Definition of Ready (DoR) Checklist

Ensure tasks or user stories are fully prepared for development with this comprehensive Definition of Ready checklist for teams.

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About the Definition of Ready (DoR) Checklist

The Definition of Ready (DoR) is a key agile concept that ensures user stories or tasks are fully prepared and clear before development begins. A clear DoR helps teams avoid confusion, reduce ambiguity, and ensures the necessary prerequisites are in place. This checklist serves as a guide to make sure that everything needed for the task is available, well-defined, and agreed upon by the team.

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Check our guides how to import the checklist to Trello, Asana and Jira.

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By adhering to a DoR, you ensure that every user story or task has clear acceptance criteria, is well-understood, and ready to be worked on without unnecessary delays. This checklist allows teams to work efficiently by minimizing interruptions, unnecessary clarifications, and scope creep during development.

What is the Definition of Ready (DoR) Checklist?

The Definition of Ready (DoR) checklist outlines the conditions that must be met before a user story or task is ready to be worked on. It serves as a formal agreement among team members that the user story is clear, actionable, and aligned with business goals.

This checklist is ideal for:

  • Product managers, scrum masters, and project managers defining the scope of work
  • Developers, QA testers, and designers who need a clear understanding of requirements before starting tasks
  • Teams using agile frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban to ensure work is properly prepared

Use this checklist at the beginning of a sprint or iteration to ensure that all tasks or user stories are ready for the development process.

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Why You Should Use the Definition of Ready (DoR) Checklist?

Using a Definition of Ready checklist provides a structured approach to ensure that tasks are clear, actionable, and well-defined. Here are the key benefits:

Minimize Ambiguity
One of the primary reasons to use the DoR checklist is to eliminate ambiguity. Without a clear and agreed-upon DoR, tasks or user stories may have unclear requirements or vague objectives, leading to confusion and delays. This checklist ensures that everyone understands what needs to be done before development begins, saving time and preventing miscommunication.

Increase Efficiency
By preparing tasks or user stories with a DoR checklist, you reduce the need for back-and-forth clarification during development. Clear requirements and acceptance criteria allow the team to get started quickly and stay focused on delivering value without unnecessary interruptions.

Ensure Alignment with Business Goals
The DoR checklist ensures that the team understands not just the technical requirements but also the business context and goals behind a task. It helps to verify that the feature aligns with the overall objectives of the product or business strategy before moving forward.

Manage Dependencies Effectively
A DoR checklist helps identify dependencies early on. By checking if the required resources, systems, or stakeholders are available and aligned, the team can avoid delays caused by missing or misaligned dependencies.

Improve Quality and Reduce Rework
When tasks are well-defined, and requirements are clear, the likelihood of misunderstandings or incomplete work is minimized. This leads to higher-quality deliverables and less rework in the long run, improving both productivity and product quality.

How to Use the Definition of Ready (DoR) Checklist?

Feel free to use the Definition of Ready (DoR) Checklist on our website! Access the pre-made template, complete the tasks, and mark them as finished.

Another way to use checklists is by downloading them as CSV to upload as tasks to project management tools like Asana, Jira, or Trello. It ensures seamless checklist integration for easy task tracking and delegation in project management.

You can also purchase a bundle of checklists to have a variety of templates at your disposal. Our checklists cover various industries and tasks, including project management, marketing, and software development!

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