Definition of Done (DoD) vs Definition of Ready (DoR) – Difference Explained

“Scrum” is a popular agile framework designed to help teams manage and deliver complex projects effectively. Primary focus of this framework are on iterative progress, collaboration, and adaptability. Work is divided into small, manageable cycles called sprints, usually lasting 1-4 weeks. Each sprint culminates in a potentially shippable product increment, which showcase to the customer and gather feedback. By this way, teams emphasis transparency, inspection, and adaptation, to ensure consistent progress and alignment with project goals.

One of key aspect of Scrum is the Definition of Done (DoD). The DoD is an agreement within the team about what should met for a product backlog item to be considered as complete. This shared understanding ensures consistency and quality in deliverables. For example, a task might only be marked as done if the code is written, reviewed, and merged, all relevant tests have passed, and documentation is updated. The DoD prevents incomplete or subpar work from being delivered, ensuring the team consistently delivers high-quality increments by providing a clear standards.

Also Definition of Ready (DoR) is equally important, which outlines the criteria a product backlog item must meet before the team commits to working on it. The DoR ensures that the backlog items are well-prepared, clearly understood, and free of ambiguities. Basically DoR should be met before team commits the item to a sprint. For instance, items should have clear acceptance criteria, necessary dependencies identified, and proper estimates agreed upon by the team. This minimizes disruptions during the sprint and helps the team maintain focus on delivering value, rather than going with back and forth communication.

This article contains detail explanation about the Definition of Done (DoD) and Definition of Ready (DoR), by highlighting the difference of these two,

Definition of Done (DoD)

What is Definition of Done (DoD)

The Definition of Done (DoD) is a mutual understanding within the Scrum Team that establishes what conditions should complete for the work to be considered as potentially shippable increment. DoD outlines the quality standards and specific criteria that a user story, feature, or product increment must meet to be considered as “done” by the end of a sprint. By defining these expectations, the DoD ensures transparency, fosters accountability, and provides a clear benchmark for the team to follow when completing their work.

Importance of Definition of Done (DoD)

The Definition of Done (DoD) is important in Scrum because it ensures that everyone on the team has a clear understanding of what “done” really means. It helps the team deliver work that is complete, high-quality, and ready for use or deployment. Here are some points why it really matters,

1. Ensures Quality – The DoD includes things like testing, code reviews, and documentation. Following these steps helps the team deliver reliable, error-free work, which meets the quality expectations.
2. Brings Clarity – It provides a clear checklist for when a task is truly complete. This avoids confusion and keeps everyone within the team and outside the team on the same page.
3. Minimize Risk of Re-Work – DoD ensures that team completes what is acually needs to be done. This reduces the risk of re-work.
4. Keeps Things Consistent – Everyone knows the standards in a transparent manner with a shared DoD. The work delivered is consistent no matter who does it.
5. Focuses on Real Value – It makes sure the team delivers increments that are actually ready to use and add value, not half baked work.
6. Measure Progress – DoD helps to measure the progress of the work. Any stakeholder can see how much of DoD has been completed to ensure transparent reporting.
7. Helps with Planning – Scrum team can estimate and plan their work more accurately when they know exactly what needs to be done.
8. Builds Trust – Meeting the DoD shows stakeholders that the work is complete and reliable, which builds confidence in the team’s ability to deliver the commitments.

Examples of Definition of Done (DoD)

• Development
  • All planned functionality for the user story is implemented.
  • Code adheres to the team’s agreed-upon coding standards and naming conventions.
  • No hardcoded values, configuration is externalized where necessary.
  • All code is minified and gzipped.
  • The code compiles without errors or warnings.
  • All code is minified and gzipped.
  • All TO-DO comments in the code have been resolved.

• Code Review
  • Code has been reviewed and approved by at least one or two team members.
  • All review comments have been addressed or discussed.
  • Potential security vulnerabilities identified during the review have been fixed.
  • Code changes do not introduce technical debt.
  • Merge conflicts have been resolved, and the code is ready to integrate into the main branch.

