In an agile sprint review, the project manager reports sprint goals were not met. The product owner leaves early and the team is confused because there were no defects for new user stories and no new requirements. What should the project manager do in the future to avoid this?

The correct answer is to review the definition of done (DoD) with the product owner. The scenario indicates that the team believed their work was complete ("no defects for new user stories and no new requirements"), yet the sprint goals were not met. This discrepancy often arises from a misalignment or misunderstanding of what "done" truly means between the development team and the product owner. The DoD clarifies the criteria that all work must meet to be considered complete, ensuring shared understanding and preventing such issues in future sprint reviews. Getting approval from the product owner on user stories is part of backlog refinement but doesn't address the "done" criteria. Creating better test plans is important but won't solve a fundamental misunderstanding of completion. Including previous sprint defects is a separate process improvement item, not directly related to the current problem of unmet sprint goals despite seemingly complete work.