Could have

Essential features that can wait for a future release

This is an opportunity to set expectations

Essential features that the product needs in order to be viable in the first release

Should have

Won’t have

Nice-to-have features

Think v1.1 not v2!

Must have

Features that are being excluded

Negatives

Does this proposal rely on partners or third parties to succeed? Are there other factors that make it ‘fragile’ in some way?

Are there things outside of our own organization that might cause this solution or strategy to fail?

Strengths

Opportunities

Internal

Where does this proposal fall down on its own merits?

What is it about our operating environment or our competitor set that make this proposal particularly advantageous?

What do we have, or what is it about the way that we work, that make this proposal more likely to succeed than others?

External

Positives

Think about the time constraints you might be facing – a strength is only a strength if you can leverage it in the time you have available

Weaknesses

Threats

Use this section to note anything that you think is probably true, but might need some testing or clarification

If it’s helpful, try to identify both lead and lag measures of success

Be honest about why the project matters – it’ll help get everyone on board

Honesty is the best policy here

What might cause this project to fail?

Add project goal here once you’ve completed the rest of the exercise

Assumptions

Think about the way your organization works, the needs of stakeholders and any other partners, and the time and budget you have available

Be realistic, but ambitious – this is your chance to set the project off to a good start

Quantitative metrics are best, but qualitative measures work fine here too, especially for more experimental projects

Use this space to set the context for the rest of the conversation

What might affect how you deliver this project?

Current situation — Where are we now?

Initial objectives — What will we achieve in the first sprint?

Try to avoid vanity metrics here

Project goal:

Think about what someone coming to the project for the first time might need to know

Success metrics

Why is this project important?

Risks

Constraints

MoSCoW feature prioritization

Use this template to align your team around what’s most important as part of an epic, project, initiative or release.

Prerequisites:

- **a good understanding of user needs**, so that you can make informed decisions about what’s essential and what isn’t
- **clear business objectives** so that you can weigh these up against user needs during prioritization
- features clearly broken down into user stories or other similar ‘chunks’ so that they can be prioritized in a straightforward fashion

You can run this exercise synchronously or asynchronously, and with each feature, decide whether it is a:

- **Must have:** essential for the success of the initiative and needs to be in the first release
- **Should have:** essential but can wait until a subsequent release – you can think of these as ‘v1.1’ features
- **Could have:** nonessential but still valuable, and so should still be considered to be part of this project
- **Won’t have:** explicitly excluded – this is a great way to set expectations for what’s getting axed

Finally, it’s often helpful to bring a broader range of people into this exercise than you might have in sprint planning, for example, as it’s a great way to bring people on board with your thinking in a reasonably time-boxed way.

SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis works best when the end goal of the project or process is clearly defined.

It’s a great way to compare different proposed solutions or strategies, by carrying out a SWOT analysis for each as a way of testing their relative strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities and threats presented by each.

At Qualdesk, we’re a fan of rapid-fire SWOT exercises. You and your team should aim to complete this template in 30 minutes or less for each proposal.

Project Charter

For this exercise, it can be helpful to get your team members to do a bit of homework in advance so that you can run a snappy workshop.

The [stack](https://www.qualdesk.com/release-notes/2021/stack/) sidebar makes this easy to do. Create a board using this template, and send the link around a few days in advance.

To use this template during the workshop, follow the steps in order. Time suggestions are for a 2 hour session, but you should adapt them to suit the project you’re planning and the number of people in the meeting.

1. **Describe the current situation** (10 mins) – set the context for the rest of the conversation
2. **Define why the project is important** (15 mins) – this helps to get everyone on board
3. **Assumptions** (30 mins for the next three sections) – what do you believe to be true that’s a necessary condition for the project to succeed
4. **Constraints** –  about the way your organization works, the needs of stakeholders and any other partners, and the time and budget you have available
5. **Risks** – be honest about what might cause the project to fail
6. **Initial objectives** (30 mins) – what will you achieve in the first sprint (or month or whatever is appropriate)?
7. **Success metrics** (25 mins) – try to identify lead and lag measures
8. **Project goal** (10 mins) – finally, come up with a one-liner to summarize your project

Planning templates