1: No one ever gets it right.
“That’s one thing many entrepreneurs think,” Dan Martell writes in his book Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire.
The good news? There’s an easy way to solve this problem.
Dan calls it: A Definition of Done. Or, simply: A DoD.
“I use this for every person at every level in my company,” he writes.
“For instance, when I ask my administrative assistant to purchase a whiteboard, I give them a DoD,” Dan notes.
“This task is done when the whiteboard is hanging on the wall in my office, there are four colored markers (red, green, blue, and black), and there’s a dry-erase marker handy.”
A simple definition is all we need in straightforward cases like this one.
2: When the project is more complex, Dan recommends we include a simple, three-part framework.
For example, let’s say we want a colleague to prepare a financial report. Our Definition of Done will need to have three things:
Requirement #1: Facts. “What are the hard metrics that must be accomplished?” Dan suggests. “What measurement in your business must be improved?”
Requirement #2: Feelings. “How must we and others feel for this task to be considered complete?” he asks.
Requirement #3: Functionality. “When this task is finished, what must it enable others to do?” Dan outlines.
For the financial report to be “done” means:
Fact: “It’s submitted, by January 1,” Dan writes.
Feelings: “I’m confident that the information is going to be accurate.”
Functionality: “That everyone who will access it can easily pull out the data they need,” he states.
3: The other big benefit? A DoD generates an up-front conversation. Dan’s colleague may add or request additional information. Like: “Who needs to access the report and what data do they need?”
That’s the point. A DoD leads to a discussion. “It makes sure we’ve communicated everything we need to, and it forces possible delays to come up early, so we can keep things moving quickly.”
Dan’s suggestion: The next time we request something, “Don’t forget to offer them a clear DoD. They’ll be happier knowing what we want, and we’ll get what we want.”
Over time, the DoD becomes an integral part of our workplace culture. If we give someone a half-baked assignment, people will begin to ask for a DoD.
“What’s your DoD for this?” they’ll say.
More tomorrow.
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Reflection: Am I specific enough about what “done” looks like when I assign tasks or projects to other team members?
Action: Start including a clear Definition of Done (DoD) the next time I delegate a task, outlining exactly what successful completion looks like.