Create intermediate Works with: Any AI

Decision Memo With Options and Recommendation

Table output Has example

Present a decision so a busy reader can approve or challenge it.

The Open buttons send the prompt text as currently shown below to that site only when you click. Fill in the placeholders first.

[ADD SOURCE] is an editorial flag, not a blank to fill. Replace or resolve each flag before you use the result.

Write a decision memo. Decision needed: [DECISION]. Deadline: [DEADLINE]. Options: [OPTIONS]. Costs and benefits known: [COSTS_BENEFITS]. Decision maker: [DECISION_MAKER].

Format: the decision requested in one sentence; background in three sentences; options with cost, benefit, risk and effort in a table; recommendation with reasons; what happens if we do nothing; next steps if approved with owners and dates; and open questions. Keep to one page.

Show arithmetic for any cost comparison. Do not present opinion as fact. State assumptions and mark any figure I have not verified [ADD SOURCE]. Add a line saying what new information would change the recommendation.

Add a second page option containing supporting detail: assumptions, calculations, sources and a short note on risks of each option. Provide a tiny example of an options table with invented costs of 4,000, 6,500 and 9,000, benefits expressed as hours saved per month, and the payback calculation as cost divided by monthly saving, for the first option 4,000 divided by 500 equals 8 months. Show how to present uncertainty as ranges rather than single numbers. End with a sentence the decision maker can copy to approve, reject or request more information.

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Replace each bracketed placeholder with your own details, then paste into Any AI or another assistant.

Invented options for scheduling software.
A: 4,000 one-off cost, saves 500 per month. Payback 4,000 / 500 = 8 months.
B: 6,500 one-off, saves 900 per month. Payback 6,500 / 900 = 7.2 months.
C: do nothing; costs 0 now, and continues to lose about 500 per month in staff time.
Recommendation: B, because it pays back fastest and saves most over 24 months: A saves 12,000 - 4,000 = 8,000; B saves 21,600 - 6,500 = 15,100.
Assumption to verify: the monthly savings figures [ADD SOURCE]. Decision wanted by 30 June.

• memo