• Testing
  • Unit tests are written with at least 80% coverage or meet the team’s agreed-upon threshold.
  • Functional tests validate that the feature works as intended.
  • Regression tests ensure existing functionality is not affected by the changes.
  • Performance tests ensure that the application performs within acceptable limits.
  • The feature has been tested on all targeted devices, browsers, or environments.

• Documentation
  • Inline code comments explain complex logic where applicable.
  • User-facing documentation, such as user guides or FAQs, is updated.
  • API documentation (e.g., Swagger) is updated for new or modified endpoints.
  • Change logs or release notes include relevant updates.

• Product Functionality
  • The feature meets all acceptance criteria outlined in the user story.
  • Edge cases and error scenarios have been handled.
  • Localization requirements, if any, have been implemented and tested.
  • The feature integrates seamlessly with other components of the system.

• Release Readiness
  • Deployment scripts or pipelines are updated and tested for the new feature.
  • The increment is deployable to production or staging without manual intervention.
  • Any necessary feature toggles or flags are in place for controlled releases.
  • Product increment deployed to staging environment and tested by the team.

• Stakeholder Review
  • The Product Owner has reviewed and accepted the deliverable.
  • The increment has been demonstrated during the sprint review to gather feedback.
  • The feature is approved for release by stakeholders.

• Compliance and Security
  • All applicable compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) have been met.
  • Security testing, such as vulnerability scans or penetration tests, has been completed.
  • Sensitive data is handled and stored in compliance with company policies.

• Bug Fixing
  • Any bugs related to the feature have been identified, documented, and resolved.
  • Bugs found during testing have been re-tested to ensure they are fixed.

Role of Definition of Done (DoD) in Agile

The Definition of Done (DoD) plays an important role in Agile by acting as a benchmark for quality and completeness. This ensures that each increment delivered is genuinely shippable and meets the agreed-upon standards. It aligns the team on what constitutes a “done” product, creating a shared understanding across all stakeholders. By embedding quality into the process, the DoD minimizes technical debt, enhances transparency, and promotes accountability. It ensures that every product backlog item meets essential criteria, such as passing tests, adhering to coding standards, updating documentation, and addressing acceptance criteria. This guarantees that the work delivered is not only functional but also production-ready, enabling teams to deliver consistent value in each sprint.

Moreover, the DoD reinforces Agile principles like transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement. This helps to set clear expectations for the team, fostering alignment and reducing misunderstandings between developers, testers, and the Product Owner. The DoD also helps the team focus on delivering value by ensuring increments are truly “done” and not just partially complete or requiring additional work post-sprint. As the team matures, the DoD should evolve to reflect higher standards, driving continuous improvement and enabling the team to meet the dynamic demands of stakeholders while maintaining agility and quality.

Best Practices of Definition of Done (DoD) in Agile

Following are some best practices of DoD which followed by high-performing agile teams,

1. During DoD definition, ensure the entire Scrum team, including the Product Owner and Scrum Master collaborates.
2. Align the DoD with organizational and customer specific standards, including quality, compliance, and security requirements.
3. Start with a simple DoD and enhance it over time as the team matures and gains experience.
4. Keep the DoD visible to the team, such as on a wiki page, confluence page, board, or shared workspace, for easy reference.
5. Define realistic and achievable criteria that the team can consistently meet within each sprint, based on current team maturity.
6. Focus on quality by including steps like testing, documentation updates, and stakeholder reviews.
7. Incorporate automated and manual testing as part of the DoD to ensure robust functionality.
8. Customize the DoD to suit the team’s specific context, technology stack, and product requirements.
9. Refer to the DoD during sprint planning to ensure proper estimation and preparation of tasks.
10. Regularly audit the team’s adherence to the DoD and discuss improvements during retrospectives.
11. Foster buy-in from all team members to build ownership and accountability around the DoD.
12. Embed the DoD into ticket based workflow tools like Jira, Zoho, Trello, to track completion criteria effectively.
13. Use sprint retrospective to revisit and update the DoD as new challenges, technologies, or learning arise, and along with team matures.

