On the final day of the Sprint an item is functionally finished, but the operator documentation the Definition of Done requires has not been written. The Product Owner asks for it to be shown at the Sprint Review and released to one pilot customer. What does Scrum say?
Professional Scrum Master I, objective 1. Understanding and applying the Scrum framework medium
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The options
Correct It cannot be released or even presented at the Sprint Review; it returns to the Product Backlog for future consideration
Correct. Both halves of that are stated, and the second is the one teams find hardest — the item does not sit in limbo awaiting documentation, it goes back to the Product Backlog to be ordered like anything else.
Not correct It may be shown at the Review as "done apart from documentation" so that stakeholders can still give feedback on it
Wrong, and it is the version teams talk themselves into most often. Presenting partly finished work as an outcome is low transparency, and decisions taken from it diminish value and increase risk.
Not correct The Product Owner may waive the Definition of Done for a single item when the value at stake is high
Wrong. There is no waiver mechanism. A Definition of Done that bends under pressure stops being a shared understanding of what Done means, which is the only thing it was for.
Not correct The item is Done, because Done means the functionality works
Wrong. Done means what the Definition of Done says it means — a formal description of the state of the Increment when it meets the quality measures required for the product, which here includes the documentation.
Why
The Definition of Done creates transparency by giving everyone the same understanding of what was actually completed. That only holds if it is applied to the awkward case, which is why the consequence is spelled out: an item that does not meet it cannot be released or presented, and returns to the Product Backlog. Note also what did not happen — the Sprint did not get longer, and nobody signed anything off.
Where this comes from
- Cited
- Scrum Guide section Commitment: Definition of Done
- What it says
- If a Product Backlog item does not meet the Definition of Done, it cannot be released or even presented at the Sprint Review. Instead, it returns to the Product Backlog for future consideration.
Practise this
Reading one question is not practice. The trainer will draw a set from objective 1 and space the ones you get wrong.
Practise Professional Scrum Master I
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