The Impact-Effort-Risk Matrix

Alex Di Mango

490

Report

How to Use This Matrix

Map initiatives into the matrix based on:
- Impact: What business value does it deliver?
- Effort: How much time, budget, or tech does it need?
- Risk: How uncertain is the outcome?
Prioritize accordingly:
- ✅ Quick Wins: Act on these first.
- ⚠️ Major Projects: Plan and invest with care.
- ✅ Fill-ins: Tackle during downtime.
- ❌ Question Marks: Avoid unless strong justification exists.

Alex Di Mango

CTO & Author of Not Just Bits @ reev GmbH

I'm Alex — a technology leader. I've spent the last 20 years helping businesses improve their online presence and run more smoothly and I'm here to share my learnings with the community.

Similar templates

Hypothesis Board

Infinity Works

260likes

1.2Kuses

Learn more

Planning Workshop Toolkit

Kassandra Keeton

181likes

456uses

Learn more

Growing organizations have countless to-do’s and only so many hours in a day (or weeks before a big launch) to get them done. That’s where an impact effort matrix comes in. It gives you a quick visual guide to help prioritize your tasks and know exactly what’s worth doing. Using our template, you can create a matrix that organizes your activities into four main categories: quick wins that are low effort, effort-intensive projects that provide long-term returns, fill-ins that are low effort but low value, and time-wasters.