How can you use Definition of Done to ensure accurate estimates?

The Definition of Done refers to the Product, not the work. It is the quality stamp of approval that the team gives all work they consider to be completed. You can ask yourself "When is something of high enough quality so that it can be part of our Product?" The Definition of Done should be reviewed regularly and can grow over time. Start off with a list of quality standards that your team creates together. It can contain some of the following: - Work is peer-reviewed - Unit test coverage >85% - Functional tests passed - No known defects - Documentation completed

A Definition of Done (the capital D being important) is owned by the delivery team and will often be maintained across projects as a guarantee and mark of quality. Some teams include steps up to and including 'deployment' or 'delivery' in their definition of Done, and often you will find such steps as peer review, functional testing, user testing and documentation included. Without a Definition of Done, there is no shared measure for all stakeholders to consider when asking "Have you finished your task yet?" and it encourages responses similar to "Yes except..." or "I just need to..."

It's better to work on the same tech stack flows before jump to the estimation of technical requirements isd documents as well as coordination Hold and managerial skills along with a planning.

For a development story, the definition of done can be mentioned either all 3 or any one of the them based on the capacity and complexity. 1.Complete the build activity as per the requirement document for the story(might or might not be all the requirements) 2.Code review with peers 3.Unit Testing of the screen 4.Preparing Sample data For testing story the DoD is, 1.Review the requirement document 2. Create System test cases with steps, Sample data and excepted results. 3. Review the test cases with PO DoD helps to improve the communication between the teams and document the expectation. if one of the mentioned point is not met, the story is not marked as complete and has to carry forward to next sprint.

The Definition of Done is usually a short document in the form of a checklist, that defines when a product backlog item (i.e., user story) is considered 'done' which is not static and changes over time. Estimates highly rely on DoD as apart from understanding all the necessary requirements from acceptance criteria of a user story, DoD gives a guideline to make sure that all has to be done in order to make it happen.

Definition of done gives the clarity on what is expected rather assuming. DoD provides the complete picture for the task so that the team can split the work into multiple stories or tasks that are manageable and reversible. Scenario: PO comes up with build of new screen. PO will assume the developer will complete build, unit testing and peer review. But the developer can provide estimates only Build activity not including the testing part. When the DoD is called out, the developer will estimate work based on the AC and plan the story points . It can happen other way as well where the PO is looking for a small task, but the developer is thinking beyond that and overestimating that leads to the story not being prioritized due to capacity .

Definition of Done (DoD) is key to understanding what work needs to be done around value creation. Where design and production (called development in software delivery) are often seen as the focus of accurate estimation, the truth is often that the majority of time is actually spent understanding the work, reviewing it (eg code reviews), testing and deploying / delivering it. So depending on what the delivery team includes in the DoD (often based on discussions with clients and stakeholders) the estimates will be broadly impacted.

DoD helps to come with correct story points and helps to identify the external/internal dependency to complete the story. Most of the time the estimates goes wrong when we don't understand the volume of work involved and dependencies. DoD can be updated during daily DSU if the team explores additional information that needs to added/removed with alignment of Product Owner. Sprint Retrospective plays a key role to learn from previous failures and experience to plan the similar stories precisely. Estimates in Agile are done by Story Points. 1 Story Point is 6-8 hour of work by 1 resource. Each Story can have 1,3 or 5 story points. if the story is estimated for more than 5, then the story needs to broken in manageable stories.

As I always say to my teams, a clear DoD highlight dependencies between tasks. When estimating a user story, the DoD can reveal if other tasks need to be completed first. This avoids underrating the overall time needed. The DoD also clarifies expectations and removes ambiguity about the final deliverable, leading to more consistent estimates. You can also track how long it takes to complete DoD criteria for similar tasks in the past. This way, you can establish a baseline for future estimates. This historical data can be used for more accurate predictions. When a team steadily delivers done work, it boosts morale and trust. This can improve estimates as team members feel more empowered to make accurate assessments of their capabilities.

DoD should be created collaboratively by the entire team, including developers, testers, product owners, and any other stakeholders. This ensures everyone is on the same page about what "done" means. It should be reviewed progressively.

When discussing the definition of done, it’s essential to align with the principles outlined in the Agile Manifesto. The definition of done serves as a shared understanding of when a feature or task is truly complete, ensuring that it meets the team’s quality standards and delivers value to the customer.