Building a Great Business Matrix

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Map and compare operational actions that create mutual benefits or trade-offs across three primary stakeholder groups.

Use it when: Use during business strategy sessions or cross-functional reviews when groups need to examine how decisions favor or harm customers, staff, or owners.

Skip it when: Skip when the session focuses strictly on internal technical tasks with no stakeholder trade-offs, or when participants lack familiarity with basic company functions.

Group arrangement: Teams of 3 to 6 participants (optimally 5; e.g., 5-6 as 1 team, 7-11 as 2 teams, 12-17 as 3 teams, 18-23 as 4 teams, 24-25 as 5 teams) working around separate tables and contributing to a shared central matrix.

Timing: Thiagi's original duration was 30 minutes. Retained for 5 to 25 people.

Materials and tools

• 1 wall-sized chart or whiteboard pre-drawn with a 3x3 grid
• 1 pad of sticky notes per team (approx. 50 notes per pad)
• 1 fine-point felt marker per participant
• 1 countdown timer
• 1 soft chime
• Digital whiteboard tool (such as Miro or Mural) for remote or hybrid delivery
• 1 shared projector and computer with webcam for hybrid delivery

Before participants arrive

1. Draw a 3x3 grid on a large whiteboard or flip chart.
2. Label the three columns across the top: Customers, Employees, Shareholders.
3. Label the three rows down the left side: Customers, Employees, Shareholders.
4. Place one pad of sticky notes and markers at each team table.
5. For remote or hybrid delivery, create an identical 3x3 grid on a digital whiteboard.

Say this to open

Every business decision touches three primary groups: customers, employees, and shareholders. Today we map how specific actions impact them. When rows and columns match along the diagonal, write actions serving that single group alone. In the cells above the diagonal, write actions benefiting both groups simultaneously. In the cells below the diagonal, record actions that delight one group while creating friction or costs for the other. Each team will draft and post specific operational actions to fill every cell.

How to run it

1. Form teams and introduce mechanics 5 minutes

   Seat participants in teams of 3 to 6. Deliver the opening script. Point to the top-left cell (Customers x Customers) and illustrate with 'Manufacture high-quality products'. Point to an upper cell (Customers x Shareholders) and illustrate with 'Offer loyalty discounts to increase repeat business'. Finally, point to a lower cell (Shareholders x Customers) and illustrate with 'Slash service hours to lift quarterly margins'. Answer clarifying questions on the grid layout.

2. Draft and post team actions 10 minutes

   Start the 10-minute countdown. Teams collaborate to write one distinct operational action per sticky note. Enforce the distribution rule: teams must place at least one action into all nine grid cells before adding a second note to any single cell. Participants place their notes directly into the corresponding matrix cells or have a designated teammate or runner post on their behalf.

3. Review and highlight distinct ideas 8 minutes

   Sound the chime at 10 minutes to end writing. Step up to the grid as the facilitator to review the submissions. Walk through each of the nine cells in sequence. For each cell, read aloud two contrasting submissions that illustrate the cell's stakeholder dynamic clearly. Highlight strong operational phrasing and point out common patterns across the ideas without judging teams against each other.

4. Debrief system trade-offs 7 minutes

   Facilitate a prompt whole-room discussion on trade-offs. Ask two volunteers to share brief observations on the tensions shown in the lower-diagonal clash cells. Then invite one final volunteer to propose an operational guardrail that stops short-term decisions from undermining another stakeholder group. Keep comments to roughly one minute each to stay within the allotted time.

Debrief questions

• Looking at the lower clash cells, which actions generated short-term gains for one group while creating hidden costs for another?
• Which mutual-benefit action from the upper cells could be implemented immediately with minimal friction?
• What operational guardrail would prevent your team from executing an action that harms a key stakeholder group?

Finished output: A fully populated 3x3 matrix showing 9 or more distinct operational actions categorized into single-stakeholder focus, mutual gains, and systemic trade-offs.

Remote

Use a virtual whiteboard tool pre-drawn with the 3x3 grid. Assign each breakout room a designated sticky note color. Run the 10-minute drafting step in breakout rooms while teams post digital sticky notes to the central board in real time. Call everyone back to the main room for the 8-minute review and final debrief.

Hybrid

Set the digital whiteboard as the single source of truth. In-person participants access the board via laptops or post physical notes which an in-person volunteer types directly onto the digital grid. Remote participants work in a dedicated breakout room and post directly to the digital board. Project the shared digital board in the physical room so all participants view the same content.

Access and participation choices

• Provide a printed reference sheet showing cell definitions and examples at each table for participants who process information visually.
• Allow participants to choose between scribing, debating ideas, or posting sticky notes. Teammates or the facilitator can post notes on behalf of anyone who prefers not to move to the wall.
• Permit passing during the whole-room debrief without explanation.

If the session gets stuck

Teams flood one easy cell (like Customers x Customers) while leaving harder clash cells blank.

Enforce the constraint that no team may place a second note in any cell until they have placed one note in every box across the grid.

Participants write general qualities like 'Better culture' instead of actionable business behaviors.

Circulate during drafting and coach the specific team quietly, asking them to restate the item as a concrete decision, such as 'Institute paid parental leave'.

Terms used here

• Diagonal cells: The three boxes where row and column match, representing actions evaluated purely on their benefit to that single stakeholder group.
• Mutual-benefit cells: The three boxes above the diagonal where an action creates deliberate positive outcomes for both intersecting groups simultaneously.
• Clash cells: The three boxes below the diagonal designated for actions that satisfy one group while directly harming or frustrating another.