Decisions and Sign-off
Convert meeting outcomes into durable governance by recording the decision, authority, evidence, conditions, launch impact, accepted limitations, and closure status in one register.
Decisions and Sign-off
Section titled “Decisions and Sign-off”The Decisions & Sign-off sheet makes important project choices explicit. Use it when a scope choice, accepted limitation, risk treatment, Full Migration decision, launch condition, or go-live approval needs a named owner, approver, evidence, and review state.
A meeting conclusion or chat message can guide work, but it is not a durable project decision until the agreed outcome, conditions, authority, and evidence are recorded.
Build a complete decision record
Section titled “Build a complete decision record”| Field group | Fields | How to use them |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Decision ID, Decision Type, Related IDs | Give the decision a stable reference and connect the task, risk, validation, or redirect evidence that led to it. |
| Decision | Decision / Scope, Rationale, Outcome | State what is being decided, why, and the resulting approval state. |
| Conditions | Conditions / Accepted Limitations | Record the constraints, required follow-up, or limitation attached to the outcome. |
| Authority | Decision Owner, Approver, Decision Date | Identify who prepared or owns the decision and who has authority to approve it. |
| Evidence and timing | Evidence Link, Review / Expiry Date | Preserve proof and schedule re-review when the decision is temporary or conditional. |
| Launch control | Launch Blocking?, Review Status, Notes | Make it clear whether the decision must close before launch and whether the record itself is complete. |
Use decision types to keep the register searchable
Section titled “Use decision types to keep the register searchable”Available decision types include Scope, Exclusion, Mapping, Additional Option, Add-on, Approved Customization, Accepted limitation, Risk treatment, Full Migration, Launch readiness, Go-live, and Post-launch closure.
Choose the type that reflects the decision being authorized. Do not use a decision row to duplicate an unresolved task or validation finding. Link to those rows and record only the decision that follows from them.
Choose the outcome explicitly
Section titled “Choose the outcome explicitly”The available outcomes are Pending, Approved, Approved with limitations, Rejected, Deferred, and Not applicable.
Approved with limitations requires the accepted limitations or conditions to be recorded. The decision should also state who owns the remaining action and how closure will be verified when follow-up is required.
Understand Review Status
Section titled “Understand Review Status”The workbook calculates Review Status as a completeness signal:
| Decision state | Review Status behavior |
|---|---|
| Pending or Deferred | Open |
| Outcome is set but Decision Owner, Approver, Decision Date, or Evidence Link is missing | Incomplete evidence |
| Approved with limitations but no conditions are recorded | Limitations missing |
| Required decision and evidence fields are complete | Complete |
Use Launch Blocking? as a decision gate
Section titled “Use Launch Blocking? as a decision gate”Set Launch Blocking? = Yes when the project cannot be authorized for launch until that decision reaches an acceptable outcome. Project Overview treats launch-blocking decisions that are not Approved or Approved with limitations as open readiness blockers.
Do not clear the blocking flag only to make the summary appear ready. Change it when the business rule or launch condition itself changes and record the reason.
Close an accepted limitation properly
Section titled “Close an accepted limitation properly”- Link the validation, risk, redirect, or task evidence.
- Describe the exact limitation. State what differs from the original expectation and which business or operational effect remains.
- Record the rationale. Explain why the limitation is acceptable for this project.
- Assign conditions and follow-up. Include monitoring, cleanup, or a review date when the acceptance is not permanent.
- Identify the approver and decision date.
- Set the Outcome and Launch Blocking? state. The record should make the next project action unambiguous.
Use Define Sign-off Criteria to establish the approval standard before using this sheet as the final decision record.
Next Steps
Section titled “Next Steps”Review Project Overview and readiness after material decisions change. Use the end-to-end worked example to see how tasks, risks, validation, redirects, and decisions stay connected across a complete migration project.