So I had the opportunity to sit in on a colleague teaching a class in Performance Improvement.
One tool that I really liked from the class was the Impact-Effort Matrix.
To determine project worth doing, the matrix has the:
Impacts (Vertical) – Improved customer satisfaction, quality, delivery time, etc.
Effort (Horizontal) – Money, Time, etc.
The best bang for the buck are the projects in upper left (“Quick Wins”) that have a high impact or return for not a lot of effort.
In contract, the projects that are the least desirable are in the lower right (“Thankless Tasks”) that have a low impact or return but come at a high cost or lot of effort.
This is simple to do and understand and yet really helps to prioritize projects and find the best choices among them. 😉
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)
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