Decision Hierarchy.
WS09 answers the governance question WS08 doesn't: who decides what, where, and how quickly? It names the decision forums, their cadence, their SLA, and the escalation path when a forum can't decide or the question is bigger than its scope.
Purpose
Programs accumulate decisions that need to be made. Without a decision hierarchy, each one becomes an ad-hoc discussion that bounces between people, meetings, and Slack threads. WS09 pre-answers "where does this decision go?" for every predictable decision type in the program.
Template
| Decision type | Scope / schedule / budget / architecture / vendor / people |
|---|---|
| Forum | Working group / Steering committee / Sponsor 1:1 |
| Cadence | Weekly / biweekly / monthly / on-demand |
| SLA | Expected turnaround from question raised to decision made |
| Attendees | Standing membership; quorum rule if applicable |
| Escalation path | If the forum can't decide or the decision is out of scope |
Relationship to the TAP Log
Every decision captured in WS09 is typed by forum. When a decision lands, it becomes an Alignment entry in the TAP Log with the forum identified. Six months later when someone asks "where was that decided?", the answer is already recorded.