The decision workshop: from a shortlist to yes or no in two hours
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Creates a space with the entities and scoring criteria of this method, ready for your next session.
The ideation workshop ends with a shortlist and applause. Three weeks later it is still a shortlist, because nobody has said yes or no to anything. The decision workshop is the second session: two hours, 3 to 6 concepts, and at the end every one of them is a yes, a no, or a test with an owner and a date.
When to use it
Use it when the 90-minute ideation workshop has produced a shortlist that has had a week or two of homework, and the next step needs someone's budget or time. It does not work for 15 concepts; run the impact and effort matrix first. One concept is not a decision either; that is a pitch.
Who is in the room
Three roles, no more than eight people.
- The person who can say yes. The budget sits with them. If they cannot come, move the date.
- The people who would do the work. One or two per concept. They know what a first test costs.
- One sceptic. No concept of their own in the room; their job is to ask the question nobody wants to hear.
Observers add nothing and change the tone. Keep them out.
Before the session
Each concept gets one page from its owner, the same format for all: the problem, the idea, what we know, what we assume, and the cost of a first test. Send the pages two days before. Say in the invitation that they are to be read beforehand, and mean it: the first five minutes are for reading, not presenting.
Agree the scoring criteria in the same message, so nobody discovers them during the scoring.
The agenda
| Minutes | Block | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Framing | What kind of decision this is |
| 10 to 40 | One concept at a time | Questions, not pitches |
| 40 to 60 | Assumptions and risks | One killer assumption per concept |
| 60 to 85 | Scoring | A ranking and its gaps |
| 85 to 110 | Decisions | Yes, no or test, with a reason |
| 110 to 120 | Close | Who tells whom, and the review date |
0 to 10: framing
Say what kind of decision this is: go, no go, or test. Say what cannot be decided today, for example anything above a certain budget. Then five minutes of silence for reading. "Read the pages. Questions start at ten past."
10 to 40: one concept at a time
Five minutes per concept, questions only. The owner answers, the sceptic asks first, then anyone. Nobody presents. Your line: "You have read it. What is unclear, and what do you not believe?" Stop any pitch the moment it starts: "That is on the page. What is the question?"
40 to 60: assumptions and risks
For each concept, one question: "Which single assumption, if wrong, kills this?" Write it on the wall under the concept name. Then: "How would we test that in two weeks?" If the room cannot name a test, that is a finding, and it belongs in the record.
60 to 85: scoring
Everyone scores every concept silently against the agreed criteria. Show the ranking, then discuss only the gaps: where two people are three points apart on the same criterion, someone knows something the other does not. The ranking is an input to the decision, not the decision. Tools like IdeaHone add a score against the same criteria with a written reason; treat it as one more voice in the room, not the verdict.
85 to 110: decisions
Go through the concepts in ranked order. For each one, the decider says one of three words: yes, no, or test. A yes gets an owner and a start date. A test gets an owner, the assumption, and a date within two weeks. A no gets a reason. Every decision is one sentence, read back out loud by the facilitator before moving on. If it does not survive being read out loud, it is not a decision yet.
110 to 120: close
Who tells whom what, by when. The teams that were not in the room hear it from the owner, not from the corridor. Set the review date for the tests before anyone leaves.
A session that ends with "let's think about it" has not decided anything. A decision workshop without a single no is a presentation with a scoring sheet.
Record the reason for every no. It is the most valuable line in the whole record: it stops the same concept coming back in three months under a new name, and it tells the next owner what would have to change.
How decisions slip out of the session
- The decider sends a deputy. The deputy cannot say yes, so every decision becomes "I will check". Move the session instead.
- Concepts are presented instead of questioned. Ten minutes of slides per concept eats the hour. The page replaces the presentation; enforce it.
- "Test" is used as a polite no. A test with no owner, no assumption and no date is a no that nobody wanted to say. Ask what the test would have to show for a yes; if there is no answer, say no now.
- No date for the review. Without one, the tests run until they are forgotten. The review is where a test becomes a yes or a no.
Score and prioritise ideas with your team
IdeaHone scores ideas against your criteria, shows them on a matrix and keeps the reasons, so the decision is clear and traceable.
How long should a decision workshop be?
Two hours for 3 to 6 concepts. Shorter and the assumptions get skipped; longer and the decider leaves before the decisions.
Who should be in a decision workshop?
The person who can say yes, one or two people per concept who would do the work, and one sceptic with no concept of their own. Eight at most.
What if the sponsor is not in the room?
Move the session. A decision workshop without the person who owns the budget produces recommendations, and recommendations are what you had before.
