of “Done” appropriate for the

product. If there are multiple Scrum Teams working on the system or product release, the

Development Teams on all the Scrum Teams must mutually define the definition of “Done.”"

So it is "The Development Team".

These are the excerpts from the Scrum Guide. From the italicized portion below, is it safe to assume, the DT creates the DoD ? From the other texts it is a little difficult to conclude who actually is responsible for it.

Please advise.

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The Development Team

The Development Team consists of professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable Increment of “Done” product at the end of each Sprint. A “Done” increment is required at the Sprint Review. Only members of the Development Team create the Increment.

Definition of “Done”

When a Product Backlog item or an Increment is described as “Done”, everyone must understand what “Done” means. Although this may vary significantly per Scrum Team, members must have a shared understanding of what it means for work to be complete, to ensure transparency. This is the definition of “Done” for the Scrum Team and is used to assess when work is complete on the product Increment.

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If "Done" for an increment is not a convention of the development organization, the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of “Done” appropriate for the product. If there are multiple Scrum Teams working on the system or product release, the Development Teams on all the Scrum Teams must mutually define the definition of “Done.”

Increment

The Increment is the sum of all the Product Backlog items completed during a Sprint and the value of the increments of all previous Sprints. At the end of a Sprint, the new Increment must be “Done,” which means it must be in useable condition and meet the Scrum Team’s definition of “Done.”

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The development Team.

Best,

Sonia.

Going back to what Ian called out, the Dev Team is not always the deciding factor on the DoD.

If the definition of "Done" for an increment is part of the conventions, standards or guidelines of the development organization, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum. If "Done" for an increment is not a convention of the development organization, the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of “Done” appropriate for the product.

Per the Scrum Guide, the Dev Team defines the DoD ONLY when the DoD is not laid out by the Development Organization. 

Basically, if the organization set the DoD, then the Scrum Team's DoD would match the DoD put forth by the organization. If the organization did not put forth a DoD, the Scrum Team's DoD is decided and agreed upon by the Dev Team.

Of course, the Dev Team should be open to external suggestions, even from, for example PO :)

Development Team will create the DOD.

development should

I would tend to lean towards Curtis' answer, with one slight addition.  If the organization has standards, that is the foundation of the Development Team's definition of "Done".  Yet the Development Team may choose to add to additional criteria that may make it even more stringent, or factors in additional non functional requirements not defined in the organization's Definition of "Done".

>> Per the Scrum Guide, the Dev Team defines the DoD ONLY when the DoD is not laid out by the Development > Organization. 

>> Basically, if the organization set the DoD, then the Scrum Team's DoD would match the DoD put forth by the organization. If the organization did not put forth a DoD, the Scrum Team's DoD is decided and agreed upon by the Dev Team.

DT

Well said Chris; I fully agree. 

Hello, I would like to get some clarification on the matter. Could you please help me?

The part you are mainly referring to (whether the organization standards / conventions exist or not) states in my opinion the following: “the developing team is responsible to define “done”, in case standards exist, these should be included in the definition. The DT can ADD elements to the organization’s definition of “done” but not remove or alter the existing ones. Anyway, the DT has the final word.”

However, in page 14 of the guide (Sprint Retrospective)  :

“During each Sprint Retrospective, the Scrum Team plans ways to increase product quality by improving work processes or adapting the definition of “Done”, if appropriate and not in conflict with product or organizational standards.”

That means that the scrum team modifies it if necessary.

If we try to marry both statements, that would mean that the DT makes the first definition, the ST makes modifications if needed during retrospectives.  This interpretation is coherent with a question I found on Mr.  Lapshin’ quiz :

What belongs solely to the Development Team? (multi checkbox)

• The Definition of Done
• The Increment
• The Product Backlog
• The Sprint Backlog

Where the only right answer is "Sprint Backlog"

Do you agree with me?

Thank you!

The Development Team.

The combination of @Curtis and @Chris answered it best in my opinion.  The Development Organization may provide a DoD.  Each Development Team working on the same product will honor the Development Organization's DoD but can provide more stringent measures if they choose.  Yes, the Scrum Guide says that the Scrum Team reviews and can update the DoD during retrospective but the Development Team ultimately owns it. And if the Development Team determines that the DoD needs to be modified, it again modifies their team's version only as long as it does not conflict or weaken the organization DoD.  

