Agile & Scrum Practice Question 5: Definition of Done Not Met
Agile & Scrum · Test 1 · question 5 of 10
On the last day of a Sprint, one Product Backlog item is coded and demoable but has not passed the performance testing that the team's Definition of Done requires. The Product Owner wants to show it at the Sprint Review anyway. According to the Scrum Guide, what happens to this item?
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Answer:
The Scrum Guide is explicit: "If a Product Backlog item does not meet the Definition of Done, it cannot be released or even presented at the Sprint Review. Instead, it returns to the Product Backlog for future consideration." Work "cannot be considered part of an Increment unless it meets the Definition of Done", so an item that fails performance testing is simply not done.
- A is wrong: there is no "partially done" in Scrum. Showing undone work as if it were progress undermines the transparency the Definition of Done exists to create. - C is wrong: Sprints are "fixed length events of one month or less". The Sprint is not stretched to fit unfinished work. - D is wrong: "The Developers are required to conform to the Definition of Done." It is a commitment for the Increment, not something waived item by item, and if it is an organizational standard, the team cannot go below it at all.
Reference: The 2020 Scrum Guide - Increment and Definition of Done