Facilitation Technique Number 13: Decision Trees

A Decision Tree is a logical breakdown of a problem by examining and decomposing its branches. This develops a structured diagram which clearly outlines the information needs to be taken into account. Associative information can be placed along the decision tree such as financial investment, costs, risks, benefits, etc.

How it Works:

·   Step 1:    Identify the decision which needs to be made. This decision is documented at the top of the diagram and represented by a small square at the far left of the diagram. (These diagrams generally flow from right to left.)Write the required decision down!

·   Step 2:    From the decision, draw a line for each major possible solution. On each line write a description of the decision. Be concise, but not so much that later the word makes no sense.

·   Step 3:    For each decision, continue the process of breaking down the decisions into their sub-decisions.

·   Step 4:    Continue this process until an adequate level of detail has been generated, or further decomposition makes no sense.

Example: Should we develop a new system or upgrade the old one?

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