The Action Priority Matrix
Making
the very most of your opportunities
(Also, the Impact Feasibility Matrix)
(Premium Members Only)
The Action Priority Matrix is a simple
diagramming technique that helps you choose which activities
to prioritize (and which ones you should drop) if you want
to make the most of your time and opportunities.
It’s useful because most of us have many more activities
on our “wish lists” – whether these are bright ideas to
pursue, exciting opportunities or interesting possibilities
– than we have time available. By choosing activities intelligently,
you can make the very most of your time and opportunities.
However by choosing badly, you can quickly bog yourself
down in low-yield, time-consuming projects that close down
opportunities and stop you moving forwards.
How to Use the Tool:
Figure 1 below shows the basic form of
the Action Priority Matrix:
The principle behind using the tool is
that you score each activity you want to complete on two
scales – firstly on the impact the activity will have, and
secondly on the effort involved.
By plotting each activity on the Action Priority Matrix
using these scores, you can quickly see the projects that
give you the greatest returns on your efforts; and adopt
the most appropriate approach for that type of activity:
| Tip 1:
Much of the “magic” of this technique comes from understanding
and avoiding this crowding out effect.
Tip2:
A variant of this tool is the "Impact-Feasibility
Matrix", which substitutes 'Feasibility' for
'Effort' on the horizontal axis. This gives a different
perspective, looking at the organization's ability
to deliver important changes. |
To use the Action Priority Matrix, print
off our free
worksheet and then follow these steps:
-
List the activities that you’d like
to complete;
- Score them on impact (from, say, 0
for no impact to 10 for maximum impact) and on effort
involved (from 0, say, for no real effort to 10 for a
very major effort);
- Plot the activities on the Action Priority
Matrix; and
- Select or drop activities appropriately.
| Tip 3:
Use common sense in interpreting the lines separating
the four quadrants – after all, there’s only a small
difference between a 4.9 impact activity defined as
a “hard slog”, and a 5.1 impact task defined as a
“major project”.
Tip 4:
Above we’re suggesting a scale from 0 to 10 for both
impact and effort. However there’s nothing stopping
you using other scales – for example if you were ranking
major projects, you might use $ financial return as
the scale on the impact axis, and “man days activity”
on the effort axis. |
The next tour article
offers a Leadership Motivation Assessment – a great tool
for helping you understand if you're truly motivated enough
to go through the hard work involved in becoming an
effective leader. To read this, click 'Next
article' below.
(All
articles are also available to members in printable format)
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