You are a manager and you’ve been using Priority Matrix for a while. You understand the value behind it and you wish your team would, too. You also realize that without compliance from your team to use the system, Priority Matrix can become ‘just another tool’. So, what can you do to avoid that and ensure that your team members get as much out of the system as you do?
Honestly, there’s no “one size fits all” solution. Team cultures are different, team habits are different and team hierarchies are very different, as well. However, there are five best practices that we’ve seen helping teams with that. They compliment each other and they work best when used together, although you can surely mix and match and add something new to the list.
1. Adopt the new executive team motto: “If it’s not in Priority Matrix, it doesn’t exist”
A lot of successful teams are pretty straightforward when communicating this principle. When they have weekly status report meetings, they open Priority Matrix and use that as the only source of truth for the current state of tasks and projects. If there’s nothing in one of the team member’s “completed tasks” list and everybody in the meeting can see that.. well, you can be sure that by next week this won’t be the case anymore.
2. Reward your team for using it
We all like being appreciated. Multiple studies show that the feeling of being valued by the company motivates us to do our work better. Use Priority Matrix to reinforce that! In the Priority Matrix feed view, you can see what tasks are being modified real-time. Typing a quick “good job” or sending a “like” emoji will you make your team members feel valued; it will also create a feeling of happiness and recognition associated with Priority Matrix, so they’ll feel more motivated to use it again.
3. Practice what you preach
Have a question on the status update? Or maybe you have a new task to assign to someone? Do it in Priority Matrix. Not by email, not over the phone, not with a stressful over-the-shoulder “how is it going?”. And, make sure you get your reply through the system, even if it’s redundant. At the beginning, while the new habit is still being formed, team members can receive email notifications that you delegated a task or asked them something. A couple of weeks later, they will disable those notifications and will fully switch to Priority Matrix.
4. Set up an implementation call with us
Customers who went through this session say that it saved them up to one week which they would have spent on learning the product otherwise. During this call we do the entire implementation ourselves: we set up the program, project layouts, and all needed integrations. We also share best practices that we’ve seen and show some “hidden features”. You can always book a call here – setupprioritymatrix.youcanbook.me.
5. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it” (c)
We know that some metrics are qualitative, but many quantitative metrics about your team productivity and effectiveness can be easily measured. You can use our Reports to get some hard numbers on the amount of tasks that have been done along with the due dates and time spent. To measure the qualitative impact of Priority Matrix we can help you by conducting anonymous surveys for your team. This will provide insight into the impact the tool has on each team member’s productivity and on the current state of the organizational processes within your team.
How about you? What’s your secret in making your team use Priority Matrix? Or maybe you are still struggling with it? Share your thoughts in the comments below and let’s find the solution together.