Documentation Can Be Part Of Definition Of Done

Participant:

Hi MJ. Great news. I have landed a contract position as a scrum master. I had the three hour interview with six different folks and did extremely well as you did a terrific job preparing the class. Is there any last minute advise or tips you have for me prior to starting Monday? My biggest concern is release installs as scrum does not cover that aspect and I am pretty sure as scrum master I will need to maintain reporting and complete turnover documentation in terms of release notes.

MJ:

For our team, all documentation was part of “definition of done.” So a feature wouldn’t be considered done unless the relevant documentation had been updated.

Participant:

Thank you. That makes sense. Does the team create documentation or scrum master in your opinion?

MJ:

The whole development system should be able to work without the Scrum Master present. I try to move all responsibilities into the realm of team self organization. (On the other hand, do what ever is necessary to keep your career going.)

I had another client who had been “doing Scrum” with several teams, but leaving all the documentation to one specialist who had the language proficiency, training, and software license to use their expensive documentation tool. You may recognize that this looks a little like waterfall. Teams would finish their work (minus documentation) just before a release date, then the one documentation specialist would be hit with a tidal wave of undone work. What advice would you give them?