What is Definition of Ready (DoR)

What is Definition of Ready (DoR)

The Definition of Ready (DoR) provides the criteria that a user story or product backlog item must meet before it can be considered ready to be pulled into a sprint, before starting the work of the item. It is basically the check-list to ensure that the team has all the required requirements, dependencies, acceptance criteria, information, and definition of done clarified and ready before work begins. The main usage of DoR is to prevent disruptions and delays during the sprint and ensures smooth flow of work.

Importance of Definition of Ready (DoR)

The Definition of Ready (DoR) is essential in Agile because it ensures that work items are well-prepared and clearly understood before the team commits to them. It defines the criteria that a user story or task must meet before it can be included in a sprint, reducing ambiguity and setting clear expectations for the team. Here are some points why it really matters,

1. Clarity and Shared Understanding – The DoR ensures that everyone on the team has a clear, shared understanding of the work before it begins. Scrum team avoids ambiguity and misunderstandings by defining specific criteria. It makes it easier to move forward without confusion.
2. Better Sprint Planning – With well-defined work items, the team can more accurately estimate and plan their tasks during sprint planning. This leads to realistic sprint goals and reduces the chances of under- or over-committing to work.
3. Minimizing Wasted Effort – The team avoids starting work on items that are incomplete, unclear, or have unresolved dependencies. This reduces the chances of rework or wasted effort.
4. Improved Focus and Prioritization – The DoR helps the team focus on items that are truly ready for development, ensuring that they are working on tasks that will move the project forward. It aids in proper prioritization of tasks that add real value.
5. Reduced Risk of Blockers – By ensuring that dependencies are identified and addressed before work starts, the DoR helps prevent potential blockers that could halt progress during the sprint. The team can handle these risks ahead of time.
6. Increased Team Confidence – The team can proceed with confidence, knowing that the requirements are well-defined and actionable when work meets the DoR. This leads to smoother workflows and fewer surprises during the sprint.
7. Faster Delivery of Value – The team can deliver value more quickly and efficiently with clearly defined tasks that are ready to be worked on. The DoR ensures that work is actionable and aligned with sprint goals, enabling faster and more predictable delivery.
8. Enhanced Collaboration – The DoR encourages early collaboration between the Product Owner, team, and other stakeholders to clarify requirements, resolve ambiguities, and identify dependencies. This collaborative approach strengthens communication and reduces friction during development.

Examples of Definition of Ready (DoR)

• Given clear acceptance criteria (AC) – The user story has well-defined and testable acceptance criteria that outline what needs to be done for the task to be considered complete.
• Dependencies identified and tracked – All external dependencies (e.g., third-party systems, other teams) are identified and accounted for, ensuring no blockers before the work begins.
• Requirements / acceptance criteria reviewed by team – The story or task is clearly understood by the team, with no vague requirements or questions left unanswered.
• Estimates assigned – The team has reviewed the story and provided an effort estimate (e.g., story points or time) based on the complexity of the work.
• Priority defined by product owner – The user story has a clear priority level, ensuring it aligns with the overall product backlog.
• Is user story testable – The story can be tested or validated, and it’s clear how success will be measured, such as through automated tests or manual verification.
• Ready for development – The technical details (e.g., design, architecture) are clear, and the task is feasible within the sprint timeframe without requiring additional preparation.
• User story written – The story or task is fully documented, following a clear format (e.g., “As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit]”), with enough detail for the team to start working.
• No open risks – All known risks or issues have been identified, and mitigation strategies are in place before the work begins.

Role of Definition of Ready (DoR) in Agile

The Definition of Ready (DoR) plays an important role in Agile by ensuring that the team has everything they need to begin work on a user story or task. It establishes a clear and agreed-upon set of criteria that must be met before a backlog item can add to the sprint. The DoR helps avoid ambiguity, confusion, and incomplete requirements by ensuring that the team has a shared understanding of the work’s scope, dependencies, and expected outcomes.

In Agile, the DoR empowers the team to focus on delivering value without spending time clarifying incomplete requirements or resolving blockers mid-sprint. It also enhances the team’s ability to plan effectively, as they can confidently estimate and prioritize work based on clear, well-prepared user stories. Teams can execute with greater efficiency and consistency, avoiding the common pitfalls of starting work on unclear or poorly defined tasks by ensuring that each item meets the DoR. This leads to faster delivery, higher-quality outputs, and better alignment with stakeholder expectations, fostering a more predictable and productive Agile process.

