Filled example: score record and matrix
Fictional learning team, Thursday 3 December 2026. Team score: the middle score (lower for impact, higher for effort) unless the group agreed another. A score of 3 or 4 counts as high. Rank: area first, then higher impact, lower effort and fewer days. Committed: 33 of 40 days.
| # | Item | Impact scores | Effort scores | Wide spread? | Team impact | Team effort | Area | Rank | Rough days | Decision | Days now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Refresh the new-starter welcome session | 3, 3, 4, 3, 3 | 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 | No | 3 | 1 | Do first | 4 | 2 | Do now | 2 |
| R2 | E-learning on the new expense system (live 1 Feb) | 4, 4, 3, 4, 4 | 2, 2, 3, 2, 2 | No | 4 | 2 | Do first | 2 | 6 | Do now | 6 |
| R3 | Manager essentials: six sessions, 14 new managers | 4, 4, 4, 3, 4 | 4, 4, 4, 4, 3 | No | 4 | 4 | Plan carefully | 6 | 25 | Do now | 10 |
| R4 | Captions and transcripts for the 12 most-used recordings | 3, 2, 4, 3, 3 | 2, 2, 2, 1, 2 | Yes: agreed 4 | 4 | 2 | Do first | 1 | 4 | Do now | 4 |
| R5 | Three spreadsheet lunch-and-learns for finance | 2, 2, 1, 2, 3 | 1, 2, 1, 1, 1 | Yes: kept 2 | 2 | 1 | Fit in | 8 | 2 | Do now | 2 |
| R6 | Rebuild the course catalogue page on the intranet | 2, 1, 2, 2, 2 | 3, 3, 2, 3, 3 | No | 2 | 3 | Rethink or drop | 11 | 9 | Return to requester | 0 |
| R7 | Coaching skills workshop pilot for 12 team leads | 3, 4, 3, 2, 3 | 3, 3, 3, 2, 3 | Yes: kept 3 | 3 | 3 | Plan carefully | 7 | 10 | Next quarter | 0 |
| R8 | Complaint handling refresher, contact centre | 4, 3, 4, 4, 3 | 2, 3, 2, 2, 2 | No | 4 | 2 | Do first | 3 | 7 | Do now | 7 |
| R9 | Design a one-day offsite for the senior team | 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 | 3, 3, 2, 3, 4 | Yes: kept 2, 3 | 2 | 3 | Rethink or drop | 10 | 8 | Return to requester | 0 |
| R10 | Two job aids for the new visitor sign-in system | 3, 3, 3, 4, 3 | 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 | No | 3 | 1 | Do first | 4 | 2 | Do now | 2 |
| R11 | Move all courses to a new learning platform | 2, 3, 2, 2, 2 | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 | No | 2 | 4 | Rethink or drop | 12 | 40 | Park | 0 |
| R12 | Monthly video newsletter about learning | 1, 1, 2, 1, 1 | 2, 3, 3, 2, 2 | No | 1 | 2 | Fit in | 9 | 5 | Drop | 0 |
Score record and matrix
Blank version. Copy it into a document, or use the Excel workbook, which calculates the median, the spread, the area and the rank.
| # | Item | Impact scores | Effort scores | Wide spread? | Team impact | Team effort | Area | Rank | Rough days | Decision | Days now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | |||||||||||
| R2 | |||||||||||
| R3 |
The four areas of the board
A score of 3 or 4 counts as high. The area names and advice are written for this kit.
| Area | Scores | What it usually means | What to decide | The trap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do first | Impact 3–4, effort 1–2 | Worth doing and cheap enough to start soon. | Check the days still fit. Name an owner and a start date. | Filling the quarter with small items until nothing big can start. |
| Plan carefully | Impact 3–4, effort 3–4 | Worth doing but costly. Usually only one fits. | Choose one, cut it into a smaller first part, or move it to a later period. | Starting two big items at once and finishing neither. |
| Fit in | Impact 1–2, effort 1–2 | Useful, small, and easy to over-collect. | Do only when days are left, or batch them into one slot. | A pile of small favours that hides the real priorities. |
| Rethink or drop | Impact 1–2, effort 3–4 | Costly for what it gives this team now. | Drop it, park it with a date, or return it to the requester with a question. | Dropping it silently, so the request comes back louder. |
How a team score is set
Spread is the highest score minus the lowest. On a scale of 1 to 4, a spread of 2 means at least two people see the item on opposite sides of the line.
