Why teams keep one
Decisions are made in calls, in chat, in a corridor and in email. Two weeks later someone asks “who agreed to this?” and nobody can find it. The meeting notes say what was discussed, not what was settled; the chat has three versions; the person who decided is on leave.
A decision log fixes that with one list. It stops the same debate coming back, makes handovers quicker, and gives you something to point to when a client or a contractor remembers it differently.
What goes in a decision log
Eight fields cover almost every team. The first four are the minimum; the rest are what make the log useful a year later.
| Field | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Decision | One sentence that someone who missed the meeting understands. | Launch moves to 12 May. |
| Date | The day it was agreed, not the day it was written down. | 7 Oct 2026 |
| Decided by | The person or group with the authority to make it. | Dana, client marketing lead |
| Why | The reason, in a line. | Print proofs need two more weeks. |
| Options considered | What else was on the table, and why not. | A soft launch on 28 April. |
| Where it was agreed | The meeting and the moment, the thread or the email. | Client call, 7 Oct, 12:04 |
| Status | Proposed, confirmed, superseded or reversed. | Confirmed |
| Replaces | The earlier decision this one overrides. | D-009 |
The decision log template has these columns, with a status dropdown, for Excel and Word.
Decision log examples
One row each from four kinds of team. Notice that every row says where it was agreed.
- AgencyLogo lockup B goes to launch.Reads better at small sizes on cups. Client review call, 9 Oct.
- ConstructionLevel 2 doors are solid core with a 30-minute fire rating.Client asked to match level 1. Site walk, 28 Oct.
- OperationsNight shift starts on 4 August.Gives a week of double cover for training. Ops stand-up, 21 Jul.
- LegalLiability cap stays at twelve months of fees.Counterparty dropped the request for 24 months. Negotiation call, 3 Sep.
Decision log, decision register, minutes or RAID log?
The names overlap, and plenty of teams use “log” and “register” for the same sheet. When people draw a line, it looks like this:
| Record | Holds | Read by |
|---|---|---|
| Decision log | What was decided, across every meeting and channel. | Everyone on the project |
| Decision register | Decisions made and still needed, with approver and impact. | Sponsors, PMOs, formal projects |
| Meeting minutes | What happened in one meeting, including discussion. | The people at that meeting |
| RAID log | Risks, assumptions, issues and decisions in one workbook. | Project managers |
| Action tracker | Tasks agreed, with owners and dates. | Whoever has to deliver them |
Minutes feed the log: copy each meeting’s decisions across. The decision register template adds the approver and impact columns a formal project needs, and the minutes of meeting format keeps decisions in their own section so they are easy to copy.
The decision log in project management
In a project, the decision log is part of governance. It shows that a change of scope, budget or date was approved by someone with the authority to approve it, and when. Change requests point to it, steering committees review it, and at handover it explains why the result looks the way it does.
Two habits matter most in projects: log the decision the day it is made, and record the approver by name, not by team. A log that is filled in from memory at the end of the month is a log nobody trusts.
Keeping a decision log people actually use
- Write it in the meeting. Read the decision back (“so we are agreeing…”) and add the row before moving on.
- Never delete. When a decision changes, add a new row and mark the old one superseded.
- Link to the source. A time in a recording, a message link or an email is worth more than any summary.
- Review it weekly. Five minutes in a team meeting catches decisions that were made but never logged.