Best Practices of Definition of Ready (DoR) in Agile

1. Ensure that the entire Scrum team, including the Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers, actively participates in creating and agreeing on the DoR. This collaboration ensures alignment and clarity across all team members.
2. The criteria in the DoR should be clear, specific, and easy to understand. Avoid vague or ambiguous requirements so that the team knows exactly what needs to be done before starting the work.
3. User stories or tasks should be well-documented with all necessary details, such as acceptance criteria, business value, and expected outcomes.
4. Each backlog item should have well-defined, testable acceptance criteria that provide a clear basis for validation.
5. All external dependencies (e.g., other teams, third-party tools, or APIs) should be identified and addressed before a task is considered ready. This helps avoid delays or blockers during the sprint.
6. User stories or tasks should be estimated by the team, whether through story points, time, or other estimation methods.
7. Each item should be properly prioritized based on its value to the product or business. Ensuring that high-priority tasks are clearly marked helps the team focus on delivering the most important features first.
8. If there are any uncertainties or unclear aspects of a story, they should be resolved before it is moved to the sprint. The Product Owner should provide clarification and remove any ambiguity to avoid delays later.
9. Ensure that user stories or tasks can be tested once completed. Define how the team will verify the feature works, either through automated tests or manual testing, ensuring it meets the acceptance criteria.
10. The DoR should ensure that user stories are aligned with the overarching goals of the sprint. Each story or task should contribute to delivering value and moving the product forward.
11. Periodically review and refine the DoR to ensure it remains relevant and effective. The team can improve the DoR over time using the sprint retrospective, based on lessons learned and team maturity.

INVEST Criteria for DoR

The INVEST criteria, commonly used for defining high-quality user stories in Agile, can also be applied to the Definition of Ready (DoR). Scrum teams can ensure that user stories or tasks are well-prepared and actionable before they are included in a sprint by following these criteria. Here’s how each component of INVEST applies to the DoR,

• ( I ) Independent – The user story should be self-contained and not dependent on other tasks, allowing the team to start work without delays caused by external factors.
• ( N ) Negotiable – The story’s scope and details should be flexible, allowing for discussion and refinement before work begins to ensure alignment with team and business needs.
• ( V ) Valuable – The story should clearly deliver value to the customer or business, ensuring the team understands how it contributes to the sprint goal.
• ( E ) Estimable – The story should be clear enough to estimate the effort required, with well-defined acceptance criteria to support accurate estimation.
• ( S ) Small – The story should be small enough to be completed within a single sprint, ensuring it’s manageable and avoid overly complex or vague tasks.
• ( T ) Testable – The story should have clear, testable acceptance criteria, ensuring the team can verify the work’s completion through tests.

How DoR and DoD used by High Performing Teams

Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD) are crucial tools for high-performing Agile teams. These two tools help streamline the workflow, foster alignment, and maintain high standards of quality and delivery when implemented effectively. The below is how high-performing teams use DoR and DoD to their advantage,

1. Ensuring Preparedness and Alignment with DoR
   High-performing teams use the Definition of Ready (DoR) to ensure that each user story or task is fully prepared before work begins. The DoR ensures that all dependencies are identified, acceptance criteria are clear, and estimates are accurate. This eliminates uncertainty and ambiguity, allowing the team to start tasks confidently and focus on delivering value without needing to clarify requirements mid-sprint.
   
2. Maintaining High Quality with DoD:
   High-performing teams use the Definition of Done (DoD) to set a shared understanding of when a task is considered complete and ready for delivery. The DoD ensures that each increment meets predefined quality standards, including thorough testing, documentation, and acceptance criteria. This consistency helps prevent technical debt and ensures that every piece of work is production-ready, reducing rework and maintaining a high standard of delivery.
   
3. Promoting Continuous Improvement:
   High-performing teams continuously review and refine both the DoR and DoD to ensure they remain relevant and effective. The team often revisits these definitions during retrospectives, adjusting them as needed based on lessons learned and evolving project needs.
   