| Situation | Rule | From the example |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone scores within one point (spread 0 or 1) | Take the middle score (the median). With two middle scores that differ, use the lower one for impact and the higher one for effort. | R1 impact 3, 3, 4, 3, 3: team score 3. |
| Scores differ by 2 or more (spread 2+) | The lowest and the highest scorer each give one reason, aloud or in writing. The group agrees a score in two minutes. | R4 impact 3, 2, 4, 3, 3: captions are needed by every new starter who uses the recordings, so the team agreed 4. |
| No agreement after two minutes | Use the median rule and mark the item as an assumption to check before work starts. | R9 kept impact 2 and effort 3; the team asks the requester what the offsite must produce. |
| More than four wide spreads | Discuss first the items whose discussion could move them to another area. Use the median rule for the rest. | R4, R5, R7 and R9 were flagged; all four were discussed. |
Criteria agreement sheet
Blank version. Fill it in together before anyone scores.
| Part | What we agreed |
|---|---|
| The choice we are making (what, and for which period) | |
| Impact signal 1 | |
| Impact signal 2 | |
| Impact signal 3 (optional) | |
| Impact 1 means | |
| Impact 4 means | |
| Effort counts as | |
| Effort 1 means | |
| Effort 4 means | |
| Our capacity (days) and the period | |
| Not in scope today |
Filled example: criteria agreement
The fictional learning team’s criteria for January to March 2027.
| Part | What we agreed |
|---|---|
| The choice we are making (what, and for which period) | Which of the 12 requests received by Tue 1 Dec we build between Mon 4 Jan and Fri 26 Mar 2027. |
| Impact signal 1 | It helps one of the three goals in the 2027 people plan. The request names the goal. |
| Impact signal 2 | The number of staff who will use it between January and March. |
| Impact signal 3 (optional) | A fixed date outside our control falls in the quarter, such as a system going live. |
| Impact 1 means | Fewer than 20 staff use it this quarter, it serves no plan goal and nothing breaks if it waits. |
| Impact 4 means | A plan goal depends on it, or most staff use it, or a fixed date falls in the quarter. |
| Effort counts as | Our team days to design, build and launch, plus help we need from other teams, plus unknowns such as a tool we have not used. |
| Effort 1 means | Under 3 team days and no help from outside the team. (2 = 3 to 7 days, or one short review from outside.) |
| Effort 4 means | More than 15 team days, or several other teams, or a tool we have not used. (3 = 8 to 15 days, or regular help from one team.) |
| Our capacity (days) and the period | 40 team days for new build work, Mon 4 Jan to Fri 26 Mar 2027. The rest of our time runs existing courses. |
| Not in scope today | Running existing courses. Requests that arrive after Tue 1 Dec go to the next round. |
Filled example: impact and effort board
The twelve fictional requests in their four areas.
| Effort low (1 or 2) | Effort high (3 or 4) | |
|---|---|---|
| Impact high (3 or 4) | Do first: R1 Welcome session; R2 Expense e-learning; R4 Captions and transcripts; R8 Complaints refresher; R10 Visitor sign-in job aids | Plan carefully: R3 Manager essentials; R7 Coaching pilot |
| Impact low (1 or 2) | Fit in: R5 Spreadsheet sessions; R12 Video newsletter | Rethink or drop: R6 Catalogue page; R9 Senior offsite; R11 New learning platform |
Filled example: weighted tie-break
Weighted score = 3 × goal link + 2 × staff reached + 1 × fixed date, out of 24. Days left after the Do first items: 19.
| # | Option | Goal link × 3 | Staff reached × 2 | Fixed date × 1 | Score | Rank | Rough days | Fits? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | R3 Manager essentials, sessions 1 and 2 only | 4 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 10 | Yes |
| B | R7 Coaching skills workshop pilot | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 10 | Yes |
| C | R3 Manager essentials, all six sessions | 4 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 25 | No |
Filled example: capacity check
How the fictional team checked its decisions against 40 days of capacity.
| Line | Days |
|---|---|
| Capacity for new build work, 4 Jan to 26 Mar 2027 | 40 team days |
| Rough days of the five Do first items (R1, R2, R4, R8, R10) | 21 days |
| Days left before the tie-break | 19 days |
| Chosen in the tie-break: R3 sessions 1 and 2 | 10 days |
| Fitted in: R5 spreadsheet sessions | 2 days |
| Committed in total (decision Do now) | 33 days |
| Kept free for requests during the quarter | 7 days |
What you'll leave with
In 45 minutes the team agrees what counts as impact and effort for this choice, scores 8 to 15 items in silence, settles up to four wide disagreements and places every item on the board. It leaves with a decision for each item, committed days that fit its capacity and one person who tells the requesters.
Before the session
- For team leads and trainers who help a team of 3–10 choose between 8 and 15 existing requests or ideas for a set period. Not a brainstorm.
- With the decision owner, number each item, write it as one line and add rough team days. Find out the capacity in days and who decides if the group cannot agree.
- Print one criteria sheet, score record and board for the group and one scoring slip each, or share the Excel workbook. Choose a scribe.
- Send the list and sheets a day early as plain text for screen readers. Scores are written, not shown by hand; the board uses text, not colour. Passing is allowed and cameras are optional.
How to fill it in with your team
Open and name the choice
Read the choice in one sentence and show the item list. Say: “Today we choose what we do in this period, and what we say not now to. We score each item twice, for impact and for effort. The scores order our discussion. They do not make the decision; [name] has the final say if we cannot agree.” Ask whether any item is missing or two items are the same. Do not add new ideas now; note them for the next round.
Agree what counts as impact and effort
Take four minutes of silent writing on one question: “What would make an item matter more to us in this period?” Read the answers aloud and take three minutes to choose up to three impact signals. Write on the criteria sheet what an impact of 1 means and what an impact of 4 means. Spend three minutes on effort the same way: what counts (our days, help from other teams, unknowns), and what 1 and 4 mean, in days where you can. Confirm the capacity and what is out of scope. Say: “If we disagree later, we come back to this sheet, not to who argues hardest.”
Score in silence
Give five minutes. Each person scores every item from 1 to 4 for impact and from 1 to 4 for effort on the scoring slip, with the criteria sheet in view. There is no middle score, so each score falls on one side of the line. Say: “Leave a box empty if you cannot judge an item; that is a fair answer.” Ask each person to tick the two items they are least sure about and write one reason for each. Take two minutes to collect the slips, or the shared sheet online.
Record the scores and settle the wide spreads
Spend four minutes recording. The scribe copies the scores into the score record or the workbook, about a minute per slip. Meanwhile the group reads the item list in silence and notes which item they expect to divide the group. Then take eight minutes for the items with a spread of 2 or more on either scale, two minutes each, up to four items. Ask the lowest and the highest scorer for one reason each, aloud or read from their slip without their name. Agree a score. If there is no agreement in two minutes, use the median rule and mark the item as an assumption to check. For every other item, use the median rule: the lower middle score for impact, the higher one for effort.
Place the items on the board
Take two minutes for the scribe to write each item number in its area: a score of 3 or 4 counts as high. In the workbook the board fills itself. Take three minutes to read the board aloud, one area at a time, starting with Do first. Ask: “Does anything on the board surprise us? Is anything in Do first only there because we scored it quickly?” Correct a score only with a reason that refers to the criteria sheet.
Decide against capacity
Take two minutes to add the rough days of the Do first items and compare them with the capacity. Take three minutes for what is left: when two items in Plan carefully compete for the remaining days, use the optional weighted tie-break with the impact signals from the criteria sheet, or cut one item into a smaller first part. Then decide each item: Do now, Next quarter, Park, Return to requester or Drop. Take one minute to check that the days marked Do now fit the capacity, and name who leads each Do now item.
Read back and close
Read back the items marked Do now, the days committed and the days left. Agree who tells each requester the decision and the reason, and by which date. Ask each person for one word on how sure they feel about the choice, aloud or in the chat, or a pass.
Participant worksheet
Copy this table into a document, or print the worksheet from the bundle. Share only what you choose.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Criteria agreement sheet | What counts as impact and effort for this choice, what 1 and 4 mean, the capacity and what is out of scope |
| Scoring slip | One per person: impact and effort from 1 to 4 for each item, scored in silence |
| Score record and matrix | Everyone’s scores, the spread, the team score, the area, the rank and the decision |
| Impact and effort board | Four areas: do first, plan carefully, fit in, rethink or drop |
| Optional weighted tie-break | Up to four options that compete for the last days, scored on the team’s own impact signals |
Debrief questions
- Which part of our criteria did we come back to most, and does it need clearer words next time?
- Which wide spread taught us something about an item that we did not know before?
- Which item did we say not now to, and who needs to hear the reason first?
- What would make us change this choice before the end of the period?
Adapt it for your group
- For three or four people, skip the scribe: each person reads their scores for one item in turn while one person writes. Keep the silent scoring first, so the first voice does not set the score.
- For a 25-minute version, the decision owner drafts the criteria sheet and sends it with the item list a day early. In the session, take three minutes to confirm the criteria, then score, settle up to two wide spreads, place and decide.
- Online, give each person a column in the shared Scores sheet of the workbook and hide the columns until everyone has finished, or collect scores through a form. Read each item aloud before scoring, turn on captions and make cameras optional.
- For quiet participants and people working in a second language, read the written reasons from the slips without names during the spread discussion. Nobody has to defend a score, and an empty box is a valid answer.
- With more than 15 items, ask the decision owner to remove items that are already decided or out of scope before the session, or run two rounds: a quick impact-only score to keep the top 12, then the full matrix.
After the session
Send the board, the matrix and the decisions on the same day. The named person tells each requester the decision and the reason by the agreed date, including for items marked Park or Drop. Put the Do now items into an action plan with owners and dates. Look at the matrix again halfway through the period: change only items whose criteria have changed, such as a new deadline, and record why.
Questions people ask
What is a prioritization matrix?
A grid that sorts items by two scores, usually impact and effort, into four areas: do first, plan carefully, fit in, and rethink or drop. It helps a team see its options side by side and say not now to some of them on purpose. The scores order the discussion; people still make the decision.
How do we agree what counts as impact?
Before scoring, write down up to three signals that make an item matter more in this period, taken from the team’s goals, and describe what an impact of 1 and of 4 looks like. Do the same for effort, in team days where you can. When people disagree later, they point to the sheet instead of arguing from rank.
Why score from 1 to 4 and not from 1 to 5?
A four-point scale has no middle, so every score falls on one side of the line between low and high. The median rule handles the rest: with two middle scores that differ, impact takes the lower one and effort the higher one, so a doubtful item is not ranked too high.
Is this the Eisenhower matrix?
No. The urgent and important matrix is commonly attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower and was popularised by Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989). It suits personal task lists. This kit uses impact and effort, which suits a team choosing between requests or projects for a period.
How is this different from the problem solving activities kit?
The problem solving activities kit runs a 90-minute workshop from facts to causes to one tested option, and its option comparison weights four fixed criteria. This kit starts from a list that already exists, adds the criteria agreement and silent scoring, and checks the choice against capacity. Its weighted tie-break is short and optional, for the last few days only.
What is included in the free and editable files?
The open PDF has the criteria agreement sheet, the scoring slip, the score record and matrix, the impact and effort board, the optional weighted tie-break, a filled example of each and the 45-minute script. Subscribers also receive the editable Word file, an Excel workbook that calculates medians, spreads, areas, ranks and the capacity check, and a CSV of the example matrix.
How to use the files
Print the PDF, edit the Word file in Word or Google Docs, or open the CSV or XLSX in a spreadsheet. Open files need no email.
Can I use this with paying clients?
Yes. Use and adapt this original Superglue kit in your own training, including paid client sessions. Please share this page rather than redistributing the unmodified kit. Read the full usage terms.