How to record a decision

A decision is recorded with the Record a decision form, on the record it affects, so it stays where the next person will look. Every decision also lands in the log on Brain › Decisions. See What are decisions and track records? for what decisions are for.

Before you start

You need the Record decisions row on Settings › Permissions, and you need to be able to open the record the decision affects. Reading the Decisions section on a record also needs View decisions. Both rows start at lead; see How to set who can do what.

Where can you record one?

On four kinds of record, each with a Decisions section on its page:

• A purchase order: open it from Buying › Purchase orders. The Memory section opens on Decisions & outcomes.
• A supplier: open it from Buying › Suppliers.
• A wholesale account or a wholesale order: open it from Wholesale › Accounts or Wholesale › Orders.

You can also record one from a chat message, from the iPhone app or by asking the Agent. Those routes also let you pick a campaign or a task as what the decision affects.

Your workspace may use its own word for purchase orders or suppliers; Settings › Terminology shows both.

How do you record one on a record?

1. Open the record and find its Decisions section.
2. Press Record a decision. The form's Affects chip already names the record.
3. Fill in What was decided, and as much of the rest as you can.
4. Check When this was decided. It starts on today's date, so change it if the call was made earlier.
5. Press Record decision.

The decision appears straight away as a card in that section: what was decided, who recorded it and when, the Why, and a "Didn't do" line for what you rejected.

How do you record one from a chat message?

Decisions get made in conversation, so capturing one from the message that settled it is the cheapest moment there will ever be.

1. Hover over the message in its channel and click Record a decision (the gavel).
2. Under Affects, choose Purchase Order, Supplier, Campaign, Task, Wholesale Account or Wholesale Order, then search for the record.
3. Why is already filled with the message's text. Edit it down to the reason.
4. Fill in What was decided, then press Record decision.

You see "Decision recorded", and a "Recorded a decision" message is posted into the channel so everyone there knows. See How to turn a conversation into work.

On the iPhone app, long-press the message and choose Record a decision. Fill in What was decided, Why (optional) and what it affects, then press Save. See How to use chat and tasks on your phone.

What do you fill in?

Four things.

• What was decided. One plain sentence. This is the only one you must fill in.
• Why (optional), which is the whole point. Fill it in.
• What we didn't do (optional), also the point.
• When this was decided, since that is often before you got round to writing it down.

How should you write each one?

What was decided should read as a sentence somebody could act on: "Moved the merino base fabric from Portside Mills to Kaimen Knitwear from the autumn order."

Why should carry the facts that drove it, not the feeling: "Portside's lead time went from 45 to 70 days across two revisions, and their on-time rate is 61% of 18 orders."

What we didn't do is where the value hides: "Did not renegotiate with Portside, because the lead time was the problem rather than the price." With that line, next year's buyer knows the option was considered.

Read the wording over before you press Record decision. The card shows exactly what you typed, and it is the version the next buyer reads.

When is it worth recording one?

When you would be annoyed to find the reasoning missing in a year.

• Changing supplier, or agreeing new terms.
• Placing an unusually large order, or deliberately not placing one.
• Giving a wholesale account terms you would not normally give.
• Deciding to write stock off rather than discount it.

Leave routine work out. A decision log that records everything is as hard to read as one that records nothing.

What happens after you record it?

It appears on the record it affects, and in the Decision log on Brain › Decisions as soon as you save it. A decision about a campaign or a task appears in the log. See How to read the decision log and check a track record.

On a purchase order, the next step is committing to an outcome, so the result gets measured. You can then attach that outcome to your decision. See How to commit to an outcome and have it measured.

Can the Agent record one for you?

Yes. Ask it in the Agent panel (see What is the Agent?), for example "record that we moved the merino fabric to Kaimen Knitwear because of Portside's lead times". It answers with a review card, and nothing is recorded until someone who holds Record decisions approves it.

The decision is then recorded under the name of whoever approved it. Asking for one needs View decisions, and suggestions need the Brain module on in Settings › Modules and Agent approvals on for your workspace. See How to approve, refuse or undo a suggested change.

The Agent can also read your decisions back to you, such as "what did we decide about Portside Mills last season, and did it work". That needs View decisions. See How to ask about stock, suppliers and marketing.