Decision Log

A decision log is, literally, a log of decisions that have been made. The purpose of a decision log is to make information available to people who were not present when the decision was made, and also to provide easy access to key information about past decisions when questions arise. (In particular, the question “Didn’t we already decide that?”)

The summary of a decision should include:

• What was decided
• What alternatives were considered
• Why this choice was made
• Who was involved in the decision

At Lucid Meetings, we use a template with the headings Decision, Rationale, Alternatives, Involved to log our decisions, and technology that lets us easily review and search these decisions over time.