MoSCoW method: what it is and what it means

MoSCoW is a classification framework that ranks projects by level of necessity in four categories: Must have (essential for continuity or survival), Should have (important but not blocking in the short term), Could have (an improvement that is nice to have but not necessary), Won't have this time (explicitly excluded from the current period). The fourth category — stating what will not be done — is the rarest in owner-led companies, and it is as much a decision as the first three.

Distinctive: level of necessity
Distinctive: Won't have this time
Essential: four categories
Essential: Must have
Essential: Should have
Essential: Could have
Constant: classification framework that ranks projects

Glossary

MoSCoW method

A classification framework that ranks projects by level of necessity in four categories: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have — including an explicit category for what will not be done in the current period.