What is one way to decrease technical debt?

Improving the definition of "Done" is a crucial approach to decrease technical debt because it sets clear and comprehensive criteria for what constitutes a completed product backlog item. When the definition of "Done" includes thorough requirements such as ensuring code is tested, reviewed, documented, and meets quality standards, it compels the team to pay attention to the technical aspects of their work. This leads to cleaner, more maintainable code and reduces the likelihood of shortcuts that could contribute to accumulating technical debt. By establishing a robust standard, the team actively prevents issues that would require time-consuming fixes later, thereby promoting a sustainable development process.

In contrast, increasing code complexity, reducing team collaboration, and delaying code reviews would all likely contribute to greater technical debt. Complexity makes the codebase harder to understand and maintain, while a lack of collaboration can prevent knowledge sharing and inhibit quality checks. Additionally, postponing code reviews often allows faults to go unaddressed, allowing issues to compound and escalate into significant technical debt over time.