What is the Moscow Priority Technique?

What is the Moscow Priority Technique?

This Video Explains The Moscow Prioritization Method, What It Means, How It Works, And When You Can Use It.
Let's Start Out By Looking At What The Moscow Method Is And What It Stands For.
Moscow Is One Of The Most Popular Prioritization Techniques.
By Using This Method, You Can Better Understand The Importance Of Different Features In A Product Release. The Acronym Moscow Stands For Four Different Categories Of Initiatives:
Must-Haves
Should-Haves
Could-Haves
And Will Not Have At This Time Or Won’t-Haves.
Sometimes The W In Moscow Is Used To Stand For Wish Instead Of Won’t-Have Now.

Let's Break Each Of Them Down And See What Each One Means.
The Must-Haves Are Essential Features That Must Be Included In The Product. The Project Would Fail Without These.
Should Haves Are Important But Not Crucial. They Add Significant Value.
Next, In The Could-Have Bucket Are Nice To Have Initiatives. They Don't Affect The Core Function And Have Little Impact If You Leave Them Out.
And Lastly, We Have The Won't Haves. These Are Definitely Not A Priority For The Projected Time Frame And Therefore Will Not Be Included In The Specific Release.

In Order To Run The Moscow Method Smoothly, Your Product Team And Partners First Need To Decide On The Objectives And Factors That Will Determine The Criteria For The Categories. Then, You Need To Reach A Consensus On What Initiatives Or Features You Will Select.
It's Also Important To Define How Much Effort To Allocate To Each Category. This Typically Varies By Team And Project. But A Rule Of Thumb Suggests That You Should Dedicate Not More Than 60% Of Your Total Effort To Must-Haves And About 20% To Could Haves And 20% To Should-Haves.

Now Your Team Is Ready To Sit Down And Discuss Your Initiatives.
Let's Look Into Them. We'll Start With The Must-Have Initiatives. The Category Name Doesn't Come As A Surprise As They Will Be The Lifeblood Of Your Product Or Release.

These Are Non-Negotiable Features. Without Them Your Release Could Be A Guaranteed Failure. You Should Reach An Agreement On How Much Time And Effort You Spend On Your Must-Haves. You Should Focus On Them But You Shouldn't Allocate More Than 60% Of The Overall Effort. When Deciding On Your Must-Haves, Ask Yourself And The Team If This Project Will Work Without This Feature.

What Happens If We Release Without It?
What's The Simplest Way To Accomplish This?
Next Let's Move On To The Should Have Initiatives.
Being Just Under The Must-Haves In Importance They Are Still Highly Important To The Product But Not Crucial. The Product Will Still Manage To Function Without Them. On The Other Hand, You Wouldn't Want To Leave Them Out As They Generate A Significant Amount Of Value. To Put It Into Perspective, You Should Include Them In Your Release But You Could Schedule Them For A Future Release Without Having A Negative Effect On The Current One. The Could-Have Initiatives Are The Nice To Have Initiatives Meaning That They Are Not Necessary. They Generate Value To The User But They Are Not Exactly A Core Component Or Function Of Your Product.

There Would Be No Repercussions If You Were To Leave Them Out.
Lastly, The Won't Have Initiatives. These Initiatives Are Still Important To Take Into Account. You Should Always Identify Them As It'll Help The Team Decide What Will Not Be Included In The Work Thereby Allowing Them To Prioritize Other Initiatives.

They Prevent You From Wasting Resources That Your Team Needs For This Release. The Subgrouping Of These Is Also Beneficial. Perhaps There Are Won't-Have Initiatives That You Will Not Include Within This Scope But Could Be Included In The Future. Then Others That Simply Won't Be Included At All.

Criticism Of The Moscow Prioritization Method
You Can’t Use It To Decide Between Requirements With The Same Priority.
An Insufficient Understanding Of How To Rank Competing Requirements: Why A Necessity Rather Than A Recommendation Should Be Considered.
There Is An Ambiguity Over Timing, Especially For The Won't Have Category: Whether It Is Not In This Release Or Not In The Future.
There Is A Risk That Politics Will Prioritize Building New Features Over Technical Improvements.

The Moscow Prioritization Method Is Proven To Enhance Performance And Reduce Problems.

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