Eisenhower matrix for teams. A free online tool.
Most Eisenhower tools are a personal to-do list. This one is for a room. Everyone places each item on their own phone, in private. Then the reveal shows the average and how far apart people are.
- Join with a code, no app
- No accounts
- Deleted when you close the room
How it works
- Start a room and share the codeGive the room a title and add the initiatives you want to rank. People join on their phones with a four-letter code. They can add items too.
- Everyone votes in privateEach person drags a dot to place every item on urgency and importance. Nobody sees anyone else's answer yet.
- Reveal the resultEach item shows its average position and a cloud for the spread of votes. Items the room split on go to the top of the list.
- Talk, then vote againDiscuss the split items first. Run a second vote and see who moved. The Shift view shows how each item changed.
- Capture decisions and exportWrite down what you decided and who owns it. Export a report, a CSV and a chart image before you leave.
Why a team needs a different kind of matrix
The Eisenhower matrix sorts work by two questions. Is it urgent? Is it important? On your own, you answer both and move on. In a team, those answers differ. One person's "urgent" is another's "can wait".
A whiteboard hides that. The first person to put a sticky note down sets the anchor. Others drift towards it. The most senior voice settles anything close. You end up with a tidy grid that a third of the room does not believe.
Private voting fixes the anchor. Showing the spread fixes the rest. If six people put an item in "Do it first" and four put it in "Drop it", the average lands in the middle and tells you nothing. The cloud tells you to stop and talk. More on why "urgent" causes so much trouble.
What you see at the reveal
Agreed
Votes sit close together. Act on the quadrant and move on.
Mixed
Some spread. Worth a quick check that people read the item the same way.
Split
Votes spread across quadrants. Talk about this one first.
If you set groups, such as Leadership and Team, each person picks one when they join. The reveal then shows where the groups see an item differently. Answers never carry names.
Use your own two axes
Urgency and importance are the default. You can switch to other pairs when they fit the decision better:
- Impact and effort. Quick wins, big bets, fill-ins and money pits. Good for projects and product ideas.
- Risk and reward. Easy yes, calculated bets, low stakes and avoid. Good for investment and growth options.
- Your own axes. Name both axes yourself, such as client value and cost to deliver.
Not sure which to pick? See Eisenhower vs impact and effort vs MoSCoW.
Questions people ask
Is it free?
Yes. Start a room, run the vote and export the results at no cost. There is no account to create.
Do people need to download an app?
No. They open the site on their phone, type the four-letter code and vote in the browser.
What is the Eisenhower matrix used for in the workplace?
Teams use it to decide which initiatives to do now, which to plan for, which to hand to someone else and which to drop. It works well at the start of a strategy day, before a budget round, or when a team has more projects than people. See worked examples.
Can we use it on Microsoft Teams or Zoom?
Yes. Share your screen with the room on the call and post the code in the chat. People vote on their phones or in a second browser tab.
Does Microsoft have an Eisenhower matrix?
There are Eisenhower apps in the Microsoft marketplace, and you can set up Planner buckets as quadrants. Most are built for one person's task list. They don't collect private votes from a group or show where people disagree.
What happens to our data?
Answers carry no names. When the host closes the room, the app deletes every item and vote. Rooms nobody closes expire after 48 hours and are deleted soon after. Privacy details.
Can I print a blank matrix instead?
Yes. There is a free printable Eisenhower matrix template, including a team voting sheet.
Run your matrix with the whole room.
Set up takes about a minute. People join with a code.