Most consulting projects fail because everything is urgent.

Client wants fifteen things done. Yesterday. With limited budget and time.

So you either overpromise and underdeliver. Or you fight about priorities until everyone’s exhausted.

The MoSCoW method changes this. Four simple categories. Must have. Should have. Could have. Won’t have.

It forces honest conversations about what actually matters.

Why Normal Prioritization Fails

“High priority.” “Medium priority.” “Low priority.”

Everyone knows these labels. Nobody trusts them.

Because high priority is subjective. One person’s high is another person’s medium. And everything somehow becomes high priority by the end of the meeting.

MoSCoW is different. It uses plain language that forces clarity.

The Four Categories

Must have. Critical to success. If this doesn’t happen, the engagement fails. The minimum usable subset. Non-negotiable.

Should have. Important but not critical. Can wait for a future phase if needed. There might be a workaround.

Could have. Nice to have. Improves experience. Include if time and budget permit. First thing to cut when deadlines tighten.

Won’t have. Not now. Maybe later. Agreed by stakeholders as out of scope. Explicitly stating this prevents scope creep.

How This Actually Works

Early in the engagement, list everything the client wants. Every feature. Every improvement. Every deliverable.

Then go through the list together. Force each item into one of the four categories.

This is where it gets uncomfortable. Because suddenly they can’t have everything.

That’s the point.

Start with Must haves. Ask: “If we don’t deliver this, should we consider the engagement a failure?” If the answer is no, it’s not a must have.

Challenge the pile. Clients will try to make everything a must have. Push back. “If we can only deliver three things, which three?” Force the real priorities to surface.

Be explicit about Won’t haves. This feels harsh but prevents problems later. “We’ve agreed analytics dashboards are out of scope for this phase. Correct?”

Review regularly. Priorities shift. Monthly, revisit the categories. Some should haves become must haves. Some could haves drop to won’t haves.

What This Prevents

Scope creep. When someone asks for something new, you have context. “Is this a must have? Because we’d need to move something else to won’t have.”

Endless debates. Instead of arguing whether something is important, you’re asking specific questions. “Is this critical to success? Or can it wait?”

Failed launches. By focusing on must haves first, you ensure the core works. Should haves and could haves are bonuses.

Unclear expectations. Everyone knows what they’re getting. And what they’re not getting. In writing. Agreed upfront.

Real Example

A client wanted to rebuild their customer portal. Initial list had 42 features.

We ran a MoSCoW session:

Must haves: Login, password reset, view orders, download invoices. (6 items)

Should haves: Update profile, save preferences, order history search. (8 items)

Could haves: Dark mode, email notifications, export to CSV. (12 items)

Won’t haves: Integration with accounting software, custom reporting, mobile app. (16 items)

Budget allowed must haves plus half the should haves. We launched in six weeks instead of six months.

The Real Benefit

MoSCoW doesn’t just organize work. It surfaces what the client actually values.

When you force someone to choose between must have and should have, they reveal their real priorities. Not what sounds good in meetings. What they’d actually pay for.

This makes everything clearer. Proposals. Timelines. Trade-offs.

Common Pushback

“But everything is important.” Yes. But not everything is critical. The method forces you to distinguish.

“What if priorities change?” They will. That’s why you review monthly. MoSCoW handles change better than rigid plans.

“Clients won’t like being told no.” You’re not saying no. You’re saying not now. And you’re giving them control over the trade-offs.

When to Use It

Kickoff meetings. Before you write the proposal. When you’re defining scope.

Mid-project reviews. When timeline is slipping. When budget is tight.

Stakeholder conflicts. When executives disagree. When everyone wants different things.

Any time you need clarity about what matters most.

Why It Works in Consulting

Consulting is about constraint. Limited time. Limited budget. Unlimited expectations.

MoSCoW makes constraints visible. And turns them into strategic decisions instead of failures.

Clients respect consultants who help them prioritize. Not consultants who say yes to everything.

Because saying yes to everything means delivering nothing well.

MoSCoW helps you deliver what matters. And explicitly not deliver what doesn’t.

That’s the kind of clarity that leads to successful engagements. And repeat business.