Prioritise with the MoSCoW template

Owned by Marin Varvodic
Last updated: May 23, 2023 by Kresimir Nikolic
2 min read

It is vital to understand the relative importance of the work to be done to make progress and keep to deadlines. Prioritization can be applied to user stories, tasks, products, use cases, acceptance criteria, and tests, although it is most commonly applied to user stories.

While priorities are negotiable, prioritizing is a must. So, to avoid the coulda, shoulda, woulda scenario, start with the MoSCoW method today! If you're new to this term, let us briefly introduce you to its importance. The MoSCoW method is a prioritization strategy used in management, business analysis, and software development that helps you come to an agreement with stakeholders on the value they place on the fulfillment of each requirement.

Given that expectation management is an important management tool, implementing the MoSCoW method categories is an excellent way to advance your managerial skills.

Create and configure the custom field

To create and configure the MoSCoW priorization custom field, you must be logged in as a user with Jira Administrator permissions.

  1. Go to Settings → Issues → Custom Fields

  2. Create a new custom field of type CFS - MoSCoW Priorization

  3. Add name and description

  4. Associate the field to the appropriate screens. You must associate a field to a screen before it will be displayed.

  5. Click on 1 Context and click Create, edit or delete contexts on the dialogue.

  6. Click Edit custom field config.

  7. Set new names and colors for MoSCoW fields.

Steps 5, 6 and 7 are not required. You can use the default values that are set in the app configuration screen.

Understand the MoSCoW rules

MoSCoW requirements should be related to a specific timeframe. At the end of a project Increment, all requirements that have not been met are re-prioritised in the light of the needs of the next Increment.

MUST

  • No point in delivering on the target date without this

  • Legal compliance without it

  • Security issues without it

  • Important to deliver a viable solution

SHOULD

  • Important but not vital

  • It May be painful to leave out, but the solution is still viable

  • There is a workaround for this, but it is just a temporary one

COULD

  • Wanted but not important

  • Small impact if left out

WON’T

  • Recorded, but not important for the time frame.

Create the review of the estimates based on MoSCoW fields and Jira story points

  1. Add MoSCoW value for Jira issues you want to estimate in the selected project increment (release)

  2. Estimate issues using Jira story points

  3. Install the SumUp for Jira by Decadis AG → https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1211625/sumup-for-jira?hosting=cloud&tab=overview

  4. Create a Jira dashboard and add Filter Results (by SumUp)

  5. Add Filter, Columns (MoSCoW and Story Points field) to display, and the Number of results. Save the Configuration.

  6. Result → See the Sum of Story points for all user stories with the MUST value.