A tool to Maximize Agile Team Productivity

10 min readSep 1, 2023

Time management Tool for Agile team

Being a big fan of Stephen R. Covey’s ideas, for quite some time, I have been feeling very tempted to write my thoughts about his idea of a time management matrix and how a software agile team could benefit from such a great fourth-generation time management technique. Finally, I decided to go with it and it got shaped something like this.

Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix is a tool that helps individuals and teams to prioritize their tasks and activities based on their level of importance and urgency.

Managing time itself is no longer the aim, but managing where to focus at any particular time. The matrix consists of four quadrants:

Here is short summary of four quadrants:

Quadrant 1: “Urgent and Important” tasks are those that require immediate attention and have significant consequences if not completed. These tasks should be dealt with as soon as possible.

Quadrant 2: “Not Urgent but Important” tasks are those that are important to the long-term success of an individual but do not require immediate attention. These tasks should be scheduled and completed in advance, as they contribute to the development of an individual’s personal and professional goals.

Quadrant 3: “Urgent but Not Important” tasks are those that require immediate attention but do not have a significant impact on an individual’s long-term success. These tasks should be minimized or delegated whenever possible.

Quadrant 4: “Not Urgent and Not Important” tasks are those that have no immediate deadline and do not contribute to an individual’s long-term goals. These tasks should be avoided or eliminated as they waste valuable time and energy.

By using the Time Management Matrix, individuals can identify and prioritize their tasks based on their level of importance and urgency, allowing them to use their time more effectively and efficiently.

How does it relate to the agile team

In order to keep the business running and deliver a successful project, the agile team needs to understand where they are putting their efforts and time and use their time intelligently using the matrix.

The most important point is that the more the team spends time on quadrant 2 activities the better control the team has over the software, its architecture, its health, and overall culture within the team.

Although it is important to which quadrant the team focuses more and spends more time on and it is even more crucial that the team know about it and do it intentionally.

Here I tried to use the idea of the time matrix concept and draw it for an agile team with its activities on different quadrants.

Quadrant 1 — “Urgent and Important.”

These tasks require immediate attention and have significant consequences if not completed. Examples of tasks that might fall into quadrant 1 for a software development team might include:

Fixing critical bugs that are preventing the software from functioning correctly
Implementing features that are required for the software to be released on schedule
Responding to urgent requests or issues from users or stakeholders
Dealing with unexpected problems or emergencies that have a significant impact on the project

It is important for a software development team to prioritize and tackle tasks in quadrant 1 as soon as possible, as they have a high level of importance and urgency and can have significant consequences if not addressed promptly. These tasks should be given top priority and dealt with as soon as possible to ensure that the project stays on track and meets its deadlines.

Quadrant 2 — “Not Urgent but Important.”

It is the most important quadrant among the four. It’s important although it’s not urgent. Due to less urgency, it’s easy to ignore it as it takes more time, courage, and discipline to focus on it due to the oppressing nature of quadrant 1 tasks. These tasks are important to the long-term success of a software development team but do not require immediate attention.

Examples of tasks that might fall into quadrant 2 for a software development team might include:

Develop (and revise) the software architecture vision of the application.
Restructuring the application architecture based on architecture vision.
Refactoring code to improve readability and maintainability, such as by adding comments, renaming variables, or splitting long functions into smaller, more focused units of code.
Implementing new features that will provide long-term value to the software, such as a new user interface or a new data import/export capability
Conducting code reviews to identify potential issues and improve the overall quality of the codebase, such as by looking for coding errors, security vulnerabilities, or performance bottlenecks
Improving the development process or tools used by the team, such as by automating testing or deployment processes, or by introducing new tools or frameworks that will help the team work more efficiently
Conducting research or learning new technologies that will benefit the team in the future, such as by studying new programming languages, libraries, or frameworks that could be used to improve the software.
Take feedback from the customer and end-user and learn from it and choose a future direction based on that learning
Automate all the tasks that are possible to automate like CI/CD etc.

It is important for a software development team to make time for tasks in quadrant 2, as they are important for the long-term success of the team and the software. These tasks should be scheduled and completed in advance, rather than being left until the last minute when they become urgent. By working on tasks in quadrant 2, the team can ensure that the software is efficient, maintainable, and able to meet the needs of users over the long term.

Quadrant 3 — “Urgent but Not Important.”

These tasks require immediate attention but do not have a significant impact on the long-term success of a software development team. Examples of tasks that might fall into quadrant 3 for a software development team might include:

Responding to low-priority requests or issues from users or stakeholders
Dealing with minor, non-critical issues or problems that do not have a significant impact on the project, such as a minor UI glitch or a minor data error
Attending meetings or engaging in other activities that are not directly related to the development of the software
Dealing with administrative tasks or paperwork that do not have a direct bearing on the development of the software, such as filing reports or updating records

Tasks in quadrant 3 should be minimized or delegated whenever possible, as they waste valuable time and energy that could be better spent on more important tasks. These tasks may be necessary to deal with in the short term, but they should not be allowed to distract the team from more important work. By focusing on tasks in quadrants 1 and 2, the team can ensure that it is making the most of its time and resources.

Quadrant 4 — “Not Urgent and Not Important.”

