What is a Decision Room?

A Decision Room is a facilitated, scenario-based learning experience in which participants are placed inside a realistic workplace situation and invited to make decisions at key moments as the situation develops.

Rather than simply learning what good practice looks like, participants are challenged to consider:

What would I do here?

Different perspectives and possible consequences are explored before participants reconsider their choices and translate the learning into practical workplace action.

About this Decision Room

Speaking up is an important professional capability — but in practice it is not always easy.

What happens when you:

• see something differently from someone more senior,
• are unsure but hesitate to ask,
• realise that something may have gone wrong,
• need to challenge an assumption, or
• believe an issue should be raised?

At the same time, psychological safety does not remove personal responsibility. Professionals are still expected to prepare properly, deliver quality work, honour commitments, respond to feedback and take ownership when something goes wrong.

This topic places participants inside realistic workplace situations where these two expectations meet.
The central question is:

How do I speak up, challenge well and still own my part?

The detailed scenarios, decision points and tools are introduced during the live experience and are not disclosed in advance.

Why this matters

High-quality professional work depends on people being able to ask questions, clarify uncertainty, raise concerns and present different views.

CA2025's Communication Skills include active listening, confirming understanding and presenting and defending views, while its broader Relational Acumen emphasises effective relationships and communication.

Its Teamwork outcomes also emphasise reliable contribution, communication and responsibility within the wider team.

The developmental challenge is therefore not simply:

“Do I feel safe enough to speak?”

It is also:

“Can I speak constructively, take responsibility and follow through?”

The foundation

The Decision Room is grounded primarily in positive psychology, workplace well-being and relational functioning, supported by coaching and professional capability development.

Key ideas include:

• Psychological safety: People need sufficient interpersonal safety to ask questions, admit uncertainty, raise concerns and offer different perspectives.
• Accountability: Healthy teams also require clarity regarding expectations, standards, responsibility and follow-through.
• Learning orientation: Mistakes, uncertainty and feedback can become opportunities for learning when they can be discussed constructively.
• Self-efficacy and professional confidence: Participants practise using their voice appropriately rather than equating professional confidence with always knowing the answer.
• Positive workplace relationships: Respectful challenge and open communication can strengthen, rather than weaken, professional relationships.
• Coaching-led reflection: Participants are invited to examine assumptions, perspectives and consequences rather than being given simplistic rules for every situation.