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Impact/Effort Matrix

schedule
Time Frame

5-30 min

groups
Group size

2-10

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Facilitation lvl

beginner

window
Comfort zone

safe

Purpose: To generate ideas and examine them by two factors: Impact and Effort. In this decision-making exercise, possible actions are mapped based on two factors: the effort required to implement and the potential impact. Some ideas are costly but may have a bigger long-term payoff than short-term actions. Categorizing ideas along these lines is a useful technique in decision making, as it obliges contributors to balance and evaluate suggested actions before committing to them. This can be done face-to-face or online.

Materials

A whiteboard and sticky notes. (face-to-face or virtual)

Step 1

Instructions


Impact_Effort Matrix TOOLBOX (1)-min
link to image


Given a goal, a group may have a number of ideas for how to achieve it. To open the exercise, frame the goal in terms of a “What to do” or “What we need” question. This may sound as simple as “What do we need to reach our goal?”

Ask the group to generate ideas individually on sticky notes.

Then, ask them to present their ideas back to the group by placing them within a 2×2 matrix that is organized by impact and effort:

- Impact: The potential payoff of the action, vs.
- Effort: The cost of taking the action

Step 2

Strategy

As participants place their ideas into the matrix, the group may openly discuss the position of elements.

It is not uncommon for an idea to be bolstered by the group and to move up in potential impact or down in effort.

In this respect, the category of high impact, low effort will often hold the set of ideas that the group is most agreed upon and committed to.

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