MoSCoW Prioritisation: Must, Should, Could, Won’t

Named for its four buckets — Must, Should, Could, Won't — MoSCoW makes the hardest question the loudest: *what are we choosing not to do?*

The four categories

• Must have — the release/day/week fails without it. Non-negotiable.
• Should have — important but not critical. Ship without if forced.
• Could have — nice, low-effort wins. Include only if capacity remains.
• Won't have this time — explicitly out of scope. Not *no* forever, just *not now*.

Set up in LemTask

• Create tags: #must, #should, #could, #wont
• Filter your list by tag to see each bucket
• Or use priorities: P1 = Must, P2 = Should, P3 = Could, and keep a `#wont` tag for the parked pile

Rule of thumb: Musts should be ≤60% of total effort. If everything is a Must, nothing is.