Done should be a state, not an opinion.

A surprising amount of team friction starts with one simple problem: people use the word “done” to mean different things.

One person means “I finished my part.” Another means “It is ready for review.” Someone else means “It shipped.” Then everybody spends the next hour figuring out whether the work actually moved or just changed hands.

If a workflow has real stages, “done” should not be vague. It should mean something specific. Reviewed. Approved. Published. Sent. Live. Whatever the stages are, the system should make them visible.

A lot of avoidable follow-up comes from treating progress like a feeling instead of a state. When the status is explicit, people stop guessing and the work keeps moving.