Facilitation · 15-minute role mapping before a 60-minute decision meeting

RAPID Decision Roles (Bain)

Bain & Company's tool for making clear who plays which role in an important decision. Naming the recommender, the people giving input, any sign-offs, the single decider and the people who carry it out removes the confusion that stalls decisions in meetings.

When to use RAPID Decision Roles (Bain)

Decision meetings where it is unclear who decides, or where decisions keep being reopened; cross-functional or board decisions.

How RAPID Decision Roles (Bain) works

Before or at the start of a decision meeting, name who holds each role; then order the agenda as proposal, input round, sign-off check, decision and handover to those who perform.

Phases of RAPID Decision Roles (Bain)

  1. Recommend: One person leads the work: gathers facts and views and puts a proposal forward.
  2. Input: Experts and those affected share information and opinions that shape the recommendation; they advise but do not vote.
  3. Agree: The few people with a formal sign-off, such as legal or compliance, confirm the proposal can proceed or send it back with an alternative.
  4. Decide: One person makes the final call and commits the organisation.
  5. Perform: The people who carry out the decision take it into action.

Key principles

  • One decider per decision
  • One recommender drives the process
  • Input is heard, not voted
  • Use the Agree role sparingly
  • Roles are not a strict sequence

Best for

  • Decision meetings
  • Cross-functional decisions
  • Leadership and board decisions
  • Clarifying accountability

Considerations

  • RAPID is a registered trademark of Bain & Company; describe it without branding materials as Bain's
  • Too many Agree roles bring back the gridlock it is meant to fix
  • Teams tend to focus on the D and neglect the other roles

Attribution & sources

Developed by Bain & Company (Paul Rogers and Marcia Blenko), 2006

Primary source

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