Actions and Decisions
Actions and decisions are the working memory of a programme. Without a single register, the same question is answered differently three times, and nobody can say who agreed to what six months later.
If you change this
It implies 5 topics across one module.
See the path ahead →Why it matters
The cost of an unrecorded decision is not the meeting — it is the rework when a design is built on an assumption someone else already overturned.
- It prevents re-litigation: A recorded decision with a rationale ends the argument.
- It makes accountability real: Actions with an owner and a date either complete or visibly do not.
- It is the audit trail: Especially for anything with a financial or probity dimension.
The workflow
- 01
Capture
Recorded in the meeting, with owner and date, not reconstructed afterwards.
- 02
Classify
Decision or action, and which forum owns it.
- 03
Record rationale
Why, what was considered, and what it depends on.
- 04
Assign
One named owner. Shared ownership is no ownership.
- 05
Track
Reviewed at each forum, with ageing visible.
- 06
Close
Evidence of completion, not an assertion.
Record what the decision assumed. When an assumption later proves wrong, the decisions that rest on it can be found and revisited — without the assumption recorded, they cannot.
What you need in place
- One register: Across the programme, not one per workstream.
- Capture in the room: Minutes written later lose the rationale.
- Single named owners: With dates that mean something.
- Ageing visibility: Overdue items surfaced automatically rather than at review.
- A link to design artefacts: So a decision can be traced to what it changed.
Questions to ask
01Single register
Is there one register, or several?
Several means conflicting answers to the same question.
02Rationale
Do we record why, or only what?
Only what is a list; why is a record.
03Ownership
Does every action have one named owner?
Team ownership means nobody does it.
04Ageing
How old is the oldest open action?
The answer is usually uncomfortable and always informative.
05Closure evidence
What proves an action is complete?
Self-declared closure hides incomplete work.
Metrics and KPIs to track
Open actions by age
Particularly those past their due date.
Overdue rate
Share of actions closed after their date.
Decisions reopened
Indicates the wrong forum or missing rationale.
Capture rate
Decisions recorded against decisions taken, sampled.
Alongside this