The "Urgent" Matrix: How to Say No Without Saying No
If everything is a P1, nothing is a P1. Here is the framework I use to triage the chaos
In HR Tech, there is a universal law: The stakeholders with the smallest requests usually scream the loudest.
You know the type. They submit a ticket at 4:55 PM on a Friday marked “URGENT / CRITICAL.”
You panic. You open the ticket.
The Request: “Can we change the label on this report from ‘Employee ID’ to ‘Worker ID’? The VP needs it for a meeting on Monday.”
This is not Urgent. This is Annoying.
But if you don’t have a framework to push back, you end up treating it like a fire. You burn out your team fixing fonts while the actual fires (like Payroll integrations) go unnoticed.
In the Department of First Things First, we Triage.
The Tear Sheet: The Department Matrix
I adapted the classic Eisenhower Matrix for Workday Leaders. Print this out. Tape it to your monitor. When a stakeholder walks in, point to it.
The Two Axes:
Impact: Does this stop people from getting paid, hired, or compliant? (High/Low)
Urgency: Is the deadline driven by a law/regulation, or just because you “want it”? (High/Low)
Quadrant 1: The Fire (High Impact / High Urgency)
Example: The Payroll integration failed. The CEO can’t log in.
Action: Drop Everything. This is a true P1. Fix it now.
Quadrant 2: The Strategy (High Impact / Low Urgency)
Example: Implementing the new Advanced Comp module. Cleaning up Job Profiles.
Action: Schedule It. This is the deep work. Protect this time on your calendar, or Q1 will become Q1 (The Fire).
Quadrant 3: The Noise (Low Impact / High Urgency)
Example: “The VP needs this report for a meeting in 10 minutes.”
Action: Delegate or Push Back. This is the “Trap.” It feels urgent, but it adds zero long-term value. Automate this report so they stop asking you.
Quadrant 4: The Trash (Low Impact / Low Urgency)
Example: Changing button colors. Adding a 5th approval step “just in case.”
Action: Delete. Put it in the backlog to die. If they don’t ask about it again in 3 months, close the ticket.
The Kitchen Table Reality
My son Justin is the king of Quadrant 3 (The Noise).
Justin (Running into the room): “DAD! IT’S AN EMERGENCY!”
Me: “Is the house on fire? Is the dog hurt?”
Justin: “No! The Minecraft server is updating and I can’t log in for 10 minutes!”
The Audit:
Impact: Zero. (In fact, positive impact, as he might go outside and practice his serve).
Urgency: High (to him).
Me: “Justin, that is a Quadrant 3 issue. It feels loud, but it doesn’t matter. Go read a book.”
He didn’t like the triage. But he survived the outage.
The Takeaway
Your capacity is finite. Every minute you spend on The Noise (Q3) is a minute you steal from The Strategy (Q2).
Stop letting other people’s lack of planning become your emergency. Use the matrix.
— Mike
Director HR Tech | Chief Triage Officer
P.S. If you mark a ticket as “Critical” and it turns out to be a font change, I am legally allowed to move all your future tickets to Quadrant 4 (The Trash).