Definition of Ready (DoR)

Definition of Ready (DoR)

A set of agreements that let you know when a user story is really done, and all the essential activities are complete is the Definition of Done. But?Definition of Ready?is a different concept. It is a set of agreements that tells you when something is ready to begin. More correctly, “if something is good to begin”.

Why do we have a Definition of Ready??

A?definition of ready?deals with the user story, wherein the user story is ready to be taken into a sprint. It doesn’t need to be “100 % defined” covering all the acceptance criteria. However, it should be “ready enough” only when the team is confident that they can successfully deliver the user story.

It will help in saving ample time if each user story meets the?definition of ready?before the sprint planning meeting. But it is also fine and acceptable to work on the user story during the sprint planning meeting and bring it to the ‘Ready’ status.

How to create a Definition of Ready

A “ready” backlog item needs to be?clear, feasible and testable:

• A user story is?clear?if all Scrum team members have a shared understanding of what it means. Collaboratively writing user stories, and adding acceptance criteria to the high-priority ones facilitates clarity
• An item is?testable?if there is an effective way to determine if the functionality works as expected. Acceptance criteria ensure that each story can be tested
• A user story is?feasible?if it can be completed in one sprint, according to the Definition of Done. If this is not achievable, it needs be broken down further

Each team will have its own?definition of Ready.?This largely depends on its personnel and the context.

An example will give you a clear picture.?

• The story should be written exactly in the ‘user story’ format.
• Acceptance criteria must be understood by the team.
• A Team needs to estimate the story.
• The team should understand how to provide a demo of the features.
• Performance criteria should be understood by the team.

Steps in developing Definition of Ready

The?Definition of Ready?should not stay fixed. Rather, it should grow and develop as the team evolves in terms of-

• The working pace
• The understanding of ‘what’ makes a good user story.

You can input the same information into the product backlog via backlog grooming and planning sessions. The?Definition of Ready?will be updated through sprint retrospectives.

Examples of Definition of Ready:

Definition of Ready?for a user story:

• Well-defined User story?
• User story acceptance criteria defined
• User story sized by the delivery team
• Scrum team accepts user experience artifacts
• Performance criteria identified
• The Person who will accept the user story is identified
• A Team is able to ‘demo’ the user story.

Definition of Ready?for a sprint:

• Prioritized sprint backlog?
• Defects, user stories and other work the team has committed to are contained in the sprint backlog
• No hidden work?
• All team members have calculated their individual capacity for the sprint
• Full Time on project=X hours per day.
• All users stories meet the definition of Ready.

The Product Owners can use?Definition of Ready?as a guide when preparing for user stories for upcoming sprints.

For a team, it is used as a checklist to make sure that there is an increased chance of success in delivering the completed user story, and that there are enough thoughts involved in building the user story before they start to deliver it.

The purpose of Definition of Ready?to bring back the focus to backlog grooming meetings and look ahead planning activities.?

Definition of Ready?helps in minimizing the Rework on a user story.