Course Objective & Scope
In complex choices—such as vendor selection, architecture decisions, hiring or portfolio prioritisation—teams often debate options before agreeing on how to judge them, rigging the criteria unconsciously to favour their preferred option. Drawing on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and Kepner-Tregoe methods, this course teaches how to design objective decision criteria and explicit trade-offs upfront.
Working on a live choice from their organisation, participants build a Musts/Wants split, a weighted decision matrix with anchored scoring rubrics, a sensitivity check and a Decision Record.
Who Should Attend?
- Managers and team leads making technology, product, procurement or investment choices
- Solution architects, PMO specialists and business analysts
- Members of vendor evaluation, roadmap prioritisation and governance committees
- No technical prerequisites
Key Takeaways
- Lock in evaluation criteria before scoring options to prevent post-hoc rationalisation
- Separate binary knockout constraints (Musts) from weighted performance objectives (Wants)
- Replace vague 1–5 ratings with concrete, observable scoring rubrics
- Make trade-offs explicit when speed, cost, risk and scalability pull in opposite directions
- Stress-test weighted matrices with sensitivity analysis and document decisions in a clear Decision Log
Curriculum
Why Debating Options Before Criteria Corrupts Decisions
- Narrow framing and the habit of bending criteria to fit a pet option
- Separating decision process quality from outcome luck (resulting)
Designing Knockout Constraints (Musts) and Weighted Objectives (Wants)
- Setting binary pass/fail thresholds using the Kepner-Tregoe approach
- Selecting non-overlapping evaluation criteria and assigning relative weights
Anchored Scoring Rubrics and Explicit Trade-Off Rules
- Defining what a '1', '3' and '5' objectively mean in measurable terms
- Articulating trade-off boundaries across competing priorities (speed vs cost vs resilience)
Weighted Decision Matrices and Sensitivity Analysis
- Running blind independent scoring to surface genuine disagreements
- Testing whether shifting weights or assumptions flips the winning option
Live Decision Matrix and Decision Record Workshop
- Building a complete weighted decision matrix on a live organisational decision
- Documenting the rationale, trade-offs and rejected options in a one-page Decision Record
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