Worksheet

Prioritization Matrices

Three ways to decide what to do first

Use this when: Choosing what to build or fix next
Time needed: 45–90 minutes
Who’s involved: Decision-makers and the team
You end up with: A ranked, defensible order of work

How to use it

Use Impact–Effort for a fast gut check, RICE when you need a defensible score, and MoSCoW when you’re agreeing scope with stakeholders. Pick one. You don’t need all three.

Impact–Effort

Rate each item on the value it delivers and the effort it takes. It lands in the grid on its own.

Item	Impact	Effort	Where it lands
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Quick wins

High impact, low effort. Do these first.

Big bets

High impact, high effort. Plan carefully.

Fill-ins

Low impact, low effort. If time allows.

Time sinks

Low impact, high effort. Avoid.

RICE

A weighted score: higher is better. RICE = reach × impact × confidence ÷ effort. Reach is how many people it affects in a period; effort is total work, in person-weeks.

Initiative	Reach	Impact	Confidence	Effort	RICE score
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MoSCoW

Sort everything into four buckets to agree scope. Be strict: if everything is a Must, nothing is.

Must have Non-negotiable: it fails without these Should have Important, but not vital right now Could have Nice if it’s cheap and easy Won’t have (this time) Explicitly out of scope for now

Used in Audit & Quick Wins, New Product MVP, Design Sprint Companion, Strategy & Alignment · PDF version