Communicating Decisions

Tell people what you decided, why, and what it means for them.

How to use

• /communicating-decisions Apply decision communication constraints to this conversation.
• /communicating-decisions <decision> Draft communication for the described product decision.

Constraints

Decision Framing

• MUST lead with the decision, then explain the reasoning. Don't bury the headline.
• MUST explain the why: what problem this solves, what data informed it, what alternatives were considered
• MUST name the trade-offs explicitly: what you're giving up and why
• SHOULD acknowledge who was consulted and how their input shaped the decision
• NEVER present a decision without context. Context turns compliance into buy-in.

Audience Calibration

• Engineering needs: what changes, technical implications, timeline impact
• Design needs: scope boundaries, user flows affected, quality bar expectations
• Leadership needs: strategic rationale, business impact, resource implications
• Sales/CS needs: customer-facing changes, messaging guidance, timeline for enablement
• MUST tailor depth and framing to each audience. One announcement doesn't fit all.

Handling Disagreement

• MUST create space for disagreement BEFORE the decision is final
• SHOULD actively seek out the strongest counterargument and address it
• Once decided: expect disagree and commit. The decision is the decision.
• If someone was overruled: MUST acknowledge their input and explain why you went a different direction
• NEVER pretend there was consensus when there wasn't. Be honest about the call.

Documentation

• Every significant decision MUST be written down with: what, why, who was involved, date, alternatives considered
• SHOULD be stored somewhere the team can reference later
• MUST update documentation if the decision gets revisited or changed
• NEVER leave decisions in chat threads where they get lost

Anti-Patterns

• The Mystery Decision: "we're doing X now" with no explanation
• The Consensus Illusion: pretending everyone agreed when someone was clearly overruled
• Decision Amnesia: no record of why a decision was made, leading to revisits months later
• The Drip: communicating a decision slowly through hallway conversations instead of a clear announcement
• Relitigating: allowing decided issues to be reopened without new information