Why you should write down decisions

Groups make many decisions in meetings and chats. Weeks later, people often remember the decision but have forgotten the reason.

So the same question comes back, and the discussion starts over.

A decision log is one shared document where you write each decision down. Every entry has the date, the decision, the reason behind it, and who decided.

Say your group decides to launch the new pricing page after the summer. The reason is that the payment provider is not ready yet. You write that down with the date and the names of the people who decided.

Later, someone asks why the page is not live yet. You send them the link to the entry, and they can read the reason themselves. If something has changed since then, the group can decide again and add a new entry.

The log also helps someone new catch up. They can read the entries from oldest to newest. That way they learn what was decided and why, without having to ask each person.

Keep the log in one place everyone can find, and write each entry on the day you decide.

Writing down each decision with its reason saves you from having the same discussion twice.