Shift To A Strategic Thinker Instead Of An Order Taker

How is your week going?  Are you drowning with a long list of requests thrown at you?  Is your to-do list piling up?

If you cannot finish your tasks each day then that’s a problem.  Everything cannot be urgent and important.

Unfortunately, this is common in the corporate environment – and life in general.  But there’s a simple method to handle this craziness!  It’s called the Eisenhower Matrix.  Lets explore how to apply this framework to sales compensation.

The matrix was based on the productivity and prioritization concepts of Dwight D. Eisenhower.  It’s simple yet effective.  It helps you better manage your time by helping you assess, categorize and prioritize tasks by urgency and importance.

The Eisenhower Matrix is based on 4 quadrants…

📥Quadrant 1: Do first (Urgent and important)

📥Quadrant 2: Schedule (Not urgent, but important)

📥Quadrant 3: Delegate (Urgent, but not important)

📥Quadrant 4: Delete (Not urgent and not important)

Simply stated, you take your list of to do’s and put them into one of these quadrants and handle accordingly.  It may sound simple, but the challenge lies is in your ability to evaluate each task. 

If we are real to ourselves, many of the requests we receive fall into Quadrant 3 and Quadrant 4 (disguised as Quadrant 1)!  As Dwight stated “What is important is rarely urgent and what is urgent is rarely important". 

Most of us can determine what is urgent and then schedule the non-urgent items.  However, when it comes to delegating – or even more challenging, simply saying no – that’s where the difficulty arises.  Nevertheless, this is also where your time frees up and things change.

To help you categorize your tasks, ask yourself these questions…

🧐 Is this really urgent?  How “urgent” is it, can it be done next week/month?

ℹ️ Not everything is urgent, but from the perspective of the person requesting it – it is number one on their list.  What is priority in their eyes, may not be priority for you.  Determine if the task supports a key goal or objective you are working towards.   

🧐 Is this task important and needs to get done, or is it a “nice to have”?  What are the consequences or cost if this task is not completed?

ℹ️ There are some requests that are not urgent and not important.  Look at your goals, will this task help you achieve the goals you want to achieve, or derail you?  Don’t add unnecessary tasks to your schedule.

🧐 Is there someone else who can do this better or faster than me, or who has the capacity to do it?

ℹ️ You don’t have to do everything people ask you to do.  Is this something only you can do? There maybe someone who is better at it, or can do it faster.  Perhaps there is a person, who cannot do it better than you per-se, but they have the capacity and are willing to learn.  This is where you can assign them the task, delegate and coach them.  This will help them, and you in the future. 

🧐 Is this request more important/urgent then what I already have on my plate?

ℹ️ People don’t know what you have on your plate, they don’t have the complete picture.  Which is why you need to weigh each request against what is already on your plate.  Decipher what task produces the most value in relation to the time you have to spend on it.

🧐 Is this request creating a bottleneck in my team, where others cannot proceed?

ℹ️ You don’t want to be the bottleneck, but also don’t always want to jump in if you’re not the appropriate person to address it.  Think, why did the request come to you? Is it because you’re the only one that can do it, or is it because they know you will not say no? 

❗One key thing to remember is that when you choose to spend your time on something, it is at the expense of another - time cannot be replaced.

Which is why this framework is so helpful in time management, leadership and balancing priorities.  Through this process, you will be able to identify items that really should not be on your plate at all and manage the important ones.  This will allow you to focus on what needs immediate attention while aligning your efforts with long term goals.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SALES COMPENSATION TASKS, AND WHICH QUADRANT THEY FALL IN:

📥Quadrant 1: Do first (Urgent and important)

These are critical deadlines or tasks that result in major consequences if not done

• EXAMPLE: Send commission payments to payroll so that sales employees are paid timely or calculate incentives due for an employee that will be terminated today (can result in legal implications).
• ACTION: Do these immediately.

📥Quadrant 2: Schedule (Not urgent, but important)

These are related to strategic planning and skill development

• EXAMPLE: Updating SPIFF guidelines for your sales compensation program, evaluating potential ICM vendors / Sales compensation software options or taking a course for professional development.
• ACTION: Set a time to do these later, this category is essential for growth. Breakdown larger projects into actionable tasks and achievable milestones.

📥Quadrant 3: Delegate (Urgent, but not important)

These are routine requests and ad-hoc requests that disrupt focus

• EXAMPLE: A leader wants to know how much commission did we pay in Q3 2026 for a specific sales team.
• ACTION: Hand these requests to someone else who is able to handle it. This will also give them the opportunity to exercise their skills and get some spotlight at work. At times, we take over tasks just because we know how to do it but the quality is not the best, simply due to lack of time. Assess what’s on your plate, and delegate tasks that align with other team member’s strengths, this will create efficiencies across the team without hindering quality. 

📥Quadrant 4: Delete (Not urgent and not important)

These are low value tasks that don’t work toward goals

• EXAMPLE: Attending non-essential meetings where your participation is not required, or where you have no role to play.  Many times, we get invited to unnecessary meetings. Evaluate each meeting request and ask the person inviting you what are their expectations from your participation. Sometimes you just need to be informed, and in that case, an email is sufficient.
• ACTION: Eliminate these tasks completely to make space for more strategic items.

By putting this into practice and consistently re-evaluating task importance & urgency, you can safeguard your time, remain adaptable and align with short term and long term goals.

Lastly, the second major benefit of this framework is communication.  You will have the ability to share the status of a certain tasks, timelines and progress; including the ability to proactively communicate the status of a certain tasks when timelines shift.  Keeping leadership and team members informed will benefit everyone around you.  

This framework allows you not only to become a better leader, but a better coworker.  

Try this matrix out, so that your week doesn’t end up like how it’s going now 😊

👉 Share this blog post with someone else who needs this!  As we all know, this doesn't solely apply to the sales compensation profession.