Getting started
A good start is simple. You do not need to perfect everything before you begin. Most teams are up and running within a few weeks, with the Mindstake team alongside you at every step.
Eight steps to your first decision
These steps apply to most decision processes. You do not need to complete them all before engaging with Mindstake - the team helps you work through each one.
Name the decision and the options to compare
What are you deciding, and what are the alternatives? A clear scope makes everything downstream simpler.
Agree who owns the decision and who is involved
Decision owner, reviewers, and other participants. Clear roles prevent confusion later.
Draft five to ten criteria matching your purpose and obligations
What matters most? Criteria should reflect your values, your mandate, and your context. Mindstake helps you get these right.
Write a short rubric for each criterion
What does strong, moderate, and weak performance look like? Keep it plain and specific. The rubric is the shared language your reviewers will use.
Decide what information you will assess
Business plans, proposals, budgets, reports - whatever the decision requires. Consistent information leads to comparable scores.
Confirm data classification and access permissions
Who can see what? What level of sensitivity applies? Mindstake supports tikanga-based data classification for Māori organisations.
Run a pilot on a small sample
Test the rubric on two or three items before running the full process. This step catches ambiguity early and builds confidence in the scoring framework.
Run the full process and capture learning
Score, review, decide, and record what you would change next time. Each round builds on the last. The process improves with use.
What we need from you
You do not need to arrive with everything ready. These four things help us get started - and we help you define them if they are not yet clear.
A decision owner
Someone who holds the decision and can make calls when trade-offs arise
A criteria owner
Someone who understands the subject matter and can help define what good looks like
Reviewers
People who will score or assess the options against the rubric
Key documents
The information that reviewers will assess - proposals, plans, reports, or whatever the decision requires
Ready to start?
An initial conversation takes about thirty minutes. We will talk through your decision context, the criteria that matter, and what a first round would look like.
Want more detail on the process? See how Mindstake works.