Lesson 4 of 7 in Run an Agency or Multi-Client Practice
Why this matters
Open decisions and unrecorded outcomes are the two most common ways a client plan goes stale without anyone noticing. A decision left open means the plan cannot change direction; an outcome left blank means Measure and Learn have nothing to work from, so the next plan is built on gaps. For an operator both are also reporting risk: you cannot tell a client what worked if the result was never recorded. Clear them before you change anything else in the plan.
When to use it
Weekly, for every client in the attention queue, and always before you edit, reassess, or replace a client's plan.
Before you start
- The client is active in the switcher, or you arrived from its card in the Agency attention queue.
- A role that can edit client data (Editor, Manager, or owner). Viewers cannot decide or record results.
- The actual number for each result you will record, and where you got it, so you can stand behind it with the client.
Do this
- 1Open the client's Marketing Plan. A card in the attention queue opens it with the right panel already in focus.
- 2Read the Decision Inbox ("Nothing changes until you decide."). It shows how many decisions are needed and up to three at a time. Compare Current with Suggested, then choose Accept, Snooze, or Dismiss. Research suggestions offer Apply or Dismiss.
- 3Open the Log a task outcome panel ("Choose a completed task to review or record its result.") and open each completed task it lists.
- 4For a manual task showing "Task completed. Result still needed.", click "Add Result" and enter the actual value. The source comes from the task's measurement contract and the date is stamped when you save. If you do not have a trustworthy number yet, leave it pending rather than estimating.
- 5For an integration-backed task showing "Task completed. Measurement pending.", leave it until its window closes. It counts toward the client's missing outcomes until it is measured, so it is not work you can finish today.
- 6Only then consider plan changes. Check past calls under Command Center → Decisions (DECISION MEMORY) so you do not reopen a decision the client already settled.
What you should see
The Decision Inbox shows fewer items, or reads "No decisions need action right now." Each completed task carries a recorded result with its source, or a pending state that says what is still missing. On the Clients page, the client's decision and outcome counts fall after the next daily snapshot, not the moment you save.
How to judge it
Every completed task with a target for this client has a recorded result from an appropriate source or an honest pending state, and every open decision was accepted, dismissed, or snoozed for a reason you can state.
What it does not mean
Clearing the queue does not mean inventing results to make a count drop. Inconclusive and pending are real answers; a guessed number misleads both the next plan and the client (see Record manual results safely). Accepting a decision just to empty the inbox is not a decision either. If you would not defend it to the client, snooze it.
Try it in Signal & Science
Open Clients, choose a client from the attention queue, and resolve its open decisions and missing outcomes on its Marketing Plan.
Open in Signal & Science