IBM e-learning : The Priority Matrix – Building a Priority Matrix

 

Shorter deadlines. More interruptions. Demanding families. Higher expectations. These are just a few of Today’s pressing time challenges. Yet the number of hours in a day remains constant.

 

This ‘more to do in less time’ factor bothers Tom, who is a busy workingman. On his day off, he has several tasks to perform. But after completing the household chores, he finds that he has only six hours on hand. Tom is anxious about not being able to accomplish all tasks in the given time.

Click on the picture below to see the tasks Tom has to do.

• Shop: He goes shopping on the day off to buy groceries and other household supplies for the entire week.
• Study: He has to prepared for the forthcoming exam scheduled in the coming week. This exam will determine his chances for a promotion.
• Visit sister: Tom has not visited his sister for a while. He want to meet with and spend some time with his sister.
• Go to the gym: Tom is a fitness enthusiast. He always goes to gym on his day off.

 

You may often found yourself in Tom’s situation at home or at work. You have a number of tasks to perform in a limited amount of time. How do you accomplish everything in the allotted time? What can you do to reduce the stress of constant deadline and having “to do more” in less time? The answer lies in prioritizing tasks.

 

You find a grievance from an employee on your desk. You are busy and it will probably take you ten minutes to read the note. Evaluate its priority on the basis of following scale. 

• Important but not urgent.
• Important and urgent.
• Urgent but not important.
• Not urgent and not important.
• Indifferent.

 

In this topic, you will learn the value of prioritizing items with the help of Priority Matrix. This Matrix enables you to improve productivity without putting in extra hours.

 

Is this statement true or false? Most of people already know exactly how they use their time.

• True
• False

 

The Priority Matrix is based on two factors ---- importance and urgency of tasks. The left of matrix shows the items of high importance and the right shows items of low importance. The upper and lower parts contain items of high and low urgency respectively.

 

On the basis of this importance and urgency factors, the Priority Matrix is divided into 4 quadrants with the priority code 1 through 4.

• Quadrant 1 – High in both importance and urgency.
• Quadrant 2 – High in importance but low in urgency.
• Quadrant 3 – Low in importance but high in urgency
• Quadrant 4 – Low in importance and low in urgency

 

Quadrant 1 contains the tasks have to be dealt with right away, These tasks are high in importance and urgency. The key words to remember in this quadrant is do it now. Do not procrastinate in carrying out such tasks.

 

Quadrant 2 contains the tasks that are high in importance but low in urgency. People tend to put such issues on the side burner until they become the quadrant 1 priority item. The key words in dealing with quadrant 2 tasks are mid- and long-rang planning. Do mid- and long-term thinking and planning on a periodic basis to reduce the number of quadrant 1 crises.

 

Quadrant 3 contains the tasks that are high in urgency but low in importance. These are typical interruptions. The key words here are “just as soon as”. A lot of “just as soon as” activities seem to be fairly urgent, but are rarely important.

 

The first step in dealing with a “just as soon as” activity is recognizing it. Have you ever said to yourself, “I am going to start working on this boring, major task that is important and urgent just as soon as I clear up these loose ends on the desk?” Click to see what you should do when your mind says “just as soon as”.

• Stop and consider the priority value of the task you are about to do, because you are about to embark on something which is urgent but not really important.
• It’ going to prevent you from doing the major task that you should have started with, so watch out for the “just as soon as” traps.

 

Quadrant 4 contains the tasks that are neither important nor urgent. The key words here are trivia.

 

Each the key words below correspond to a quadrant of Priority Matrix. Drag and match the words to appropriate quadrant.

A Trivia                               High importance, High urgency     

B Do it now                            High importance, Low urgency

C Mid- and Lang-rang thinking and planing    Low importance, High urgency

D Just as soon as                        Low importance, Low urgency

 

Values exist in Quadrant 1 and 2, and there is rarely value exists in Quadrant 3 and 4. Yet you generally spend 60% time in dealing with issues that are in Quadrant 3 and 4.

The Priority Matrix helps you deal with the issues of great importance in Quadrant 1 and 2. It also help you reduce the time spending on the low priority task of Quadrant 3 and 4.

 

Cassie works in a travel agency and has to prioritize the following tasks. Drag and match the situations with the appropriate quadrant.

A Customer wants the information possible future booking of trip                            Quadrant 2     

B Customer has lost ticket and is in traveling the next day                                  Quadrant 1

C Caller ask the price of other travel agencies                                            Quadrant 4

D Caller calling for the fifth time but hasn’t made decision                                  Quadrant 3

 

Eighty percent of everything that happens to you each day in terms of time management happens at a subconscious, emotional, automatic reaction level. The Priority Matrix makes you conscious of what is happening to you and what your priorities is.

When you remember the four Quadrants of the Priority Matrix, you can assign the tasks and make the maximum use of your time.