How to write a decision memo in English (B2 upper-intermediate): meeting moves, quantity words and review triggers

A decision memo tells people who missed the meeting what was decided, what the evidence does not show, which bigger option was rejected and what will reopen the question. The meeting before it needs moves that ground arguments in facts (“If we look at the facts…”), challenge politely (“I’m not convinced that…”) and keep things moving (“Can we move on to…?”). This B2 (upper intermediate) topic suits managers, team leads and analysts who chair decision meetings or record decisions. Ten minutes a day is enough.

Who this is for

Managers and team leads who chair meetings where a group must choose between options under cost, safety or time limits.
Analysts and operations staff who present figures and need to say clearly what the data does not prove.
Anyone who writes up a decision for people who were not there: a director, finance or the staff affected.
Too early: if giving and asking for opinions in a meeting still feels hard, start with the B1 article on evaluating job candidates with evidence and a next step.
Too easy: if you already chair decision meetings and write them up with confidence, move on to the C1 article on a training-pilot decision where test scores and observed calls disagree.

Open the sample pages

Word cards

present evidence

ground an argument in observable facts

If we look at the facts, we’ll see that Friday accounts for 46 percent of late calls.

state consequence

connect an option to its likely result

If we open every evening, it’ll mean much more overtime unless we recruit.

give an opinion

mark a judgement as your view rather than a fact

In my opinion, the mixed model is the safest starting point.

respond

agree, qualify or disagree directly

I’m not convinced. The winter sample may contain too many disruption calls.

clarify

request detail or restate another speaker’s meaning

So what you’re getting at is a Friday trial with an emergency line on other days?

manage participation

set purpose, invite a view and protect a speaker’s turn

Today, I’d like to establish our trial model. Owen, could you start us off? Hang on, let’s hear his evidence.

manage progress

control time, move topic and record action

I don’t want to spend too long on this point. Can we move on to safety? Then let’s draw up some action points.

Conversation

Maya Today, I’d like to establish which evening-service model we should test for twelve weeks. Let’s consider customer impact, staff safety and cost. Owen, could you start us off?

Owen If we look at the facts, we’ll see strong demand: 1,240 late calls in six weeks, and most were resolved without escalation. In my opinion, we should open until ten every day.

Maya I’m not convinced that the sample supports every day. Winter disruption may have created too many calls, and full opening costs €96,000 a year.

Owen The thing is, a Friday-only service could leave customers without help on other evenings.

Maya Could you give us some detail, please? Are you proposing staffed coverage or an emergency response on quieter days?

Owen What I mean is a staffed Friday service until ten and an emergency callback until eight on other weekdays. So that’s close to Priya’s €21,000 model.

Maya That limits both cost and fatigue. I don’t want to spend too long on the permanent model before we have summer information. Can we move on to measures?

Owen We should track call volume, resolution, missed connections, overtime and fatigue reports. If demand exceeds ten calls an hour on two non-Friday evenings, we review the hours.

Maya Agreed. Let’s draw up the action points: I’ll confirm the safety controls by Wednesday; you’ll prepare the rota and baseline by Friday; and we’ll review after week six and week twelve.

Language pattern

singular countable

use a, an, the or one: a proposal, an option, the journey, one fact

We need a proposal with one clear review date.

plural countable

use many, too many, not many, a few, few, fewer or a number

We received fewer complaints but too many fatigue reports to ignore.

uncountable

use much, too much, not much, a little, little or less

There is too much overtime and very little reliable summer information.

both plural and uncountable

lots of, plenty of, more, most, some, enough, hardly any, any and no work with both classes

We have enough chairs and enough equipment, but hardly any spare time.

most versus most of the

most refers generally; most of the refers to a specific known group or amount

Most customers prefer quick answers; most of the customers in our winter sample called after a cancellation.

fewer versus less

use fewer with plural countable nouns and less with uncountable nouns

The mixed model needs fewer employees and less overtime.

a few versus few; a little versus little

a few and a little mean some; few and little emphasise that the amount is almost insufficient

We have a few options but little evidence about employee preferences.

