Template
Decision meeting template
One decision, the choices on the table, and a written record of what was chosen and why.
The agenda, with a time for each part
- The decision, in one sentence3 min
- What exactly are we deciding today — and what are we not?
- Who decides, and how2 min
- Is this one person's call after hearing us, or do we all have to agree?
- The choices8 min
- What are the real options, including doing nothing?
- For and against each10 min
- What would have to be true for this choice to be the right one?
- What is the worst that happens if we are wrong?
- Decide4 min
- Which one, and what made the difference?
- Write it down3 min
- Who tells the people who were not here, and by when?
How the notes read afterwards
A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.
Decision. Which of two suppliers prints the spring catalogue.
Who decides. Maya, after hearing the team.
Chosen. Harbor Print: four days slower, but they have never missed a date for us.
Not chosen, and why. Northwind was 12% cheaper; their sample colours were off twice.
Told by Friday. Noah emails both suppliers.
Running it well
- Send the choices the day before. A decision meeting where people meet the options for the first time is a discussion, and the decision slips a week.
- Name the person who decides before anybody argues. People argue differently when they know whose call it is.
- Write down why, not only what. In six months the “why” is the part nobody will remember.
Ways to change it
When to skip it. When one person can decide alone and the others only need to know. Decide, and tell them.
Questions
What is a decision log?
A running list of the decisions a team has made: what was decided, when, by whom, what else was considered, and why it was chosen.
What should a decision record include?
The decision in one sentence, the date, who decided, the options that were turned down, the reason, and who was told.
How do you run a meeting that ends in a decision?
State the decision at the start, name who decides, lay out the choices, hear the case for each, decide in the room, and write it down before people leave.
What happens in the room
Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.
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