Last week at the Online Scrum Master Summit, a question came up on the Definition of Done (DoD).
Can the devs or QA have a different DoD to the PO?
The Definition of Done has been part of the Scrum Guide for many years. With the 2020 Scrum Guide the DoD became the commitment to the Increment. Until Product Backlog Items meet the DoD they are not part of the increment and therefore it’s not possible to ship or even review them.
Pulling out a couple of quotes from the Scrum Guide:
The Definition of Done creates transparency by providing everyone a shared understanding
The last line adds:
If there are multiple Scrum Teams working together on a product, they must mutually define and comply with the same Definition of Done.
Returning to the question of the team having differing understandings of the DoD. It is clear that the goal is to create a shared understanding. Everyone needs to be on the same page.
Therefore: No, devs, QA and the PO cannot have a different understanding of the DoD.
The DoD should be reviewed regularly as the team matures. I would suggest that if your team has not reviewed their DoD in the last 3 months you should do so.
How has your Definition of Done evolved as your team matured?