Agile fundamentals for teams

In this video, we’ll look at how you can begin to prioritise items in your product backlog. We'll start by considering the purpose, then look at one approach that's often used by Agile teams. 

As a team, you’ll have many items in your product backlog. The reality is, it's very unlikely that you'll be able to do everything So, you'll have to prioritise. To do so, you'll consider: which items will have the most impact for users? 

By prioritising, it simplifies your decision-making process. This is particularly important when you're planning what you'll work on next.  

It's also important for creating alignment with stakeholders. Prioritisation isn't down to one person. It should involve others. Making this process open and transparent, enables stakeholders to see what coming. This ensures there's no surprises. 

There are many different methods that you can use to prioritise your backlog. We're going to focus on one method, that's often used by Agile teams. 

MoSCoW helps you to categorise items based on their importance and urgency. The acronym stands for Must, Should, Could, and Won't. 

Let's start with 'Must-Have.' These are the non-negotiable features. They are critical for the success of your product. Without these, your product wouldn't be viable or functional. 

Without these basic functions, the product would be useless. It wouldn't meet a core user need. 

Next up, we have 'Should-Have' items. These are important features but are not critical for the initial release of the product. They can wait to a later phase but are still important for enhancing the product's value. 

Whilst this would be helpful, the product can function without this. 

Moving on to 'Could-Have' items. These are nice-to-have features. They would be beneficial but are not essential to the core functionality of the product. The team can work on these if time and resources allow. 

Finally, we have 'Won't-Have' items. These are features or requirements that are not in the current scope of work. They are usually deferred to future releases or discarded altogether. 

It’s important to remember that your backlog is dynamic. Over time, the priorities will change as user needs evolve and new insights emerge. For launch, you may focus on the ‘must have’ features. But over time you will shift your focus to the ‘should have’ and ‘could have’ features. That's because teams are always tracking and assessing user needs. This will cause priorities to shift over time. New requirements might emerge. Or a low priority may become essential due to changing circumstances or feedback. Prioritisation is an ongoing process that allows you to stay flexible and responsive. 

To summarise, prioritisation helps you focus on the most critical features first. It also gives you flexibility when deciding your next steps. It ensures that the most important aspects of your product get delivered. While leaving room for future improvements, based on the needs of users.