4. Enhanced Collaboration and Transparency:
   High-performing agile teams foster better collaboration and transparency by clearly defining what constitutes “ready” and “done”. The DoR aligns the team on what needs to be done before starting work, while the DoD ensures that everyone understands the criteria for completion. This clarity improves communication between team members and stakeholders, reduces misunderstandings, and keeps everyone aligned on expectations.

Difference Between Definition of Ready (DoR) and Definition of Done (DoD)

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Agile?
   Agile is a flexible approach to project management and software development that focuses on delivering small, incremental improvements through short cycles called sprints. It emphasizes collaboration, adaptability, and customer-focused delivery. Agile allows teams to adjust to changes quickly and ensures continuous value delivery.
   
2. What is Scrum?
   Scrum is a specific framework within Agile used to manage complex projects. It involves structured roles, ceremonies, and artifacts to help teams work together, deliver high-quality results, and continuously improve. Scrum organizes work into short, time-boxed iterations called sprints, typically lasting 2-4 weeks.
   
3. What are the key roles in Scrum?
   Scrum defines three key roles: The Product Owner, who manages the product backlog and ensures the team works on the highest priority tasks; the Scrum Master, who helps the team follow Scrum practices and removes obstacles; and the Development Team, a group of professionals who work together to complete the tasks during a sprint.
   
4. What is a sprint in Scrum?
   A sprint is a short, fixed-length period (usually 2 to 4 weeks) where a scrum team works to complete a set of tasks from the product backlog. At the end of each sprint, a deliverable, potentially shippable product increment is reviewed, demonstrating progress toward the final product.
   
5. What is a Product Backlog?
   The Product Backlog is a list of all the features, enhancements, bug fixes, and tasks that need to be completed in the project. It is constantly updated and prioritized by the Product Owner, so the team always knows the most important tasks to work on next.
   
6. What is a Sprint Backlog?
   The Sprint Backlog is a list of user stories or tasks that the Scrum team commits to complete in the current sprint. These tasks are selected from the product backlog based on priority and team capacity, and the team focuses on them throughout the sprint.
   
7. What are Scrum ceremonies?
   Scrum ceremonies are key meetings that help the team stay aligned. They include Sprint Planning, where the team decides what to work on during the sprint; Daily Standups, where team members update each other on progress; Sprint Review, where the completed work is demonstrated to stakeholders; and Sprint Retrospective, where the team discusses how to improve.
   
8. What is the role of a Scrum Master?
   The Scrum Master helps the team follow Scrum practices, facilitates Scrum ceremonies, and removes any obstacles that might slow down progress. They act as a coach, ensuring the team works efficiently and continuously improves their processes.
   
9. What is the role of a Product Owner?
   The Product Owner is responsible for managing the product backlog, prioritizing tasks, and ensuring that the team works on the most valuable features. They collaborate with stakeholders to understand their needs and communicate those to the team.
   
10. What is an Increment in Scrum?
    An Increment is the completed work delivered at the end of a sprint. It’s a potentially shippable product that includes everything done during the sprint and is available for review or release. Each increment builds upon the previous one, adding more functionality to the product.
    
11. How do Scrum and Agile differ?
    Agile is a set of principles for software development, while Scrum is a specific methodology that applies those principles through structured roles, ceremonies, and artifacts. Scrum is just one way to implement Agile, providing a more detailed framework for working in short iterations.
    
12. What is Continuous Integration (CI) in Scrum?
    Continuous Integration (CI) is the practice of frequently integrating code into a shared repository, usually multiple times a day. This helps teams detect issues early, maintain a high standard of code quality, and quickly deliver working software.
    
13. What are the benefits of using Scrum?
    Scrum helps teams deliver value quickly and consistently through short iterations. It encourages flexibility and continuous feedback, so teams can adjust to changing requirements. Scrum also improves team collaboration, transparency, and accountability, resulting in better-quality products and more efficient delivery.
    
14. What are common challenges in Scrum?
    Some common challenges in Scrum include resistance to adopting Scrum practices, unclear roles or responsibilities, issues with prioritization, and difficulties in managing dependencies. Teams may also struggle to maintain consistent commitment to Scrum ceremonies or to deliver potentially shippable increments at the end of each sprint.