Done: Define completion before work begins
Teams call work complete using different standards, so unfinished validation, communication, ownership, or follow-up appears after the deadline.
The useful response is not another status layer. It is a mechanism that can define completion before work begins.
What the skill produces
The Done skill turns supplied context into a definition of done with required evidence, approver, exceptions, and closure record. It should expose missing evidence instead of inventing it. The free skill packages this mechanism for explicit use. It does not fetch remote instructions, and the practitioner remains responsible for the facts and final decision.
Run the mechanism
- Name the deliverable and customer or business result.
- List the evidence, approvals, tests, and communication required for completion.
- Record exceptions, owners, and dates before changing status to done.
The accountable owner reviews the output against the source evidence before it is used. Material unknowns remain labeled and receive an owner and date when they affect the decision.
Failure check
A checklist becomes a loophole when teams mark boxes without producing the evidence behind them.
Adoption test
Apply the standard to one recurring deliverable for four cycles. Track reopened work, missing approvals, and late follow-up.
Record the result in the next review so the team can distinguish a useful skill from an unused document.
Keep the skill only if the result improves against that baseline. Revise the playbook when the same operating failure survives more than one review cycle.
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