What are the best ways to ensure your Agile testing team has a shared understanding of "done"?

1 Use a checklist

A checklist is an effective tool to define and communicate the criteria for done. It can be customized according to the project's scope, complexity, and standards. Items such as code written, reviewed, and merged; unit tests passed and code coverage adequate; functional tests executed and defects resolved; non-functional requirements verified; documentation updated and approved; and user feedback collected and incorporated should all be included on the checklist. The testing team should review and update the checklist regularly, making it visible and accessible to everyone involved in the project.

2 Apply the INVEST principle

The INVEST principle is a set of guidelines for creating effective user stories that are independent, negotiable, valuable, estimable, small, and testable. Each story should be self-contained and not depend on other stories, flexible and open to discussion and refinement, deliver value to the customer or end-user, possible to estimate in terms of effort, time, and resources, small enough to be completed within a sprint or iteration, and have clear and measurable acceptance criteria that can be verified by the testing team. Applying the INVEST principle helps the testing team ensure each user story has a clear definition of done and can be tested effectively and efficiently.

3 Use a common language

To ensure consistency and clarity in the testing process, a common language should be established and shared among the testing team and other stakeholders. This language should include a glossary of domain-specific and technical terms, a style guide that defines the format, tone, and structure of the documentation, code, and test cases, a test strategy that outlines the testing approach, objectives, scope, roles, and responsibilities, a test plan that specifies the testing activities, schedule, resources, tools, and deliverables, as well as a test report that summarizes the testing results, findings, issues, and recommendations. The testing team should create and maintain this common language to be used throughout the testing cycle.

4 Conduct frequent reviews and retrospectives

Reviews and retrospectives are essential practices for agile testing, enabling the testing team to inspect and adapt their work, and improve their performance and quality. This can include sprint planning, where the testing team and product owner agree on user stories, tasks, and definition of done for the next sprint; sprint review, where the team and product owner demonstrate and evaluate work from the current sprint, as well as collect feedback; sprint retrospective, to reflect on strengths, weaknesses, and lessons learned from the current sprint; test review to review test cases, data, execution, and results; and test retrospective to analyze testing process, outcomes, and metrics. It is important for the testing team to conduct frequent reviews and retrospectives in order to have a shared understanding of done and deliver value and quality to the customer.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?