More practice

Cedar Transit: read behaviour, not labels

Maya and Owen compare evidence and decision behaviours.

Cedar Transit must decide whether its customer helpline should remain open until 22:00. In a six-week test, 1,240 calls arrived after 18:00. Most concerned same-day cancellations; 71 percent were resolved without escalation. The test required 186 hours of overtime and received two fatigue reports, neither involving an incident.

At the review, Rosa worked through cost, safety and demand in a fixed order. She recommended a smaller permanent late team. Joel immediately supported full opening because the first week had produced grateful customer messages. After seeing the overtime total, he asked to compare more options. Priya said little during the debate but later proposed a rotating 20:00 service plus an emergency line. Tariq opposed any extension at first because the depot had never offered it. When the group showed that missed connections peaked on Fridays, he accepted a Friday-only trial.

Finance estimates annual costs of €96,000 for full opening, €54,000 for Rosa’s smaller team and €21,000 for Priya’s mixed model. The six-week sample includes winter disruption, so it may overstate normal demand. It contains no employee preference survey and no evidence about summer. The director needs a recommendation today, but implementation can be reviewed after twelve weeks.

Know what can be counted directly

countable items

product, colleague, suggestion, fact, journey, proposal and document can take a/an and plural -s

A proposal contains three suggestions and two supporting facts.

uncountable communication

information, advice, news and correspondence normally have no plural form and take a singular verb

The information is incomplete, and the advice was based on old news.

uncountable resources

money, equipment, software, accommodation and insurance are treated as masses or categories in their general meanings

The software is ready, but some equipment, suitable accommodation and travel insurance are still needed.

uncountable activities

travel and expenditure are normally uncountable when referring generally to activity or spending

Business travel has decreased, but travel expenditure is still high.

paper — material or document

paper is uncountable as material; a paper is a document, article or newspaper

We used less paper after moving the figures into a short briefing paper.

business — activity or company

business is uncountable as commercial activity; a business is an organisation

Business is improving, and three local businesses have extended their hours.

experience — knowledge or event

experience is uncountable as accumulated knowledge; an experience is one event

Her scheduling experience helped the team learn from two difficult customer experiences.

time — duration or occasion

time is uncountable as a resource; a time or times refers to an occasion

We have little time, but we have tested the emergency line three times.

Write the service director’s decision memo

Maya and Owen review the decision memo and its evidence charts.

Subject: Decision — twelve-week evening-service trial

To: Service operations and workforce planning

We have agreed to test a staffed Friday helpline until 22:00, with emergency callbacks until 20:00 on other weekdays. The six-week winter test recorded 1,240 late calls, and 71 percent were resolved without escalation. However, it required 186 overtime hours and produced two fatigue reports. There is very little summer information and no employee preference survey, so the evidence does not support permanent full opening.

Full daily opening would cost an estimated €96,000 a year. The selected mixed model is estimated at about €21,000 a year and preserves support on quieter evenings. Maya will confirm safety controls by Wednesday. Owen will prepare the rota, employee consultation and baseline figures by Friday.

We will review call volume, resolution, missed connections, overtime and fatigue at weeks six and twelve. If demand exceeds ten calls an hour on two non-Friday evenings, the steering group will reconsider staffed hours. Any safety incident will trigger an immediate pause and review.

Please send rota or safety objections to Maya by 16:00 Thursday.

Learn this unit

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Evidence, then a challenge

A team is choosing an evening helpline service to trial for twelve weeks. Listen: what does Owen propose, and why is Maya not convinced? (Opening until ten every day; winter disruption may have inflated demand, and full opening costs €96,000 a year.)

Owen If we look at the facts, we’ll see strong demand: 1,240 late calls in six weeks, and most were resolved without escalation. In my opinion, we should open until ten every day.

Maya I’m not convinced that the sample supports every day. Winter disruption may have created too many calls, and full opening costs €96,000 a year.

