How Engineers Can Get Executives to Make a Decision During Their Presentation

“When you get to about 70% of all possible data, it’s probably time to make a decision and not wait for the last 30%. That’s judgment.” — General Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

You’ve delivered your technical presentation, hoping executives in the audience will decide. But at the end of your presentation, no decision is made. How frustrating.

Without a decision, you can’t move forward with your recommended action. What can you do?

Here are three ways to steer an executive audience to a decision.

Start With the Decision You Need

Make it evident you are delivering a decision presentation. At the beginning, tell your executive audience exactly what decision you need.

Framing the presentation explicitly as a decision meeting makes the purpose clear and prevents the discussion from becoming another technical status update.

Don’t make executives wait until your final slide to learn what you want. Put the decision and recommendation up front, then use the remainder of the presentation to provide the evidence they need to become comfortable making that decision.

Leave the technical jargon back at your office. Frame your language in your audience’s language and around what matters to them. This means you need to research what matters to them before your presentation.

State the decision in business terms: “I need approval today to proceed with Option B.”

Then explain the business outcome affected—cost, schedule, revenue, risk, resources, or customer impact—rather than beginning with engineering methodology.

One way engineers can get executives to decide during your presentation is to start with the decision they need to make.

Another way is to give them options—but make a recommendation.

Give Them Options—But Make a Recommendation

Present two or three viable alternatives and clearly explain their major trade-offs.

Executives should decide among business consequences, not decipher technical differences between architectures, designs, or methodologies.

Then say, “We recommend Option B because…” Engineers add considerable value when they analyze alternatives, illuminate advantages and disadvantages, and recommend a course of action rather than simply transferring the decision problem to management.

Support your recommendation with a small number of decision-relevant facts: expected benefit, cost, schedule, and principal risks.

Keep detailed calculations, simulations, specifications, and supporting engineering data in backup slides for questions.

Two ways engineers can get executives to decide during their presentation are to start with the decision they need and give them options—but make a recommendation.

A third way is to finish with a specific ask—and stop talking.

Finish With a Specific Ask—and Stop Talking

Near the end, restate precisely what you need: “Based on the evidence presented, I recommend Option B. Can we approve Option B today?”

A vague conclusion such as “Any thoughts?” invites discussion; a specific decision question invites a decision. Clarity is essential when you explain the decision you need them to make.

Then stop talking and allow the executives to respond. Do not weaken your recommendation by immediately adding qualifications, additional technical details, or another five minutes of evidence.

Qualifications, additional technical details, and more evidence supporting your recommendation make you appear weak and undermine the strength of your opinions.

Once the decision is made, confirm the next action, owner, and timing. Effective decision meetings should end with clarity on the decision and who owns implementation.

What you are doing is giving your executive audience a call to action.

Three ways engineers can get executives to decide during their presentation are to (1) start with the decision they need, (2) give them options—but make a recommendation, and (3) finish with a specific ask—and stop talking.

The bottom line is engineers should not merely present information to executives. They should engineer the presentation around the decision.

As the presenting engineer, you need to guide the audience to support your recommendation on the specific engineering decision.

Make this clear throughout your presentation, and you will get the executive decision you want.

Call to Action

• Frame your presentation explicitly as a decision meeting, clarify the purpose, and prevent the discussion from becoming another technical status update.

• Support your recommendation with a small number of decision-relevant facts: expected benefit, cost, schedule, and principal risks.

• At the end of your presentation, stop talking and allow the executives to respond. Do not weaken your recommendation by immediately adding qualifications, additional technical details, or another five minutes of evidence.

“Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level.” — Peter F. Drucker, Austrian American management consultant, educator, and author

References

• McKinsey & Company. “The Limits of RACI—and a Better Way to Make Decisions.” McKinsey & Company, 2022. Discusses explicitly identifying meetings as decision, discussion, or information meetings and defining decision-making roles.

• McKinsey & Company. “Untangling Your Organization’s Decision Making.” McKinsey Quarterly, June 21, 2017. Recommends focusing decision meetings on solutions, using prework, bringing the necessary facts to the table, and clearly assigning ownership after decisions.

• McKinsey & Company. “Want a Better Decision? Plan a Better Meeting.” McKinsey Quarterly, May 8, 2019. Defines the roles of decision makers, advisers, recommenders, and execution partners and emphasizes recommendations based on analysis of alternatives and trade-offs.

• McKinsey & Company. “What Is an Effective Meeting?” McKinsey Explainers, January 17, 2023. Explains that decision-making meetings require clarity about who makes the decision and should produce a final decision rather than simply additional discussion.

• McKinsey & Company. “If We’re All So Busy, Why Isn’t Anything Getting Done?” McKinsey Quarterly, January 10, 2022. Describes the DARE decision-rights model and the recommender’s responsibility to analyze alternatives, explain pros and cons, and recommend a course of action.

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