Decision Brief Prompts for Clearer Project Choices
Use these decision brief prompts when a project has several plausible next steps. Start with a decision that has an owner and a deadline. This guide focuses on comparing choices rather than creating another general project plan. Keep the evidence separate from preferences so the brief remains useful when priorities change.
A small workflow
- Write the decision as one question, including who will decide and when.
- List realistic options and agree on criteria before comparing them.
- Record the choice, its trade-offs and the event that would trigger a review.
Worked example
Illustrative example: a small team can ship a basic booking form this week or a fuller scheduling tool later. Its brief records a fixed event date and an uncertain integration effort. The missing effort estimate needs a named owner; a polished comparison cannot resolve it. A review trigger could be confirmation that the integration exceeds the available time.
Frame the choice
You get: One decision question and its boundaries
Bring: decision notes, decision owner
Turn [decision notes] into a one-page decision brief for [decision owner]. State the question, deadline, available options and constraints. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions. Ask up to three questions if the options are unclear. Do not recommend a choice yet; identify what is outside this decision.
Follow-up
Rewrite the question so someone outside the project understands the choice.
Compare with agreed criteria
You get: An evidence-based comparison table
Bring: options, agreed criteria, evidence notes
Compare [options] against [agreed criteria] using only [evidence notes]. For each cell, give the evidence or mark it unknown. Do not invent scores, prices or weights. Explain the main trade-off for each option and which missing fact could reverse the comparison. Finish with questions for the owner.
Follow-up
Show how the comparison changes if our highest-priority criterion changes.
Challenge the preferred option
You get: A short list of weaknesses to investigate
Bring: preferred option, project context, comparison notes, decision deadline
Review [preferred option] for [project context] using [comparison notes]. Identify three plausible ways this choice could fail and the assumptions behind them. Separate evidence-backed concerns from possibilities. Suggest a small check for each concern that we can do before [decision deadline]. Do not treat possibilities as predictions.
Follow-up
Which single check would remove the most uncertainty, and why?
Write a reviewable decision record
You get: A concise record of the actual decision
Bring: chosen option, owner notes, comparison evidence
Use [chosen option], [owner notes] and [comparison evidence] to write a decision record: context, choice, reason, rejected alternatives, known trade-offs and review trigger. Preserve unresolved questions. Leave owner and review date blank if not supplied. Do not imply approval from people who have not approved it.
Follow-up
Reduce the record to a short update while retaining the main trade-off.
Check the result
- Can every factual claim be traced to supplied notes?
- Are criteria agreed by the decision owner, rather than invented weights?
- Does the record explain what would change the choice?
