Impact-Effort Matrix Guide
Identify low-hanging fruit and maximize ROI by dividing your backlog into four quadrants: Quick Wins, Major Projects, Fill-Ins, and Time-Sinks.
What is the Impact-Effort Matrix?
The Impact-Effort Matrix (also called Value-Effort or Value-Complexity Matrix) is a lean prioritization tool that visually divides your backlog into four quadrants based on task ROI:
- Quick Wins — High impact, low effort. Maximum benefits with minimal investment.
- Major Projects — High impact, high effort. Long-term returns that require significant resources.
- Fill-Ins — Low impact, low effort. Cheap to implement but don't provide much value.
- Time-Sinks — Low impact, high effort. Require significant investment with minimal benefits.
Who can use the Impact-Effort Matrix?
Anyone can use the Impact-Effort Matrix to prioritize tasks—from personal to-dos to complex business projects—and maximize productivity.
How to use the Impact-Effort Matrix
Prepare a list of tasks
Decide which backlog requires prioritization. Add tasks to the template by:
- Importing from a task tracker.
- Importing from a spreadsheet.
- Creating new tasks directly in the template.
Evaluate as a team
Each task must be scored from 0 to 3 on two criteria: Impact and Effort. Best results come from evaluating as a full team.
Impact — How much value does this provide toward the main business objective?
- 0 — No impact
- 1 — Low
- 2 — Medium
- 3 — High
Effort — How many resources will implementation require?
- 0 — No real effort
- 1 — Low
- 2 — Medium
- 3 — High
Review the results
After evaluation, all tasks are placed into four quadrants based on their scores:
- Quick Wins — High impact, low effort
- Major Projects — High impact, high effort
- Fill-Ins — Low impact, low effort
- Thankless Tasks — Low impact, high effort
Discuss the results with your team to validate the priorities. Don't implement the results without team discussion and alignment.