Change Log And Decision Log

Why this matters

As a Business Analyst, you are the source of truth when scope shifts and decisions evolve. A clear Change Log prevents scope creep and budget surprises. A Decision Log stops re-litigating old choices, aligns stakeholders, and accelerates delivery.

• Real tasks: capture scope changes from steering committees, document product decisions from design reviews, link decisions to requirements and versions, and share a concise snapshot with stakeholders.
• Benefits: traceability, risk reduction, faster onboarding, easier audits, and predictable delivery.

Who this is for

• Business Analysts and Product Analysts
• Project Managers needing reliable traceability
• New team members inheriting a project mid-flight

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of requirements (epics, user stories, acceptance criteria)
• Familiarity with your team's tooling (docs, spreadsheets, ticketing)
• Stakeholder map (who approves, who informs)

Concept explained simply

Two small logs, two big outcomes:

• Change Log: a running list of modifications to scope, requirements, timelines, or budget.
• Decision Log: a running list of choices made, the options considered, and why the final choice won.

Mental model

Think "Timeline + Vault". The Change Log is a timeline of what changed and when. The Decision Log is a vault storing the rationale behind choices. Together, they explain both the movie (what happened) and the script (why we did it).

What to capture

Nice-to-have fields: risk notes, affected teams, version number, approval authority or quorum, follow-up tasks.

How to run it (day-to-day)

Worked examples

Copy-paste templates (simple)

ID: 
Date raised: 
Requester: 
Change summary: 
Reason/Driver: 
Impact (scope/cost/schedule/quality): 
Priority: 
Status: 
Decision reference: 
Effective date: 
Owner: 
Related requirements/versions: 
Notes:

ID: 
Date: 
Decision statement: 
Context/Problem: 
Options considered: 
Criteria used: 
Final decision: 
Rationale: 
Owner: 
Review date (optional): 
Related artifacts (requirements/changes): 
Notes:

Exercises

Do these in your own doc or spreadsheet. Keep each answer to one concise row per log.

Exercise 1 (ex1) — Turn a messy email into a Change Log row

Email excerpt: "Team, we’re under pressure to deliver onboarding by Friday. Let’s drop the in-app tour and just keep the checklist. Dev lead says dropping the tour doesn’t affect data model. Can PM confirm?"

• Task: Create a complete Change Log row using the template.
• Goal: A one-line summary, reason, impact, status, and a clear owner.

Exercise 2 (ex2) — Capture a Decision from a chat thread

Chat excerpt: "We compared S3 vs. database BLOBs. Ops prefers S3 due to lifecycle policies. Dev says both work. Security okay with either if encrypted. Let's go S3 for cost and archival."

• Task: Create a Decision Log row with options, criteria, decision, and rationale.
• Goal: Make the rationale unambiguous and linkable to storage requirements (use placeholders for IDs).

Common mistakes and how to self-check

• Vague summaries: Replace "adjust timeline" with "move beta release from May 10 to May 24".
• Missing rationale: Always include why, or the debate restarts later.
• Unowned items: Every Proposed/In Review entry must have an owner.
• Stale status: Review weekly and move old "In Review" items forward or close them.
• Decisions without options: If no options were considered, it’s likely an assumption, not a decision.
• No links: Add requirement/story IDs or version notes to anchor the change.

Practical projects

• Project 1: Create a shared Change & Decision Log for a small feature. Populate 10 realistic entries from past meetings.
• Project 2: Add IDs and link entries to three requirement documents or story IDs. Run a weekly 5-minute review.
• Project 3: Build a one-page stakeholder digest summarizing the last 7 days: new proposals, approvals, rejected, risks.

Learning path

• Start: Learn to capture crisp summaries and reasons
• Next: Add impact analysis and link to requirements
• Then: Establish cadence and stakeholder digest
• Advanced: Versioning, audit readiness, and metrics (lead time from Proposed to Approved)

Next steps

• Adopt the templates above in your active project this week
• Run a 10-minute weekly log review with key stakeholders
• Take the quick test below; if you pass, move on to change governance

Quick Test

This test is available to everyone. Only logged-in users will have their progress saved.

Mini challenge

Find one ongoing debate in your project. Write a Decision Log entry with two options and clear criteria. Share it with the group and ask, "What would change this decision in the future?" Capture that as a review note.