Collaboration is good. Making decisions is good. These two things don’t have to be in conflict. I have seen a lot of small but growing companies where this feels like an either/or choice but it doesn’t have to be. The key is knowing who makes the decision and how much input is required. The more explicit we can be about who makes a decision, the better we are going to be at actually making the decisions.

To that end, I have started using a really lightweight framework for this and wanted to share that here. I am going to get more diligent about this personally. In meetings, documents, and other decision making spaces I am going to put out this little block. Example from a recent meeting:

EPIC: Better Sidebar/Links Organization
RFC(s): None currently
Priority: Very High (1c)
Meeting type: Discovery

Description: Allow Creator to have better control over the left bar with some options including:

• More granular organizational structure / more sections than just “other”
• Specify the open on site vs open in new tab options
• Dominance of iconography / style

Stakeholder Roles:
Decision Owner: Jennie for this meeting, PM moving forward
Consult/Advise: CEO, Designer, Engineering team
Inform: Client

During the meeting, I will verbally note the things we are trying to decide and, if appropriate, what the decision was. After the meeting, I will document the decisions made at the meeting and any logic for that decision. This is especially important in our async environment. The idea here, though, is to make decisions quickly without a lot of process and clearly. I am sure we will iterate on this over time.