Meeting moves: argue, respond, chair

Mark which sentences are facts, predictions or your view. Question the evidence, not the person: “I’m not convinced that…” is direct but not rude. A chair manages the process, not the answer, and closes each point with an action.

Present evidence: “If we look at the facts, we’ll see that Friday accounts for 46 percent of late calls.”
State a consequence: “If we open every evening, it’ll mean much more overtime unless we recruit.”
Give an opinion: “In my opinion, the mixed model is the safest starting point.”
Respond: “I’m not convinced. The winter sample may contain too many disruption calls.”
Clarify: “So what you’re getting at is a Friday trial with an emergency line on other days?”
Set the purpose: “Today, I’d like to establish our trial model. Could you start us off?”
Move on: “I don’t want to spend too long on this. Can we move on to safety?”

Countable or uncountable: quantity words that fit the noun

Information, advice, news, evidence, equipment and overtime are uncountable: no plural, a singular verb, and a unit phrase such as “a piece of” when you need to count. Plural nouns take many, fewer and a few; uncountable nouns take much, less and a little. “Few” and “little” mean almost not enough. “Most” is general; “most of the” points to a known group.

“The mixed model needs fewer employees and less overtime.”
“We have a few options but little evidence about employee preferences.”
“Most customers prefer quick answers; most of the customers in our winter sample called after a cancellation.”

Talking about how decisions are made

Learn the verbs with their nouns: weigh up the information, consider all the options, get different perspectives, delay a decision until something specific arrives. Describe behaviour, not character: “She was methodical in this review” is fairer than “She is a methodical person.”

Discuss: are you more methodical or more instinctive? Can more data make a team slower without making it wiser?

“I’ll delay my decision until the revised safety assessment arrives tomorrow.”

Learn this unit your way

The decision memo in six moves

Write 160–190 words for one named audience: finance wants costs, affected staff want the rota and safety. Subject line: “Decision: twelve-week evening-service trial”. If two figures only move together, write “is associated with”, not “caused”.

Decision: “We have agreed to trial a staffed Friday helpline until 22:00, with emergency callbacks on other weekdays.”
Evidence and limits: “The winter test logged 1,240 late calls but needed 186 overtime hours, and summer data is missing.”
Rejected option: “Full daily opening would cost about €96,000 a year, against €21,000 for the mixed model.”
Owner and date: “The service manager will confirm safety controls by Wednesday.”
Review trigger: “If demand exceeds ten calls an hour on two non-Friday evenings, we will reconsider staffed hours.”
Deadline: “Please send objections to the service manager by 16:00 on Thursday.”

Common mistakes

These weaken an argument or a memo:

“There were less complaints.” Use “fewer complaints”.
“We need more informations and advices.” Say “more information and advice”.
“Most of customers…” Say “Most customers”, or “most of the customers in our sample”.
“I am not agree.” Use “I don’t agree” or “I’m not convinced”.
“We will review it later.” Name the measures, the dates and the trigger.

A 10-minute daily practice routine

Use a real decision from your week.

3 minutes: say one piece of evidence, one opinion and one polite challenge about it.
3 minutes: write four sentences about your figures with fewer, less, a few and little.
4 minutes: draft the decision, the rejected option and a measurable review trigger.

What comes next

Next, write a retail trial proposal that separates price recall from purchases, then an outsourcing recommendation that approves only a trial stage.

Frequently asked questions

How do you write a decision memo in English?

Open with the decision and its scope, give the key figures and their limits, and name the rejected option. Add owners with dates, a measurable review trigger and a deadline for objections.

Is it “fewer” or “less”?

“Fewer” goes with plural nouns (“fewer complaints”), “less” with uncountable ones (“less overtime”). Many people say “less” with plurals in speech, but “fewer” is safer in a report.

How do you disagree politely in a meeting in English?

Question the evidence, not the person: “I’m not convinced that the sample supports every day.” Then ask for detail: “Could you give us some detail, please?”