Consequences Rating

A tag or category for those things that vary in their significance due to the value and/or consequences of having them (or failing to have them) done in an appropriate and timely manner.

A MOSCOW rating helps me a lot with this.

• M - MUST have:

  ~ I or someone else will be fired or arrested if I don't have it done.

  ~ I or someone else might be injured or killed if I don't have it done.

  ~ It will actively prevent progress towards, or access to, completing other items if I don't get it done.

• S - SHOULD have:

  ~ I can get away with not having this done for 2-3 days.

  ~ I'm going to be formally disciplined by management and probably make the client mad for being late with this.

  ~ It will be inconvenient if this isn't done but as long as nobody has any related incidents of significance, it won't be noticed by anyone.

• C - COULD have:

  ~ Technically, I can get away with not having this at all but best practice says I should have it.

  ~ The boss might roll their eyes or frown at me but any disciplinary action would likely be informal.

  ~ It would be worth the time to undertake but if it takes 6 months to get it, it won’t matter.

• W - WOULD have:

  ~ In a perfect world, I'd have this done - I don't actually need it (yet or at all) but it's not a waste of time to have it done.

  ~ The boss would like to know about this; I'd look like a super star for having it.

  ~ It doesn't matter if it never happens at all. Nobody cares.