When you’re running multiple projects, teams, and have big growth plans for your company or team, you need to not only get things done quickly but also keep track of decisions, progress, and clearly define objectives — and how to achieve them. Defining objectives without making a plan is like having a dream. A dream will remain a “dream” if you don’t have a plan.

So, here’s what I do, and what you can use for yourself, or even as inspiration. This is the most basic template I use, but I think it will guide you through keeping things simple.

Let’s get started.

It looks like this:

I like to start by defining all my objectives. These objectives can be used for anything — a project, a client, a quarter, etc. They serve as the skeleton for the team. I begin with the definition of the main objectives.

I try to simplify things into three key objectives so the team can easily remember them. You can add more if needed, but these objectives should be easy to memorize, inspiring, and clear. Each one should have clear due dates and an assigned person responsible for it.

Then, below each objective, you’ll have the action plan or to-do list.

• The action plan: Often presented as a visual timeline, it defines all the main actions that need to be taken. It helps the team see when things need to get done and the dependencies between tasks. It shows when certain things are expected but usually doesn’t go into too much detail. This is useful when there are many moving pieces and you need a high-level view of how everything will work, who’s involved, and what needs to happen first.
• The to-do list: This is a simpler space where you create a list of specific tasks needed to achieve the goal. It’s more focused on the actual tasks and is useful when the overall process is clearer and more straightforward.

Sometimes, you may need both an action plan and a to-do list.

On top of that, I have a key section: the decision log.

The decision log has become essential for me.

With so many ways to communicate with teams, departments, and clients — whether in Slack, hallways, meetings, or emails — decisions are made everywhere. They can be scattered across different channels and become difficult to track, often leaving people out of the loop.

Some people are “part of the conversation” simply because they “happen” to be there, while others aren’t, which creates chaos, confusion, and hours of meetings for clarification.

This is why my team uses a decision log and a knowledge log for all projects, clients, features, and strategies. The goal is to ensure that decisions are only added when they are fully made.

It’s not a place for discussions like — “We’re thinking about doing this…”

No!

If you need to discuss something, open a separate async session or schedule a meeting.

The decision log is solely for final decisions.

Over time, you’ll have a log of all decisions made, tracking changes and the reasoning behind them.

This is what decision logs are for, and in my opinion, they are essential when you have specific objectives to achieve. They help you understand what happened, who made a decision, and why something was changed. No more siloed conversations, confusion, or digging through Slack messages to remember what the decision was.

Everything is in one place.

Watch this video to learn more about decision logs.

This is the skeleton of my template, but from here, you can add more — like approval sessions, discussion sessions, or anything else you need to achieve your goals and track progress.

It’s simple because it should be 🙂

Let me know if this is helpful, and follow me for more content and tips like this!

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