Decision Papers

To demonstrate a high-quality decision-making process, and give your reader what they need, we suggest answering the following questions:

1. What is the need or opportunity and why now?

This is your chance to make it clear to your audience why this decision is even required. Make it clear what problem you’re trying to solve, and critically, why it should be approved this month and not in six months’ time.

2. What do we propose to do and why?

Here you should lay out your proposed option. Be sure to consider your rationale, the business case (forecast costs and benefits), risks and mitigations, and the impact on the long term and on all relevant stakeholders.

3. What options did we consider?

Your directors need to demonstrate rigour in their decision-making, and good decisions can’t be made in isolation. We know it can be tempting to only share the preferred option, but it is important to also outline the other alternatives and the reasons for rejection. This demonstrates the work you’ve done behind the scenes and gives your audience greater confidence in the option you’ve put forwards.

4. What do we need to do next to progress?

Making a decision is very different from making the decision happen in reality. Be sure to answer this final question to ensure your audience understands the steps involved and what is required to implement. We always like to finish this section with the sub-question “What will be the impact of delaying or rejecting the decision to progress?”

You can find all our bite-sized videos on the BI Academy:

• Log into your Board Intelligence platform on any web browser.
• Click the “Academy” icon in the top ribbon.
• Use the search bar to find a specific video, or if you’d like to browse all our best practice content, simply hit “Course & Learning: Best Practice for Effective Meetings.”

You can also find our suite of best-practice templates within the BI Platform (under the “Templates” icon in the top ribbon). These provide a starter for ten on the questions likely to be on your readers’ minds for particular topics and help you to structure your thinking in a logical and robust way.