Importance / Difficulty Matrix template

A way to arrange items by relative importance and difficulty

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Importance / Difficulty Matrix

Importance / Difficulty Matrix template FAQs

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Use this design thinking framework to prioritize items quickly so that you can take action faster.

Force-ranking impact and difficulty separately helps facilitate deliberation and resolve differing opinions, helping your team develop a plan of action.

The importance/difficulty template helps you:

Quickly prioritize tasks and take action
Understand the relative difficulty of tasks
Get broad team alignment on action items

How to use the importance/difficulty template

To get the most out of the importance/difficulty template, follow the below steps.

Step 1: Assemble 10-15 tasks or ideas that you’re looking to prioritize with your team

This matrix is ideal for a batch of ideas, tasks, or small projects in the range of 10-15 items, enabling your team to quickly assess each one based on their importance to your overall goals versus how difficult they are to accomplish.

Step 2: Map each task according to its relative importance and difficulty

Use the framework to assign each task or idea to its corresponding level of importance and difficulty, across four quadrants: Quick wins (low difficulty, low impact), best bets (high impact, low difficulty), low priority (high difficulty, low impact), and moonshots (high difficulty, high impact).

Note: Avoid simply dropping tasks into the quadrants — make sure you debate and discuss the relative merits of each idea with your team, and carefully determine where it should land within the matrix.

Tips for running an importance/difficulty template exercise

To run a successful task prioritization exercise, you should:

Narrow your focus to a range of tasks or ideas between 10-20 items, and time-box your discussions to keep the session moving
Use features like tags for sticky notes and use comments to help capture individual feedback on tasks, and anonymous voting to help determine the best way to move forward
Once you’ve assigned each task or idea to a quadrant, get aligned with your team on action items and delegate responsibilities

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Importance / Difficulty Matrix template FAQs

What is an importance/difficulty matrix?

Inspired by the Eisenhower Matrix, the Importance/Difficulty Matrix helps teams prioritize tasks, projects, or initiatives based on their level of importance and difficulty. This framework is commonly used in project management, strategic planning, and decision-making processes.

The matrix typically consists of four quadrants, with importance on one axis and difficulty on the other. The four quadrants are:

High Importance, High Difficulty: These are the tasks or projects that are critical to the success of the organization but require significant resources, time, and effort to complete.
High Importance, Low Difficulty: These are the tasks or projects that are crucial to the success of the organization but are relatively easy to complete.
Low Importance, High Difficulty: These are the tasks or projects that are not critical to the success of the organization but are difficult to complete and may require significant resources.
Low Importance, Low Difficulty: These are the tasks or projects that are not critical to the success of the organization and are relatively easy to complete.

The importance/difficulty matrix helps prioritize tasks or projects by focusing on those that are both important and difficult. By doing so, it helps ensure that resources are allocated to the tasks that will have the greatest impact on the organization's success.

Why do you need an importance/difficulty matrix?

An importance/difficulty matrix is a valuable tool when making decisions because it helps you prioritize your actions and resources based on the level of importance and difficulty of the tasks or projects involved. Here are a few reasons why it's important to use an importance/difficulty matrix:

Helps you identify critical tasks: By using an importance/difficulty matrix, you can identify the most critical tasks or projects that need to be completed to achieve your goals. This ensures that you focus your efforts and resources on the most important areas.
Provides a structured approach: The matrix provides a structured approach to decision-making, allowing you to assess the level of importance and difficulty for each task or project systematically. This helps to eliminate bias and ensure that you make well-informed decisions.
Saves time and resources: Prioritizing your tasks and projects can help you save time and resources by focusing on those tasks that are most important and can be completed with the least amount of difficulty. This helps you avoid wasting time and resources on tasks that are less important or too difficult to complete.
Reduces stress: Prioritizing tasks and projects can also help reduce stress and overwhelm by breaking down complex decisions into manageable pieces. By focusing on the most critical tasks and projects, you can feel more in control and confident about your decision-making process.