Must Meet, Should Meet, and Optimize are the three enforcement levels a Scenario Planning constraint can have, each tied to its Priority setting. Choosing between them determines whether Profit.co blocks an optimization run, applies a penalty, or stays flexible when that constraint can't be fully satisfied.
Table of Contents
- What Are Must Meet, Should Meet, and Optimize Constraints?
- Why Does Choosing the Right Constraint Type Matter?
- How Do I Use Must Meet vs Should Meet vs Optimize Constraints?
- What Happens When You Use Each Constraint Type?
- What Are the Best Practices for Choosing a Constraint Type?
- Related Articles
- What Are Some Frequently Asked Questions About Must Meet, Should Meet, and Optimize Constraints?
What Are Must Meet, Should Meet, and Optimize Constraints?
These are the three enforcement categories a Scenario Planning Constraint Type can have, determined by the Priority level you assign it: High priority is enforced as Must Meet, Medium priority as Should Meet, and Low priority as Optimize.
Each Constraint Type also has a separate Flexibility Score slider, ranging from Most Strict to Most Flexible, that fine-tunes enforcement within whichever category its Priority level places it in.
| Constraint Type | Priority Level | Enforcement Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Must Meet | High | A hard constraint representing an absolute requirement. Optimization fails if it's violated, so critical business rules are never compromised. |
| Should Meet | Medium | A medium-priority goal that allows violations with a penalty, giving flexibility when necessary to achieve overall optimization. |
| Optimize | Low | A low-priority goal with minimal penalty for violations, giving maximum flexibility to find the best overall solution. |
Note
Color-coded priority badges show which type a constraint is at a glance: red for Must Meet (High), yellow for Should Meet (Medium), and green for Optimize (Low).
Why Does Choosing the Right Constraint Type Matter?
Marking every rule as Must Meet turns each one into a hard stop, so a single unmet requirement fails the entire optimization run and blocks any recommendation at all. Marking every rule as Optimize does the opposite, letting the engine treat even important business rules as negotiable.
Because Profit.co evaluates High-priority constraints first, the Must Meet tier is also what determines which requirements dominate the optimization ahead of Should Meet and Optimize goals, not just which ones get flagged as violated.
How Do I Use Must Meet vs Should Meet vs Optimize Constraints?
Step 1: Open Scenario Planning Settings
- Navigate to Settings → Portfolios and Projects → Portfolios and switch to the Scenario Planning tab.
Step 2: Create or Open a Constraint Type
- Click + Create, or select an existing Constraint Type to edit.
Step 3: Choose the Priority Level for This Constraint
- Assign High to enforce it as Must Meet, Medium to enforce it as Should Meet, or Low to enforce it as Optimize.
Step 4: Set the Flexibility Score
- Move the Flexibility Score slider from Most Strict to Most Flexible to control how strictly this specific constraint is enforced within its category.
Tip
Start from a Constraint Type Template, such as Budget Limits, Strategic Mandates, or Resource Caps, if the rule matches a common pattern instead of configuring Priority and Flexibility Score from scratch.
What Happens When You Use Each Constraint Type?
| Scenario | What Happens |
|---|---|
| You configure a constraint as Must Meet (High priority) and it can't be satisfied. | Profit.co fails the optimization run and does not produce an allocation recommendation, since Must Meet constraints represent absolute requirements that can never be compromised. |
| You configure a constraint as Should Meet (Medium priority) and it can't be fully satisfied. | Profit.co still generates an allocation recommendation and applies a penalty for the violation instead of blocking the optimization. |
| You configure a constraint as Optimize (Low priority) and it isn't fully satisfied. | Profit.co applies only a minimal penalty and keeps maximum flexibility to find the best overall allocation. |
| You configure constraints across all three types at once. | Profit.co evaluates the Must Meet constraints first, so they dominate the optimization ahead of the Should Meet and Optimize goals. |
| You move a constraint's Flexibility Score toward Most Strict instead of Most Flexible, regardless of its type. | Profit.co enforces that constraint more rigidly during optimization, reducing how often it can be violated even within its own category. |
What Are the Best Practices for Choosing a Constraint Type?
- Reserve Must Meet for rules that truly cannot be broken, since a single unmet Must Meet constraint fails the entire optimization run rather than producing a partial recommendation.
- Use Should Meet for goals that matter but can flex under pressure, since Profit.co still produces a recommendation and only applies a penalty when one is violated.
- Use Optimize for preferences you want considered but not enforced, since it carries only a minimal penalty and gives the engine maximum room to find the best overall solution.
- Adjust the Flexibility Score within a tier instead of changing its Priority level to fine-tune enforcement, since Priority determines which of the three categories applies while Flexibility Score adjusts strictness inside that category.
- Check your Must Meet constraints first if an optimization run fails to produce a recommendation, since a single unmet hard constraint is enough to block the whole result.
Related Articles
- What is the Prioritization and Optimization grid in the PPM module?
- What is Resource Management in the PPM module?
What Are Some Frequently Asked Questions About Must Meet, Should Meet, and Optimize Constraints?
It's strictly one category. Each Constraint Type carries a single Priority level, High, Medium, or Low, which places it in exactly one of the three enforcement types.
They reflect Priority level only: red for High (Must Meet), yellow for Medium (Should Meet), and green for Low (Optimize). The Flexibility Score is shown separately as a slider position.
Should Meet, with the Flexibility Score moved toward Most Strict. Must Meet would fail the entire optimization run instead of applying a penalty, while Optimize applies only a minimal penalty regardless of the Flexibility Score setting.
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