Prioritization is an important piece of any project puzzle. Sometimes prioritizing the known tasks in a project seems overwhelming - the list can be really long, it's hard to get agreement from stakeholders, assumptions need to be stated, and dependencies need to be considered. Everyone has an opinion.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a quick way to get an initial sort? One that teases out basic assumptions, doesn't worry about dependencies, and is obvious enough to avoid going down those rabbit holes discussing details and possibilities?

Sure enough, one of these magical tools does exist. It's called  MoSCoW rating.

The Priorities

M: Must

S: Should

C: Could

W: Won't

(The rest of the letters are filler to make a word :-) )

Especially with a group of stakeholders this is a very easy to understand, easy to process ranking.

Just hold a stakeholder meeting, explain the rankings, and run through the list. It's usually pretty simple to get agreement at this level.

How to Use the Rankings

For any project, the 'Must' tasks, well, 'must' be completed.These are your top priorities.You generally want to get them all done before taking on any S or C tasks (although sometimes the others flow nicely along and can be completed concurrently with the 'Musts'.)

Next you'll concentrate on finishing the 'Should' tasks. These are more important than 'nice to have' items. The project can complete without finishing the tasks, but will be much better if the 'Shoulds' are completed. You'll want to finish as many 'Should' tasks as possible throughout the course of the project, but not at the expense of even one 'Must' task.

'Could' tasks are really the nice to have items. If they fit, they'll make the final product prettier, nicer, slightly more functional. If they don't fit, it's really not going to have much of an impact. Unless they can be done at the same time as the 'Must' and/or 'Should' tasks these ones will be left behind.

'Won't' tasks are the ones that everyone agrees sounded good once upon a time but really aren't worth the effort. You'll record the 'Won't' tasks somewhere so you know they've been addressed, and then they'll disappear from view in the current project plan.

See, isn't that easy?After you get this initial sort done you'll still have work to do ordering the tasks but you'll be concentrating on the 'Must' first, etc., and you won't need to involve the stakeholders or a large team in the deeper prioritization effort.

Even outside of stakeholder meetings, this is a simple sorting exercise that can make project planning flow more easily. It can even be used for time management to rank your daily tasks (much like A, B, and C priorities but much more mysterious to the casual observer).

Want a quick checklist?  Go to By the Numbers!