Decision Roles & Routines — Quick Card

Decision Roles & Routines — Quick Card

Purpose: Clarify who decides, who advises, who contributes, and who documents so decisions proceed with speed, accountability, and learning. Keep this printed or pinned to meeting pre-reads.

Core roles (short definitions)

• Decider — The person (or small role-group) with final authority to choose and authorize the decision. Responsible for outcome and for confirming conditions for implementation.
• Advisor(s) — People asked to give evidence, tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations. Advisors are consulted early and expected to surface key assumptions and consequences.
• Contributor(s) — Those who provide input, data, draft options, and help shape alternatives. Contributors support analysis and readiness but do not make the final call.
• Facilitator / Recorder — The person who runs the meeting flow, keeps time, ensures tradeoffs are compared, and records the decision record (who decided, why, mitigations, next steps, review date).

When to use this card

Use for any named decision that deserves clarity: vendor selection, hiring, feature prioritization, policy changes, safety actions, budget approvals. If the outcome affects others, assign roles explicitly.

Sample escalation flow (simple)

1. Contributor(s) prepare options, evidence, and a recommended tradeoff table.
2. Advisor(s) review, question assumptions, and flag unresolved risks or data needs.
3. If unresolved issues remain, route back to Contributors for more analysis or to a small working group.
4. When ready, convene Decider + Advisors (and necessary Contributors) for final decision meeting.
5. Facilitator records decision, owners, mitigations, and a review date; implement and monitor outcomes.

Quick checklists (Before, During, After)

Decider

• Before: Confirm the decision scope, timeline, stakes, and who must be consulted. Ask for a short decision record and recommended options.
• During: Listen for assumptions, tradeoffs, and risks. Ask: "What would change my mind?" and "What are the consequences if I'm wrong?"
• After: Record the decision, assign implementation owners, state success criteria, and set a review/checkpoint.

Advisor

• Before: Review evidence, identify critical assumptions and data gaps, and prepare a concise recommendation + confidence level.
• During: State key uncertainties, worst-case impacts, mitigation options, and signal confidence (High/Medium/Low).
• After: Offer to support implementation or monitoring where relevant.

Contributor

• Before: Prepare alternatives, evidence, estimated costs/benefits, known risks, and a preferred option with rationale.
• During: Present options clearly (one slide or table), highlight assumptions, and answer clarifying questions.
• After: Own the work needed to implement your recommended option unless another owner is assigned.

Facilitator / Recorder

• Before: Confirm attendees, timebox the discussion, and circulate the decision template (agenda, options, recommendation, evidence).
• During: Keep the group focused on tradeoffs, ensure everyone can speak, and capture the decision record in real time.
• After: Publish the decision record, distribution list, owners, deadlines, and review date. Ensure actions are entered into the team's workflow tool.

Minimal decision record (use this every time)

Keep it brief — a few bullets that are easy to find and review.

• Decision: Short statement of the choice made.
• Decider: Name/role who decided.
• Rationale & tradeoffs: Key reasons, alternatives rejected, primary assumptions.
• Risks & mitigations: Top 2–3 risks and how they'll be handled.
• Owners & next steps: Who does what, with dates.
• Review/checkpoint: When to revisit outcome (date or trigger).

Practical tips

• Prefer a single decider for clear accountability; joint decisions need explicit agreement on shared responsibility and tie-breaking rules.
• Use short, evidence-focused pre-reads (1 page or 5 slides). Avoid long documents on the day of decision.
• Capture a one-line decision in the meeting notes immediately, then publish the full decision record within 24 hours.
• Treat decisions as living: schedule a short review to test assumptions and capture learning.

How to use this card with your team

1. Before a decision meeting, assign roles explicitly in the invite (Decider, Advisors, Contributors, Facilitator/Recorder).
2. Require a one-page decision brief from Contributors at least 24 hours before the meeting.
3. During the meeting, follow the checklists — keep to time and capture the minimal decision record.
4. After the meeting, publish the record where the team stores key decisions and schedule the review/checkpoint.

Designed to be printed or pinned in meeting pre-reads. Adapt role names to your organization if needed (e.g., Owner instead of Decider).