Decision meetingtemplate.
For when you have 45 to 90 minutes, a stuck decision, and a room full of smart people about to spend the next three weeks talking in circles. One page covering all five VOLTS moves. If you cannot fill it in by the end, you did not have a decision. You had a discussion.
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Appendix B1One-Page VOLTS Session Sheet
Use when: you have got 45 to 90 minutes, a stuck decision, and a room full of smart people who are about to spend the next three weeks talking in circles.
VOLTS SESSION SHEET Turning discussion into decision, decision into proof, and proof into momentum. — DECISION SENTENCE — We are deciding: [decision] So that: [outcome] For: [who] Trade-off accepted: [trade-off] Owner: [owner] Date: [date] — CONDITIONS TO PROCEED — Fixed: [non-negotiables] Flexible: [can move] Assumptions to test: [assumptions] If ignored, this comes back as: [failure mode] — PROOF PLAN — Next step: [smallest real step] Owner: [one name] Deadline: [date] Proof artefact: [must be showable] Likely blocker: [blocker] Blocker owner: [who removes it] Checkpoint: [date/time] Checkpoint decision: Proceed / Adjust / Stop — CADENCE — Frequency: [rhythm] Next decision required: [decision] What counts as shipped here: [define done] — STORY THAT TRAVELS — Why this matters: [why] What happens next: [next] Rule: if you cannot fill this in by the end, you did not have a decision. You had a discussion. — From Just F*cking Ship It · voltsmethod.com/learn
Rule: if you cannot fill this in by the end, you did not have a decision. You had a discussion. Different product. Different biscuit tin.
From Appendix B1, Just F*cking Ship It by Matthew Barrington-Packer
When to reach for it,
and how to fill it in.
Use it when
- You are running the meeting where something finally has to be decided.
- The project has had plenty of meetings and no outputs.
- You want everyone to leave with the same version of what happens next.
How to fill it in
- Decision: we are deciding what, so that what, for whom, accepting which trade-off. Owner and date.
- Conditions: fixed, flexible and the assumptions to test.
- Proof plan: next step, owner, deadline, artefact, likely blocker and checkpoint.
- Cadence: how often, the next decision required, and what counts as shipped.
- Story: why this matters and what happens next, in words that travel.
Where it usually goes wrong.
Start with the decision you need. The agenda is whatever gets you there.
A list of actions without a Decision Sentence is homework, not progress.
If nobody can retell it outside the room, the decision will be reshaped by the first corridor conversation.
Quick answers
How do you run a decision-making meeting?
Start with the decision you need, map the conditions, agree the smallest proof step, set the cadence and write the story before anyone leaves. This sheet walks you through it on one page.
How long should a decision meeting be?
Forty-five to ninety minutes. Shorter and the conditions get skipped. Longer and it becomes a workshop about the workshop.
What if we cannot reach a decision?
Then the output is a Proof Plan: the smallest step that will create the evidence you need to decide next time, with an owner and a date.
The rest of the toolkit.
A template fixes ambiguity.
The book fixes the room.
This is one of the tools from Just F*cking Ship It, the five-move VOLTS Method for getting stuck work shipped. Read it in an afternoon. Ship something by Friday.