Example data. Fieldnote is a fictional company used to fill all 61 boards, so the examples tell one consistent story.
Pre-PMF, Karim and Sophie (the first paying customer) lock the scope of the offline mode v1 before Tom's squad starts.
What the team took away
Sophie wanted offline planning for Marc; it goes to Won't because dispatchers always have wifi. v1 is four Musts, shippable in one sprint.
How to run it
Preparation
Invite the product lead and the sponsor or client who signs off the scope. Without the person who can say Won't, the session is theater.
Send the goal of the release and the deadline the day before. MoSCoW without a fixed date is just a wish list.
Pre-fill the board with every requested item as a sticky in an Unsorted column. Write a one-line definition under each of the four headers.
Agenda
10 min
Fix the frame Read the release goal and the date. Agree that Must means 'without it, we do not ship', not 'the sponsor really wants it'. Write that sentence on the board.
25 min
First sort The sponsor places every item, thinking aloud. Product only asks one question per item: 'what happens if this is missing on launch day?'
25 min
Cap the Musts Count the Musts. If they exceed 60 % of the estimated capacity, go through them one by one and ask which two could become Should without breaking the goal. Repeat until you are under.
15 min
Name the Won'ts Move the leftovers to Won't explicitly, with 'not this release' written on each. Silence here creates resentment later.
10 min
Lock Read the Must column aloud as the definition of the release. Sponsor confirms in writing in the channel before the session ends.
5 min
Close Freeze the board. Any change from now on goes through a written request, not a hallway conversation.
Pitfalls
Never let Must exceed 60 % of capacity. The whole method exists to protect the buffer for surprises.
Do not sort features by who asked for them. Sort by what breaks the goal if it is missing.
Do not leave Won't empty. An empty Won't column means nobody made a decision.
Afterwards
The Must list becomes the release scope in the story map or the sprint backlog. Should and Could go to the Next column of the roadmap. Revisit after the first demo, not before.