In this blog we focus mainly on marketing-related topics! but those who manage digital projects know how complex and varied they can be. For this reason! I decided to dedicate this post to the Stacey Matrix! an extremely useful tool for evaluating and managing the complexity of a project ! regardless of the sector in which you operate. Understanding the complexity of any project is a fundamental step in choosing the most suitable approach! and the Stacey Matrix offers a valuable guide to tackle this process.

What is the Stacey Matrix?

The Stacey Matrix is ​​a theoretical model used to classify systems based on the degree of certainty and agreement that characterizes them . It is based on a Cartesian representation within which to place your project stockholder database according to its characteristics. In particular we have

• The X-axis represents the degree of certainty regarding the project to be tackled! that is! the measure of how it is possible to predict the behavior of the system. The higher the degree of certainty (left side of the graph)! the greater the knowledge we have of the problem and the easier we can predict how the dynamics of the project will evolve. The further we move to the right! the greater the degree of uncertainty and unpredictability.
• The Y-axis instead represents the degree of agreement between the people involved! that is! how much consensus there is 4 best practices for creating a social video within the team on the objectives! values ​​and methods to adopt to solve the problem. We will be in the low bar of the graph! while going up will increase the degree of disagreement.

Far from agreement! close to certainty

These two axes create a matrix that highlights four situations or scenarios within which our projects can fall! we therefore have:

1. Simple situations : characterized by a high level of certainty and agreement between the various team members identified by ba leads the blue color in the bottom left.
2. Complicated situations : represented in the image by the light blue area can be divided into 2 different types:
   In this scenario! there is a high degree of certainty about the processes and expected outcomes! but a low degree of agreement among team members.
   • Close to agreement! far from certainty
     In this context! there is a high level of agreement among decision makers! but the degree of certainty is medium or limited. The team shares a common vision and has clear objectives! but the operational details and methods for achieving them are not fully defined.
3. Complex situations : characterized by a low degree of certainty and agreement. 
4. Chaotic situations : These are situations where both certainty and agreement are minimal. Here! chaos reigns supreme and rapid action is needed to try to re-establish control and find direction.