🧠 Decision Making Meetings

Decide meetings are focused on evaluating options, discussing implications, and ultimately making a clear decision. These meetings are critical for moving work forward, especially when alignment from multiple stakeholders is needed. They can be high-stakes and require strong facilitation and clarity.

Context Recap

Start by providing a quick refresher on why this meeting is happening and the relevant background information. This ensures everyone is aligned and saves time rehashing details.

• Example: "Here’s a summary of the problem we’re solving today..."

• Example: "Previously, we discussed X, and today we need to decide on Y."

• When to Use: Any decision-making or strategy meeting.

Options & Trade-offs

Present the available options, along with their pros, cons, and potential impacts. This helps guide a more structured discussion.

• Example: "Option A is faster but riskier; Option B is slower but more reliable."

• Example: "If we choose X, we’ll gain efficiency but may increase costs."

• When to Use: Strategic planning, product development, budgeting meetings.

Discussion

This is the open debate and feedback phase, where participants analyze the options and share their perspectives. The focus should be on gathering insights, addressing concerns, and refining choices.

• Example: "Which option aligns best with our priorities?"

• Example: "Are there any risks we haven’t considered?"

• When to Use: Leadership meetings, project planning, stakeholder reviews.

Final Call

Time to make the decision and confirm alignment. If consensus isn’t reached, define the next steps to get there.

• Example: "Are we aligned on moving forward with Option B?"

• Example: "If we’re not ready to decide today, what’s needed to get there?"

• When to Use: Any meeting where a decision is required.

Action Items

End with clear next steps, owners, and deadlines so execution is smooth.

• Example: "Lisa will draft an implementation plan by Friday."

• Example: "Mark will follow up with stakeholders to confirm feasibility."

• When to Use: All decision-making and action-driven meetings.

Sample Meetings That Fit This Category:

• Product feature prioritisation
• Leadership go/no-go decision meeting
• Vendor or platform selection
• Budget allocation discussion
• Hiring panel debrief to decide on a candidate
• Policy or governance review with voting
• Crisis response decision meeting