Making decisions

These guides explain complete decision processes: how to frame a decision, involve the right people, use discussion and proposals, respond to concerns, and record an outcome.

They are different from the proposal-template pages. A proposal template explains one proposal and its response options. A decision process can use several proposals over time.

Choose a process

Process Who decides? Main question
Simple decision process Defined by the group How can we discuss, test, and decide?
Advice process A person or delegated team What advice should the decision maker consider?
Consent process The group Is the proposal safe to try without a meaningful objection?
Consensus process The group Can we reach collective agreement?

Use the process required by your group's governing rules or decision policy. Different kinds of decisions may use different processes.

If you only need help choosing a response format, compare Proposals and Polls. If you administer the reusable choices shown when someone selects Start a vote, see Poll templates.