DecisionBeginner

MoSCoW Method

A prioritisation framework dividing requirements or tasks into four categories: Must Have (non-negotiable), Should Have (important but not critical), Could Have (nice to have if time/resources allow), and Won't Have this time (explicitly out of scope). It forces explicit scope decisions and is widely used in product management, project planning, and sprint planning.

Duration

30m–2h

Group size

2–20 people

Materials

list of requirements or features, four labelled columns or quadrants

Origin

Community

How to run it

1
List all candidate requirements, tasks, or features on individual cards or sticky notes.
2
Set up four columns: Must Have, Should Have, Could Have, Won't Have.
3
Explain the rules: Must Haves are the minimum viable set — without them the deliverable fails. Should Haves are highly desirable. Could Haves are low-priority extras. Won't Haves are explicitly deferred.
4
The group places each item into a column. Items in Must Have column should represent no more than 60–70% of effort.
5
If Must Haves exceed capacity: promote nothing, reduce the list.
6
Review and confirm Won't Haves explicitly — this is as important as the Must Haves.

Tips

The most common mistake is putting too much in Must Have.
Challenge every Must Have with: 'What happens if we don't deliver this?' If the answer isn't 'the project fails', it's probably a Should Have.

Variations

Combine with effort estimation (T-shirt sizing) to make prioritisation more realistic. For agile teams, run MoSCoW per sprint rather than per entire project.

Where it fits

Sprint planningProduct roadmap prioritisationRequirements gatheringProject scoping

🪡

Plan your next workshop with AI

Workshop Weaver helps you combine methods like MoSCoW Method into a complete, timed agenda in minutes.

Try it free

Method descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices.