As a startup, you know that you have a lot of tasks to do, many urgent matters, and countless issues to handle, but limited resources and manpower. One of the essential skills for leaders and managers is to prioritize tasks and resources effectively to execute everything that needs to be done. In this article, we will introduce a method that was used by President Eisenhower, known as the Eisenhower method, which later became known by its true meaning: the 2×2 Matrix tool.
While the Eisenhower method was initially used by the President to prioritize important tasks, for startups, there are many more factors to consider beyond just tasks — including resources and even ideas that need to be prioritized for decision-making. Without clear priorities, a business will become stagnant or inefficient, ideas will flood in, and resources will often be limited. Therefore, startups need more than just urgency and importance to make decisions.
How do we get started?
Step 1: Brainstorming
Start by doing a quick brainstorming session for five minutes. Use sticky notes and markers. If you don’t have them, small pieces of paper and a pen will suffice.
Note: Set a target for the number of ideas or tasks to generate. This helps you train your mind to come up with many ideas under time pressure and prevents you from overlooking important tasks. For example: aim to list 10 business ideas in five minutes. Then, increase your target to 20 ideas in five minutes with your team.
Write continuously and don’t worry if some ideas or tasks overlap. The most important part is that your mind is working and your hand is moving.
For example, if you're brainstorming with your team about which product ideas to pursue, after brainstorming, your product list might look like this (Image 1).
Step 2: Set criteria for sorting
You have many concerns, but focus on three rare resources to sort your ideas: time, money, and attention. Here are a few suggestions:
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From Not Urgent to Very Urgent
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From Not Important to Very Important
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From Easy to Do to Difficult to Do
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From Low Cost to High Cost
For the ideas you have, we can choose two main criteria:
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Uniqueness
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Sellability
Step 3: Sort by one criterion first
Don’t try to be too ambitious by setting up a matrix with both criteria right away, as you will tend to push everything to one side. Take it slow and think carefully.
For example, if you choose to sort by Uniqueness first, you might have a list like this.
Step 4: Move on to the second criterion
Draw a vertical line in the middle for the "Sellability" criterion. Then, move the priorities along the vertical column (but remember, do not change the horizontal positions that you’ve already sorted before).
At this point, you’ll see an interesting picture of resource priority. The group that is both unique and immediately sellable will be the one to focus on for implementation. Depending on your specific criteria, you might select the immediately sellable but not unique group or the very unique but not immediately sellable group as your second option. For example, if you prioritize making money immediately, choose the immediately sellable but not unique option as Plan B. The remaining option should be researched later when you have more time. For the group that is neither unique nor sellable, exclude them from the list.
Step 5: Move the priorities to finalize the order (if necessary)
If your number one priority box has too many items, shift the entire axis up, right, down, or left to ensure you focus your resources in the most effective way.
At this stage, start working on your selected priorities, whether that’s an idea, task, or resource.
Using 2×2 in Other Situations
In practice, the 2×2 matrix is a tool that goes beyond just handling tasks or making decisions. Whether working alone or as a team, focusing your time and conducting brainstorming to generate ideas and place them on a flat surface helps you experience the power of working under time pressure. You will appreciate the value of seeing a collective picture of ideas and working together to establish criteria to select ideas and make final decisions.
Finally, the 2×2 is a tool that democratizes decision-making and teamwork. For business owners who need to tap into collective intelligence to create a shared vision, resolve decisions, and provide unified explanations for the company’s choices, the 2×2 will be a powerful tool for you.
Using the Eisenhower Method, daily tasks are categorized into the following four types:
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Very important, very urgent: Do it immediately.
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Very important, not so urgent: Do it slowly, over time.
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Not very important, very urgent: Delegate it to someone else.
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Not very important, not urgent: Don’t do it (for today, at least).
By applying this method, at the end of each workday, you should categorize your tasks for the next day into the categories mentioned above. This way, you'll find it easier to track and prioritize your tasks the following day.
Source: Tia Sáng
