Priority Matrix (PMAT)

Priority Matrix (PMAT) is one of the core business frameworks i’ve used effectively in my career. I was fortunate enough to have learnt this during my stint in LinkedIn. It has been a great career guide in ensuring that i deliver high impact in all my roles so far.

PMAT does a few things in sequence:

• Categorises your work into buckets based on impact and success probability
• Helps you understand if you have a ‘balanced portfolio’ to succeed
• Pushes you to either add initiatives, or ‘move them’ to ensure a balanced portfolio

I'll dive into each of these below.

1. Categorise your work

Draw two axes - impact and probability of success - as shown in the picture below, and label each box accordingly.

Next, fill in your initiatives according to the axes. Using an example of a product manager here.. there could be several incremental product improvements in small wins, a new product in big bets, and a product integration with a huge partner as a home run.

It is important to remember that we may be biased in giving a true impact or probability of success. My advice is to check with your immediate manager to see if he/she agrees with how you’ve assessed them. People often over-inflate the impact of their initiative.

2. Do you have a balanced portfolio?

Now look at your PMAT chart. A typical chart should have the most initiatives in small wins, some in junk, and a few in big bets and home runs. If you only have small wins, or have big bets without home runs, then you have a ‘risky’ portfolio. This could mean that your chance of delivering huge impact is small, and hence your probability of performing (and perhaps promotion) will be smaller.

Of course, there is no perfect portfolio that fits all. How a portfolio should look will depend on the job nature and more importantly, the risk appetite of the person. For example, more big bets means more risk that your initiatives may not pan out (but if they do, you win big).

Just like an investment portfolio or a product portfolio (like the BCG star-dog matrix), this PMAT gives you a practical glance at whether you have the right portfolio of projects to succeed.

3. Add or move initiatives to create a desired portfolio

Now.. if u have a gaping hole in big bet or home run, it’s time to think of adding some. Challenge your assumptions and beliefs - what are you not doing to really move the needle? Are you thinking too small? Take your PMAT and discuss with your immediate manager and peers to gain more ideas.

A less common but still possible way, is to think about moving your initiatives to another box. E.g. small win --> home run, or big bet --> home run.

For example, I’ve seen cases where employees label an initiative as a small win, but perhaps that feature can be a huge win if you rolled it out differently and think bigger (e.g. rolling it out globally instead of just in your region).

Or if you have a big bet, then you should seriously consider how to remove the blockers and improve the chances of success. For example, you could try to get more internal buy in and resources to help.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading this. I hope you’ll spend some time drawing a PMAT with your initiatives to understand your ‘work portfolio’ which will determine your performance ratings to a good extent. I’ll be happy to comment!

PS: I'm starting to share my thoughts more regularly on leadership and web3 topics. Most of my articles are short - more like mental notes to myself and my team, but i hope you'll find these useful.