Decision log template
A decision log stops the same argument happening twice. Five lines per decision: what, why, what else we considered, who decided, when to revisit. With examples.
A decision log is a running list of the decisions your team made, why, and what you decided against. It exists so that in three months, when someone asks "why did we do it this way?", there is an answer, and so that the same debate does not happen twice.
When to use it
Any time a decision takes more than five minutes of discussion, changes a plan, or will be questioned later. Especially: stopping a goal, changing scope, picking a vendor, choosing between two priorities.
The template
One entry per decision. Keep them in one shared document, newest at the top.
DECISION: [What was decided, in one sentence]Date: [date]Decided by: [name or names]Why: [The reason, in two or three sentences. Facts, not feelings.]What else we considered:- [Option B], rejected because [reason]- [Option C], rejected because [reason]What changes because of this:- [Task, plan, or goal that moves, stops, or starts]Revisit: [date or trigger, e.g. "end of Q3" or "if churn passes 5%"]
Build an entry with the tool
Filled examples
DECISION: Launch June 3 without the FAQ page. Publish the FAQ the week after.Date: May 28Decided by: Dana, with Priya and SamWhy: The FAQ page depends on product screenshots that are three dayslate. Everything else is ready. Delaying the whole launch for one pagecosts more than publishing the page a week late, because support cananswer the FAQ questions by email for one week.What else we considered:- Delay the launch to June 10. Rejected: the customer email has already been scheduled and two partners were told June 3.- Launch the FAQ with placeholder screenshots. Rejected: placeholders would confuse customers more than no page.What changes because of this:- FAQ page task due date moves to June 10. Owner stays Priya.- Support gets a one-page internal FAQ by June 2. Owner: Sam.Revisit: June 10. If the FAQ is still not live, escalate to product lead.
DECISION: Stop the "new pricing page by March 31" goal.Date: February 12Decided by: DanaWhy: The roadmap changed. Pricing will be redesigned in Q3 with theenterprise plan. A page launched now would be rebuilt in four months.What else we considered:- Launch a light version now. Rejected: still rebuilt in Q3, and it confuses customers to change pricing pages twice.What changes because of this:- Three open tasks closed. Sam's competitor pricing research moves to the Q3 pricing goal.Revisit: When the Q3 pricing goal is written, check that this researchis attached.
Rules that make it work
- Write it the same day. Memory of "why" fades in a week.
- "What else we considered" is the most valuable part. It is what stops the re-debate.
- A revisit date turns a decision into a checkpoint, not a permanent rule.
- Short. Five to ten lines. A decision log that takes twenty minutes to write will not be kept.
Where M-Tracker fits
Decisions in M-Tracker become tasks: the things that change because of the decision get owners and dates, and the decision text is attached as context. When a goal is stopped or changed, the tasks linked to it are visible, so "what changes because of this" is a list you can see rather than remember.
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