Practice : Architecture Decision Forums

Purpose and Strategic Importance

Architecture Decision Forums provide structured, inclusive spaces for discussing and guiding key technical decisions. These forums bring together engineers, architects, and stakeholders to evaluate trade-offs, align on direction, and create transparency around architectural evolution.

When well-run, they promote collective wisdom, reduce risk, accelerate delivery, and build confidence in strategic technical direction - enabling teams to make better decisions, faster.

Description of the Practice

  • Forums are recurring, structured sessions for raising, reviewing, and resolving architectural questions.
  • Participants include engineers, tech leads, architects, product partners, and sometimes delivery leadership.
  • Discussion inputs include ADRs, proposals, RFCs, proofs of concept, or strategic roadmaps.
  • Forums are collaborative, not gatekeeping - their purpose is alignment, not control.
  • Outcomes are documented, visible, and traceable for future reference.

How to Practise It (Playbook)

1. Getting Started

  • Define the forum scope: what kinds of decisions warrant this forum (e.g. system boundaries, shared libraries, platform choices).
  • Set a regular cadence (e.g. biweekly), with rotating facilitators and a shared agenda doc.
  • Encourage engineers to bring early thinking, not just finished proposals.
  • Record outcomes in ADRs, tech radars, or architecture wikis.

2. Scaling and Maturing

  • Standardise templates for proposals and decision records.
  • Use tools like Miro, Loom, or Confluence to support async input ahead of meetings.
  • Rotate participation to distribute learning and reduce silos.
  • Track decisions over time - what was decided, by whom, and why.
  • Pair forums with spikes or tech evaluations to support data-driven trade-offs.

3. Team Behaviours to Encourage

  • Seek dissenting views early - healthy disagreement leads to better decisions.
  • Focus on context, constraints, and trade-offs - not just preferences.
  • Celebrate learning and adaptation, even if a previous decision changes.
  • Keep the tone respectful, pragmatic, and outcome-focused.

4. Watch Out For…

  • Forums becoming bottlenecks or “architecture review boards” that slow teams down.
  • Lack of clear ownership or accountability for follow-through.
  • Technical jargon dominating inclusive conversation.
  • Decisions made but not documented or revisited.

5. Signals of Success

  • Teams bring architectural decisions proactively, not reactively.
  • Decisions are made collaboratively and recorded transparently.
  • Technical alignment improves across teams without heavy governance.
  • Proposals reflect deep thinking, real-world trade-offs, and shared values.
  • Engineers feel trusted, informed, and involved in architectural direction.