Get your Staff Moving with the Action Priority Matrix

Stop Stalling, Start Succeeding!

Despite the harsh title, lack of staff movement isn't solely the fault of the team; rather, it often reflects shortcomings in leadership and organizational processes.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, stagnation is not an option. Are you finding it challenging to mobilize your team and drive meaningful progress? If so, you're not alone. Many organizations struggle with 'analysis paralysis,' hindering their ability to execute on critical initiatives.

As a leadership management consultant, one challenge I encounter time-and-time again reigns supreme: analysis paralysis. Business leaders often find themselves entangled in endless cycles of planning, leaving projects stagnant and progress elusive due to lack of effective prioritization.

In this post, I speak about my team’s experience and a special hack we have used year-after-year growing as change agents when tasked with guiding CEOs to support their revolutionary growth goals (aka 'stretch goals') ?– the Action Priority Matrix.

This simple yet powerful tool allows project managers to categorize activities based on their impact and effort, guiding team leaders through the maze of decision-making with ease. It's a methodology honed through real-world experience, where we have worked closely with CEOs striving to make their companies more execution-focused.

Having witnessed firsthand the frustration of leaders grappling with project prioritization, we recognized the need for a structured approach to decision-making. CEOs, time and time again, seek ways to instil a sense-of-urgency and accountability within their organizations but often fall short in that they do not leverage this super effective tool and continue to refine its usage as they implement it across their company.

The Action Priority Matrix

Let's explore each of the four quadrants of the Action Priority Matrix:

Fill-in Tasks: Situated in the lower left quadrant, these are quick fixes that demand minimal effort & skill and offer marginal value. They are essential for maintaining momentum and addressing immediate needs. In their simplicity, often if neglected they can cause great pains. Examples of such activities include: booking a reservation for a conferenance and completing an expense report.

Quick Wins: Positioned in the upper left quadrant, these gems are high-impact activities requiring little/medium effort. Often dubbed as "just do it" projects, they deliver significant value swiftly, energizing teams and stakeholders alike. Examples include helping a colleague resolve an issue and organizing a team breakfast to brainstorm new ideas.

Large Projects: Nestled in the upper right quadrant, these sometimes behemoths demand substantial resources, time, governance and managerial signoff. While daunting, they promise substantial returns and drive strategic initiatives forward. Examples of large projects include facilitating cross-departmental best practice sharing forums and outsourcing a process to a shared center of excellence.

Thankless Tasks: Residing in the lower right quadrant, these are high-effort, low-value endeavors that can drain morale if mishandled. Proper management is crucial to prevent disillusionment among team members. Tasks of such include moving archive and file cabinets to another floor and reviewing historical records to ensure they are complete to avoid issues in an upcoming external audit. (side note -- Our team refers to these as 'Thank You Projects' to ensure that Management makes extra effort in expressing ample gratitute to those to whom these projects are assigned.

In closing, the efficacy of this tool relies heavily on the project manager's ability to assess the skill level required for task completion, evaluate the impact or risk associated with each opportunity, and estimate the effort and duration needed for implementation.

In agile companies, project managers, often facilitated by a Project Management Office (PMO), excel in gathering this crucial information and presenting it to decision-makers responsible for providing the go/no-go signoff. This seamless coordination ensures that projects are not only selected strategically but also executed with precision, driving the organization towards its goals effectively.

Digitizing the Action Priority Matrix

By leveraging the Action Priority Matrix, organizations can streamline project selection, optimize resource allocation, and foster a culture of accountability. It's this very methodology that underpins PRESTO P-D-C-A, our revolutionary project management and PMO change management software .

Built on the principles of the Action Priority Matrix, PRESTO P-D-C-A equips project managers with the tools to assess effort, engage senior management, and execute daily on initiatives that drive growth and success.

Furthermore, once these tasks are categorized, each activity is ushered through the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) change cycle. This systematic approach enables project managers to ensure the proper level of management engagement at every step of the way. By iteratively planning, executing, evaluating, and adjusting, projects are not only strategically selected but also meticulously managed throughout their lifecycle.

In this short 3-minute software demo , we highlight how the Action Priority Matrix is embedded in our platform’s methodology when capturing and managing project activities.

CLICK IMAGE BELOW TO VIEW THIS 3-MINUTE VIDEO ON OF THE PRESTO P-D-C-A ACTION PRIORITY MATRIX

To make project management even more accessible, PRESTO P-D-C-A is now available in a freemium for life subscription model , offering the first 3 licenses free of charge with no credit card needed to sign up. If you're searching for a better way to manage large portfolios of project activities and want to ditch spreadsheets once and for all, sign up today !

In a world where time is of the essence, embracing the Action Priority Matrix isn't just a choice – it's a strategic imperative.

Join us in transforming the way projects are managed and propel your organization towards unparalleled success.

Visit our website to learn more and embark on your journey to project management excellence with PRESTO P-D-C-A.

To your continued leadership success!

Andrew Lenti

Managing Director / Co - Founder