Coming up on the end of the year I thought it would be a good time to re-visit the question, “What does it mean to be complete?” It doesn’t matter what task you are performing, there are real benefits from having a clear understand of the expectations of all parties regarding the definition of “Complete”.
I think when it comes to completeness it is more important to have a common understanding of what complete means than the exact definition of complete itself.
For example, if a developer is working on code and says that the code is complete what does that mean to other members of the team. A QA person might think this means that the code fulfills all the requirements that were provided for the code, but there may be issues that can be found in the QA Process.
A product manager may think that when a developer says that code is complete that it means the product is ready to ship, and is available to be presented to customers.
Configuring servers for a group of users could have different meanings for the word Complete.
I always remember the “Master Planning” maxim stating that “All conflict is the direct result of differing expectations.” So, define Complete with your team, and have a common understanding and you will reduce conflict in your organization.
Cheers,
Ben