# Decision Meeting Brief: [Decision to be made]

> A short pre-read sent before a meeting that must reach a decision: the question, who decides,
> the options with their costs and risks, the recommendation, and what the meeting must produce.
> Decision rights are written with the DACI roles (Driver, Approver, Contributors, Informed), with
> a mapping to Bain & Company's RAPID roles for teams that use them. Replace every `[bracketed]`
> value and every row marked *Example*. Worked examples use Marrowfield Foods, a fictional grocery
> distributor, choosing how to add picking capacity at one warehouse.

<!--
Guidance: How to use this template
- Send the brief at least [two working days] before the meeting and ask readers to come with
  questions, not to hear a presentation. Use the meeting time to test the options and decide.
- Write the decision as one question with a deadline. "Discuss warehouse capacity" is a topic;
  "Which capacity option do we fund by 30 June?" is a decision.
- Name exactly one Approver. Two approvers usually means no decision.
- Show at least two real options, including "do nothing" or "keep the current approach", and
  state the recommendation separately so readers can judge the options first.
- Common pitfall: a brief that hides the trade-off. Say plainly what the recommended option
  gives up.
- Related templates: Decision log (`business/decision-log`), Architecture decision record
  (`dev/adr`), Pre-mortem (`meetings/pre-mortem`), RACI matrix (`business/raci`).
-->

## Brief details

<!-- Guidance: The status changes to Decided once section 7 is filled in at or after the meeting. -->

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Decision ID | [DEC-YYYY-NNN] |
| Meeting date | YYYY-MM-DD, [length] |
| Decision needed by | YYYY-MM-DD, and why that date |
| Status | [Pre-read / Decided / Deferred] |
| Driver (author) | [@driver] |
| Approver | [@approver] |

## 1. The decision

<!-- Guidance: One question, one sentence of context, and the cost of not deciding. -->

**Question:** [Which option do we choose for ...?]

*Example:* Which option do we fund to raise picking capacity at the Eastgate warehouse by 25%
before the peak season? If we do not decide this month, no option can be in place before peak.

## 2. Decision rights

<!-- Guidance: List people by name. If your organisation uses RAPID, fill the right-hand column; the mapping is approximate, not an official equivalence. -->

| DACI role | Person | What they do here | Closest RAPID role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | [@driver] | Prepares this brief, runs the meeting, records the decision | Recommend |
| Approver | [@approver] | Makes the final decision | Decide |
| Contributors | [@name], [@name] | Give expert input before or in the meeting | Input, or Agree where they hold a formal sign-off |
| Informed | [@team] | Told the outcome after the decision | Perform, for those who carry it out |

## 3. Context

<!-- Guidance: Only the facts needed to judge the options. Link to longer analysis instead of pasting it. -->

[Two to five bullet points with the facts, constraints and evidence, each with a link.]

## 4. Options

<!-- Guidance: Use the same cost horizon and units for every option. State whether figures are discounted. -->

| | Option A | Option B | Option C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| One-off cost | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Running cost per year | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Main benefit | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |
| Main risk | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |

*Example (money in millions, one currency, five years, not discounted):*

| | A: Manual plus overtime | B: Semi-automated picking | C: Full automation |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-off cost | 0.0 | 1.8 | 4.6 |
| Running cost per year | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
| Five-year cost | 12.0 | 10.3 | 10.6 |
| Main benefit | No project risk | Lowest five-year cost | Highest capacity |
| Main risk | Staff fatigue at peak | Integration with stock system | 14-month lead time misses peak |

**Weighted scoring** (scores 1 to 5, higher is better; weights agreed with the Approver
before scoring):

| Criterion | Weight | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Five-year cost *(Example)* | 40% | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| Delivery risk *(Example)* | 30% | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Capacity gain *(Example)* | 30% | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| **Weighted score** | 100% | **2.3** | **3.7** | **3.3** |

## 5. Recommendation

<!-- Guidance: State the option, the reason in two or three sentences, and what it gives up. -->

[Recommended option, reason, trade-off accepted.]

*Example:* Recommend option B. It has the lowest five-year cost (10.3 million) and can be live
before peak. It gives up the extra capacity of full automation, which we can revisit in two
years.

## 6. What we need from the meeting

<!-- Guidance: Make the ask explicit so the meeting knows when it is done. -->

- [ ] Approver decides between options [A, B, C], or names the information missing and a new date.
- [ ] Contributors confirm [budget, staffing, technical feasibility].
- [ ] Agree who tells the Informed group and by when.

## 7. Decision record

<!-- Guidance: Fill in at the meeting. Copy the entry to the decision log the same day. -->

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Decision | [Option chosen, or deferred to YYYY-MM-DD] |
| Decided by | [@approver], YYYY-MM-DD |
| Conditions | [Any conditions attached] |
| Dissent recorded | [Who disagreed and why, if anyone] |
| Next steps and owners | [Action, @owner, due date] |
| Review date | YYYY-MM-DD |

## Standard and licence note

Structure aligned with common decision-making practice. DACI roles as described in the
Atlassian Team Playbook "DACI: a decision-making framework"
(https://www.atlassian.com/team-playbook/plays/daci), named here and summarised in original
words. RAPID is Bain & Company's decision-role framework, described in Paul Rogers and Marcia
Blenko, "Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance", *Harvard
Business Review*, January 2006. Official text: Harvard Business Review, purchase or licensed
access: https://hbr.org/2006/01/who-has-the-d-how-clear-decision-roles-enhance-organizational-performance.
RAPID may be a trademark of Bain & Company; it is named for reference only. The text of this
template is original. Template licence: MIT.