Projects and operations
Template: minutes from a decision meeting
A minute template for meetings that must end in a decision, with the alternatives considered, who decided, and what it would take to reverse it.
MINUTES: DECISION MEETING
Matter: [what was to be decided, in one sentence]
[date], [__.__]–[__.__] | [place or meeting format]
PRESENT
[Name], [role] — decision maker
[Name], [role]
Absent: [Name]
THE QUESTION
[Phrased as a question with an answer. "Should we X or Y by Z?"
Not "discuss X".]
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
A) [Alternative]
For: [...]
Against: [...]
Cost and time: [...]
B) [Alternative]
For: [...]
Against: [...]
Cost and time: [...]
C) Do nothing
[Always included. It is often the real alternative, and the one
least often considered on equal terms.]
DECISION
Chosen: [alternative]
Decided by: [name], [role]
Date: [date]
REASONING
[What was decisive. Two to five sentences.]
DISSENT
[Who disagreed, and what the objection was. Write it down:
it is worth a lot when the matter is evaluated later.]
ASSUMPTIONS THE DECISION RESTS ON
- [What we believe is true, and which is not confirmed]
THIS WOULD HAVE CHANGED THE ANSWER
- [New information that would have made us choose differently. Write it
now, while you still remember why.]
IMPLEMENTATION
| # | What | Owner | Due |
|---|------|-------|-----|
| 1 | | | |
COMMUNICATED TO
[Who needs to know, by whom, and when.]
Minutes taken by: [name]How to use it
- Always include “do nothing”. It is the real alternative in most matters, and the one least often considered on equal terms with the others.
- Write one name as decision maker. Even when the group agreed. “We agreed” is not a name, and a decision without an owner gets taken again.
- Fill in “this would have changed the answer”. It makes it legitimate to raise the matter again when something actually changes, and illegitimate to raise it again because somebody is unhappy.
- Write down the dissent. The person who disagreed often had a point, and it is worth finding again when the decision is evaluated.
See also
Steering committee meeting when the decision needs a mandate from above, and review meeting for the assessment afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
The decision, who took it, the alternatives considered and why they were rejected. Without the alternatives the minutes are useless when the matter comes up again, because then nobody knows what has already been considered.
Because «the group agreed» is not a name. When the decision has to change, or when somebody has to stand behind it, the organisation needs to know who owns it.
It is a pre-agreed criterion: which new information would have changed the answer. It separates a considered decision from one that merely felt right, and it makes it legitimate to raise the matter again when the criterion actually occurs.