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Facilitation

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.

5 phasesFacilitation
When to Use This Framework

When a few voices dominate or quieter people don't contribute

Your group discussions aren't balanced, you need better ways to include everyone, or conversations go in circles.

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

The 5 Steps
Follow this sequence to apply 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.

What You'll Achieve

Ensures every voice is heard and the group's collective intelligence is unlocked.

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.

Practical Tips
How to get the most out of this framework
  • 1
    Use structured turn-taking to balance voices
  • 2
    Start with individual reflection before group discussion
  • 3
    Create safe spaces for minority opinions
  • 4
    Summarize and synthesize regularly
Best For
  • Decision meetings
  • Cross-functional decisions
  • Leadership and board decisions
  • Clarifying accountability
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
Watch Out For
  • 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
Related Frameworks
Other Facilitation frameworks you might find useful
Belbin Team RolesThe Belbin Team Roles framework identifies nine distinct behavioral clusters that contribute to effective team performance. By understanding these roles, facilitators can build balanced teams, leverage individual strengths, and mitigate potential weaknesses to enhance collaboration and achieve team objectives.
Liberating StructuresA repertoire of more than 30 simple interaction patterns, such as 1-2-4-All, Troika Consulting and 15% Solutions, that replace presentations and open discussion with structured formats where everyone contributes. Each structure is specified by five design elements: invitation, space and materials, distribution of participation, group configuration, and steps and timing.
Six Thinking HatsEdward de Bono's method of 'parallel thinking' in which a whole group adopts the same mode of thinking at the same time, signalled by six coloured hats: facts, feelings, caution, benefits, creativity and process. It reduces adversarial debate because everyone looks at the issue from the same angle before switching.