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# How to keep a decision log people actually use
- URL: https://blog.jestor.com/keep-a-decision-log/
- Published: 2026-09-16T18:56:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T18:56:09.000Z
- Author: Bruno Bannach

A **decision log** records what was decided, by whom, and crucially why. In **Jestor**, a decision can be a record connected to the process it affects, so the reasoning is found where the consequence lives rather than in a meeting note nobody can locate.

## Why the reasoning disappears

Decisions are made in meetings and recorded as outcomes. The alternatives considered and the reasons for rejecting them are discussed and not written.

A year later, someone asks why the process works this way. Nobody remembers, so the decision is either defended without understanding or reversed without knowing what it solved.

What the reasoning enables:

- Revisiting a decision when circumstances change
- Avoiding the repeated re-litigation of settled questions
- New people understanding why things are as they are
- Recognizing when the original reason no longer applies
- Distinguishing a considered choice from an accident

## What to record

| Element                 | Why                                  |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------ |
| The decision            | What was chosen                      |
| Date and decider        | Context and accountability           |
| Alternatives considered | Prevents re-proposing them blindly   |
| Reasoning               | The most valuable and least recorded |
| Assumptions             | What would change the answer         |
| Review trigger          | When it should be revisited          |

## Step by step to keep one

1. **Record decisions that shape a process**, not every choice.
2. **Write the reasoning in two or three sentences**.
3. **Note the alternatives** and why they were not chosen.
4. **State the assumptions** the decision depends on.
5. **Connect it to the process** it affects.
6. **Set a review trigger** where an assumption might change.
7. **Check the log** before revisiting anything.

## Why recording the assumptions is the highest value part

A decision is rarely wrong. It becomes wrong when the conditions it was based on change. Writing down what the decision assumed means that when someone notices an assumption no longer holds, the decision can be reopened deliberately rather than quietly worked around.

## Why choose Jestor

In **Jestor**, decisions can be documents or records connected to the process they affect, so the reasoning is found in context. Review triggers can be recurring tasks, comments keep the discussion attached, and the history shows when a decision was revisited and by whom.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Which decisions should be logged?

The ones that shape how a process works, not every choice made. See [jestor.com](https://www.jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com).

### What is most often omitted?

The reasoning and the assumptions, which are the parts with lasting value.

### Where should the log live?

Connected to the process it affects, rather than in a separate meeting note.

## Video Tutorial: Step by Step

With **Jestor**, you can automate workflows, connect teams, and build internal systems your way, all without code and powered by **AI**. Discover Jestor at [jestor.com](https://www.jestor.com/?ref=blog.jestor.com) and see how to take your company's operations to a new level of efficiency and control.