When people collaborate across teams or organizations, clear decision-making approaches are critical to achieving collective goals. All too often, collaborative groups find themselves stuck in inaction, searching for consensus. Shared ownership is key to advancing complex, systems-level work, but how can coalitions avoid the dreaded “death by committee” while truly engaging diverse perspectives?
As a facilitator and convenor of various systems-level projects, we at Trepwise see how clear decision-making is key to creating real momentum and results. From participatory planning processes to cross-departmental projects, below are some practical ways you can create decision-making clarity and achieve real results.
1. First things first: clarify roles
Create a strong foundation for decision-making and action by clarifying roles and responsibilities among your team or coalition. Consider the RACI framework:
- Responsible – advances the work and convenes the group for decision-making
- Accountable – the actual decision-maker(s) and those who are accountable to results
- Consulted – people whose expertise or stake matters
- Informed – people who need to know once it’s done
In coalitions this is extra important because authority is often unclear. Nobody technically “reports to” anyone else. Establish and document decision rights in the charter, MOU, or meeting notes.
In action this may look like: “The steering group is accountable for final approval” or “Program co-leads will decide after input from funders.”
2. Engage stakeholders with clarity
Once you’ve established clear roles, communicate accordingly so people understand their level of involvement in any decision. Consider leveraging the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation to clarify stakeholders’ level of involvement in your decision-making:
- Inform – We’re telling people what’s happening. The decision has already been made.
- Consult – We want input on specific things, although we remain final decision-makers.
- Involve – We will get your input along the way, throughout a decision-making process.
- Collaborate – We will shift some decision-making power to you, going beyond input and actively working with you to co-design our final decision.
- Empower – We are giving you complete decision-making power over this matter.
The level of participation should match the impact of the decision on stakeholders. If a decision will affect partners’ budgets or public commitments, it should be higher on the spectrum (collaborate/empower). If it’s about slide formatting for the next meeting, it can stay low (inform/consult).
No matter what, communicate where each decision falls on the spectrum. People tolerate outcomes they don’t 100% love if the process was transparent.In action this may look like: Before each agenda item, name the mode: “We’re in consult mode. The core project team will make the decision, but we want your perspective.”
3. Leverage proposal-based decision-making
In Results-Based Facilitation and other adaptive facilitation methods, decision-making starts with a proposal, which anyone can put forth by sharing the goal, recommended approach, and the input needed to execute. Then the group reacts to something concrete, not to the abstract idea of change.
In meetings, invite participants to present proposals and receive reactions and revisions from the group. From there, rely on your RACI and clear roles to finalize decisions.
In action this may look like: Request proposals for key decisions in advance of meetings or build the habit of asking the group, “does anyone have a proposal for how to achieve this goal?” when leading meetings.
4. Advance decisions even without 100% consensus
Alignment doesn’t always equate to complete consensus. The Gradients of Agreement (also called the consensus spectrum) gives people language to express support without forcing a complete yes/no vote. A common scale:
This allows people to surface concerns without stalling action. Leaders can gauge the level of support and facilitate conversation accordingly, such as “What would move you from a 5 to a 3?”
In action this may look like: After presenting a proposal, ask everyone to drop a number in the chat or on sticky notes. If most are 1–3 and there are one or two 4s, you can note the concerns and move forward. If there are multiple 5–6s, you pause and revise.
5. Be inclusive and intentional, but keep up momentum
Decisions often come with layers of power dynamics, both internal and external to a team or coalition. With high-stakes decisions, reflect on:
- Who will be most impacted? Are they in the room or just being “informed”?
- Who usually decides? Are we unintentionally replicating hierarchy?
- Are funders (or other external powers) in the conversation? If not, will their later feedback unwind today’s decision?
- What is the minimum viable decision? What can we decide today to keep momentum?
6. Close the loop every time
Have you ever left a meeting feeling like a decision was made, but you actually aren’t so sure? Avoid the uncertainty by creating replicable approaches to documenting and sharing decisions. Once a decision is made:
- Document it (what we decided, why, when, who decided)
- Share it with those consulted/informed
- Name what action begins now (roles, timelines, expectations)
In action this may look like: Templatize your agendas or meeting notes to have a “Decisions made” section that consistently recaps decisions and confirms commitment.
When decision-making is clear, collaboration increases, trust goes up, and impact becomes visible. If your team or coalition is spinning on the same topics, moving slowly because “we need buy-in,” or losing steam between meetings, we can help you design meetings and processes that spur real action.
Trepwise works with organizations, funder collaboratives, and cross-sector coalitions to:
- clarify roles and decision rights
- build decision-ready agendas
- facilitate sessions to generate alignment behind high-stakes decisions like vision, strategy, and priorities
- create plans that people actually use
Reach out today to explore how we can help your team or coalition make aligned, timely decisions that move your mission forward.