These tasks have no immediate deadline and do not contribute to the long-term success of a software development team. Examples of tasks that might fall into quadrant 4 for a software development team might include:

Engaging in activities that have no direct bearing on the development of the software, such as browsing social media or other non-work related websites during working hours
Dealing with low-priority tasks or issues that do not contribute to the long-term success of the software or the team, such as updating the company website or responding to non-critical customer inquiries
Performing tasks that could easily be automated or delegated to someone else, such as generating reports or creating presentation materials
Spending time on tasks that do not align with the team’s long-term goals or objectives, such as working on a feature that has been deemed unnecessary or working on a task that does not contribute to the overall success of the project

Tasks in quadrant 4 are not only unimportant, but they also do not require immediate attention. As such, they should be avoided or eliminated whenever possible in order to ensure that the team is using its time and resources effectively and efficiently. By focusing on tasks in quadrants 1, 2, and 3, the team can ensure that it is working on the most important and urgent tasks and making progress towards its long-term goals.

Where to spend time, what is most important

According to Stephen Covey, the most effective use of time is to focus on tasks in quadrants 1 and 2. These tasks are either “Urgent and Important” (quadrant 1) or “Not Urgent but Important” (quadrant 2).

“What is urgent is seldom important and what is important is seldom urgent.” Dwight D. Eisenhower

Software projects will focus on the trivial at the expense of the important. Few people will Notice the Law of Triviality Is Causing Their Software Projects to Fail.

Everyone is busy on a software project, having meetings, creating reports, updating dashboards, and focusing on unimportant trivial points. In many situations, the agile team happily rearranged the deckchairs on the Titanic, whilst the ship is heading for a giant iceberg.

Parkinson’s Law of Triviality states that complex items will be discussed briefly because they are not understood, whilst trivial items will be discussed because everyone has an opinion.

Tasks in quadrant 1 are urgent and require immediate attention, as they have significant consequences if not completed. These tasks should be given top priority and dealt with as soon as possible to ensure that the project stays on track and meets its deadlines.

By completing tasks in quadrant 2 in advance, you can avoid the need to deal with urgent tasks at the last minute, which can help you avoid the stress and pressure of dealing with these tasks.

Tasks in quadrant 2 are important for the long-term success of the team and the software, but they do not require immediate attention. These tasks should be scheduled and completed in advance, rather than being left until the last minute when they become urgent.

By working on tasks in quadrant 2, the team can ensure that the software is efficient, maintainable, and able to meet the needs of users over the long term. The more time we will spend in quadrant 2, we can reduce the amount of time we need to spend on tasks in quadrants 1, 3, and 4.

It is important for an agile development team to minimize or delegate tasks in quadrants 3 and 4, as they waste valuable time and energy and do not contribute significantly to the success of the software or the team. Tasks in quadrants 3 and 4 should be minimized or delegated whenever possible, as they are either “Urgent but Not Important” (quadrant 3) or “Not Urgent and Not Important” (quadrant 4). These tasks waste valuable time and energy that could be better spent on more important tasks. By completing tasks in quadrant 2 in advance, you can free up time and resources that can be used to deal with quadrant 3 tasks. This can help you minimize the amount of time you spend on these tasks and focus on more important work.

Overall, focusing on tasks in quadrant 2 can help you work more efficiently, produce better quality work, and achieve better long-term results. It can also help you reduce stress and avoid the last-minute rush of dealing with urgent tasks. As shown in the following diagram, the highest return of effort is from quadrant 2, and time put on quadrant 4 is almost wasted as the return is very negligible.

Quadrant 2 and architecture vision

In the context of software development, developing (and revising) architecture vision is the key activity of Quadrant 2. I have written a detailed article on architecture and its activities, please refer to that for more detail, here I’m mentioning some major points.

Software architecture vision is a long-term plan or roadmap for the design and development of a software system. It defines the overall goals and objectives of the software, as well as the principles and strategies that will guide its development.

Here are some more examples of activities that might be related to quadrant 2 tasks and the software architecture vision:

Conduction regular ‘architecture meditation’ workshops to acknowledge the current state of the architecture and future architecture vision and concrete steps to get closer to the vision. I have written a complete article on it in my blog.
Developing and maintaining design documents and technical specifications: By creating and maintaining detailed design documents and technical specifications, a software development team can ensure that the software is well-documented and that it is implemented consistently with the overall goals and objectives defined in the software architecture vision.
Conducting code reviews and peer reviews: By conducting code reviews and peer reviews, a software development team can ensure that the code is of high quality, is maintainable, and is aligned with the overall goals and objectives defined in the software architecture vision.
Participating in design and architecture meetings: By participating in design and architecture meetings, a software development team can contribute to the ongoing evolution of the software architecture vision and ensure that it is aligned with the overall goals and objectives of the software.
Conducting user research and usability testing: By conducting user research and usability testing, a software development team can gather valuable insights into the needs and preferences of users, which can inform the ongoing evolution of the software architecture vision.

By prioritizing and completing tasks in quadrant 2, a software development team could create the right culture within the team that ensures that the software is well-designed and well-maintained and that it is consistent with the overall software architecture vision. This can contribute to the long-term success of the software and the team.

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