The Impact-Effort-Risk Matrix

Alex Di Mango

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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.

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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.