Meeting Topics & Decision Log

Keep a record of important decisions so you can move faster as a company

At Coda, we have a meeting twice a week called Catalyst. The goal of our Catalyst meeting is to pull the most relevant group of people together to discuss a specific topic and get clarity on a set of questions. We prepare for these meetings by reviewing the list of

Upcoming Topics⁠

and reading items marked in the pre-read column. After the meeting, we write a summary which gets automatically filtered in the

Decision Log⁠

table. This way we have a record of all important decisions we’ve made as a company and can easily reference these write-ups in one doc.

Types of Decisions

In order to set expectations and goals for the meeting, you may want to come up with a framework for your meeting types. We label these stages as:

Ideate: The maker(s) have identified a topic area for early brainstorming. This may be well before a frame for the problem is set.

Frame: The maker(s) have identified the

eigenquestions⁠

for an area and would like help ensuring that that is the right set (and order) of questions that they should cover.

Propose: The maker(s) have closed in on a proposal for an area but need some help and/or sign-off from others in order to commit to the direction.

Act: A decision on a direction has already been made and we are executing it. This is to review what it is taking / will take to make it a reality.

Meeting Logistics

Provide guidance on how to use your company decision log. Here are some of the ground rules we set for our meetings:

Add a topic: Employees should feel free to add topics to

Upcoming Topics⁠

. Identify stage, area, goals, pre-read, and any required braintrust members.

Create a page for your topic writeup or link to and/or embed from relevant other materials (Coda docs, Figma, Slides, etc).

Communication:

Before the meeting: Send out a summary of the topic and links to any required pre-reading to the company and any required braintrust members.

After the meeting: Reply to your original email with the recap and action items from the meeting.

Who should attend? Our meetings are open to anyone in the company, but only the braintrust members are required.

Types of Decisions

Meeting Logistics

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