Urality

Communities and software share one common trait: They are never done. You can imagine communities and software as a "snapshot" at a given time: It may have incomplete features, it may have defects, and it may have defects that others call features! If you work in either community or software, scope is an issue. How do you know when something is done?

Let's take a building project as an example. When would you consider the building "done"? When the loan is secured (hopefully not!)? When you break ground? When tenants are allowed to move in? When hardscaping is complete and trees are planted?

"Done" matters on context. What is acceptable to you or your team to call something done? Projects languish in part because the definition of "done" is misunderstood or never clearly stated. This leads to all sorts of human issues: misconceptions, nasty emails, held payments, and so forth.

If you struggle with knowing when something is done, do the following:
- Is this project too big? If so, break it down into smaller chunks.
- For each chunk, what is the criteria I will accept to call it "done"? How do you validate that?
- Make sure that everyone involved in doing the work agrees with this acceptance criteria, and hold yourselves accountable to it.

Doing this will help you find the clarity you need to better understand (and eventually, measure and track!) progress in your community.