The Scrum guide says on page 18, quote: If "Done" for an increment is not a convention of the development organization, the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of “Done” appropriate for the product.

So: The Development Team has to define definition of done! 

The 2020 scrum guide says - 

"If the Definition of Done for an increment is part of the standards of the organization, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum. If it is not an organizational standard, the Scrum Team must create a Definition of Done appropriate for the product."

This is different from the previous version of the scrum guide (2017) which says - 

"If "Done" for an increment is not a convention of the development organization, the Development Team of the Scrum Team must define a definition of "Done" appropriate for the product."

So the Scrum Team creates the DoD and not the Dev team ?

If it is not an organizational standard, yes. There ought to be one team focused on one product.

The Developers remain accountable for ensuring that each Product Increment is Done.

@Surajit, as you shown this definition was changed in 2020 scrum guide.

Now the correct answer is: Scrum Team creates DoD.

In my struggle to understand the process of defining DoD, I notice a mixture of views by Scrum specialists on this topic. In the guide 2020 version, is clearly stated that the Scrum Team will define DoD. The Devs will commit on that in developing their increment. But nowhere in the guide is clear, When..., the DoD will be defined. Based the different views I would believe it is part of the Sprint Planning which seems logic to me. But with this view I answered a couple of questions in open assessment and test exam wrongly. So if there are some Scrum experts at this comm who could give some clarity, that would be great. When will DoD defined? (I assume during Sprint planning), Who is accountable ? ( I assume the Scrum team, but apparently due to the commitment of the increment the Devs), How will DoD maintained? (I assume the Scrum team during Retrospective, but why is it that that Devs come by in many test exams as accountable). So very confusing, hopefully somebody can bring some light in the darkness..... :-)

Additional to my early comment when I answer the test exam questions about what is the outcome of the Sprint planning meeting? Then my answer should be Sprint goal, selected PBI’s, Sprint Plan ánd Dod. But DoD seems to be a wrong answer. So any elucidation will be helpful. 

The DoD is the commitment to the increment artifact.  It is created by the scrum.  Even if the DoD is part of an organisational standard, the scrum team can still build upon it. 

Yes, logically speaking, the DoD will be agreed upon during sprint planning, probably during topic 3.  It can be inspected and adapted during the sprint retrospective. 

The developers are accountable for instilling quality by adhering to a Definition of Done. 

DoD cannot be an answer to an exam question regarding the outcomes of sprint planning, as it is not implicitly mentioned within the sprint planning section of the scrum guide. 

The DoD is an input into Sprint Planning, because the team must take into account the work that is required to achieve release standard. It can be inspected and adapted at any time as long as quality goals do not decrease.

If the Definition of Done for an Increment is part of the standards of the organization, all Scrum Teams must follow it as a minimum. If it is not an organizational standard, the Scrum Team must create a Definition of Done appropriate for the product.

Scrum Team will create DoD, enhance/modify organization level DoD as per the product development requirement.

Its a good practice to adhere to organizational standards for DoD and if required Scrum team can enhance as per their product development requirement. As each component/feature of product may require different set of DoD to comply with organization level guidelines .

Can the old (pre Scrum 2020 version)answers be archived so that it avoid confusion in the forums please.

If they no longer apply I don't see why they should even here.

@Binta, the forum posts are each in a point in time and shown with dates as such to ensure readers know their age. There are many posts from the past that are quite valuable today, so removing them would do a disservice to readers and removing parts of posts makes the comments out of context.  For these reasons, we have no plans to remove older posts at this time.

Thank Eric for your response. My concern about the confusion here, is that since the scrum guide 2020 has the latest applicable response, it wouldn't make sense still having Scrum guide 2017 for this question. Adopting Scrum at work and during the multiple Scrum certifications available should only be based on the current guide 2020 for transparency.

Yes, the test is based on the latest version of the Scrum Guide and many of these discussions go well beyond the tests and how people use Scrum.