Article
Define “Done” Before You Assign the Work
A task is not clear because its verb is familiar. “Handle onboarding,” “fix the website,” and “document the process” can produce several reasonable but incompatible endings.
Different behavioral tendencies may fill the gap differently:
- Drive may consider the decision or launch to be completion
- Connect may consider stakeholder understanding or enthusiasm to be completion
- Sustain may consider stable adoption and handoff to be completion
- Verify may consider standards and evidence to be completion
The solution is not to decide which interpretation is correct after the deadline. Define done before assignment.
A usable definition of done
Include:
- Observable outcome
- Required recipient or system state
- Quality or control standard
- Required record
- Deadline
- Exception path
- Acceptance owner
Example:
Weak: “Set up the new employee.”
Stronger:
By 4:00 p.m. the business day before start, the employee has a named account, MFA enrolled, approved application access, device inventory record, manager-confirmed schedule, and welcome message. Access exceptions are recorded and approved by Security. The manager accepts completion in the onboarding record.
Do not confuse detail with bureaucracy
Definition should match consequence. A reversible internal experiment may need one sentence. Access, money, compliance, customer promises, or continuity may need more. The test is whether the definition prevents material ambiguity at a reasonable cost.
BOS connection
Definition of done joins Communication, Information, Security, Operations, and Control. Continuity asks whether another capable person could use it. Intelligence asks whether it reduces delay or error.
Try this: Take one assignment due this week. Ask the owner to explain what completion looks like. If your answers differ, improve the definition now.
Related terms: Acceptance criteria · Handoff · Standard · Owner · Operations