MoSCoW: Sorting what matters most
Updated: Aug 17
To help your team make clear, collective decisions about what's truly essential, what's nice to have, and what's best left for later.
Number of participants: Any
Time needed: 1-2hrs
Materials: Pens, paper or online collaboration tool
Goal
To create focus and realism about what can actually be delivered within your current time frame or constraints.
Step 1: Gather Your Ideas
Start by listing all the features, tasks or ideas you'd love to include in your next phase (for example, a sprint, workshop series or project milestone).
Step 2: Build Your Matrix
Next, draw (or create digitally) a simple diagram with four boxes labelled:
Must Have
Should Have
Could Have
Would Love (But Not Now)
This visual representation will help clarify priorities.
Step 3: Sort Together
As a team, place each idea into one of the four boxes. Here’s what each category means:
Must Have: Absolutely critical for success. Without it, the project fails.
Should Have: Important and valuable, but can be delivered in another way or in the next phase.
Could Have: Nice extras that improve the experience but aren’t essential.
Would Love (But Not Now): Great ideas that are currently out of reach due to complexity, cost, or feasibility.
Step 4: Sense Check
Be honest during this step. What really matters? Assess what’s realistic within your current time, resources, and energy. This is a crucial part of the process that ensures your team remains grounded.
Step 5: Make It Actionable
Turn your “Must” and “Should” items into clear tasks. Assign owners or deadlines to ensure accountability. This step is vital for moving forward effectively.
Facilitator Tip 💡
This activity can be run with an online whiteboard tool. However, it can also be conducted with the facilitator screen sharing a Trello board, Google Doc, or other task management tool.
