DECA Team Decision Making: how to split the work with your partner (2026-27)

In DECA's Team Decision Making events, you face the judge with a partner. That sounds like an advantage, and it is, but only if the two of you have agreed ahead of time who reads what, who says what and who answers which question. Teams that improvise their split tend to repeat each other, run out of time or leave an indicator untouched. This guide covers what the 2026-27 rules say about working as a pair and then offers a practical way to divide the work.

What rules shape how a DECA TDM team splits the work?

Everything below comes from DECA's 2026-27 guidelines for Team Decision Making events. These apply to all eight of them: Business Law and Ethics, Buying and Merchandising, Entrepreneurship, Financial Services, Hospitality Services, Marketing Management, Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and Travel and Tourism. Each event gets its own case, but the procedures are the same.

A few more rules matter for teamwork:

• Both partners must take part in the presentation, and each partner should answer at least one of the judge's questions.
• Notes you write during prep can be used while you present. Printed reference materials and audio or visual aids are not allowed. A four-function calculator is allowed during the exam and prep.
• Anything you hand the judge has to be made from the materials provided during prep.
• You won't know the indicators in advance. DECA doesn't announce which ones a case will use.
• The judge asks every team the same standard questions, then may add clarifying questions for your team. The judge won't interrupt your presentation.
• Finalists get a second case, and the exam score carries forward into that round.

For 2026-27, DECA cut the number of indicators in these cases to five. Five tasks still split unevenly between two people, so decide in practice who usually takes three.

What is the judge scoring in Team Decision Making?

DECA's sample Marketing Management case for this season shows the evaluation form. It totals 100 points:

The guidelines name five Career Competencies for these events: critical thinking, communication, decision making, collaboration and innovation. Collaboration is the one that only a team event can show, and you show it through how you hand off, how you build on each other's points and whether both voices carry weight.

Notice what the form doesn't have: a row per partner. The judge scores the team. If one partner covers four indicators brilliantly and the other stumbles through one, the stumble still costs the team. The goal of a split isn't fairness, it's making sure every row gets your best work.

How should you split the 30 minutes of prep?

Thirty minutes goes quickly. A plan you've practiced beats a plan you invent in the room. Here's one way to use the time; adjust the minutes after a few practice rounds.

1. Read alone, in silence (about 5 minutes). Both partners read the full case. Each of you marks the business problem, the goal, any numbers and the five indicators.
2. Agree on the problem and one recommendation (about 5 minutes). Say the problem in one sentence each. If your sentences differ, settle it now. Then choose a single recommendation. Two half-solutions confuse the judge and weaken all three Solution rows.
3. Assign the indicators (about 2 minutes). Divide the five tasks between you (see the next section).
4. Write your parts separately (about 13 minutes). Each partner builds notes for their indicators: a definition or explanation, then how it applies to this business, with specifics.
5. Rehearse the handoffs (about 5 minutes). Walk through the order out loud, quietly: who opens, where each handoff happens and who closes.

Keep one shared page for the recommendation itself, written large, so neither of you drifts from it.

How do you divide the five performance indicators?

With five indicators, one partner takes three and the other takes two. Who gets which?

• Group by topic, not by count. If two indicators deal with pricing, one person should own both. Splitting related ideas forces awkward back-and-forth.
• Play to strengths. The partner who is stronger with numbers takes the financial indicators. The partner who is stronger with people takes customer and employee indicators.
• Balance the speaking time. The partner with two indicators also opens the presentation and delivers the closing summary, so both of you talk for about the same amount of time.
• Know your partner's points. You present your indicators, but you should be able to answer a question on any of them. Read each other's notes during the rehearsal minutes.

A simple structure for the presentation:

Leave time at the end. Questions come only if time remains, and each partner should answer at least one, so a presentation that fills all 15 minutes takes that chance away from you.

How do you hand off so you sound like one team?

Judges notice handoffs. A clean one shows collaboration; a messy one makes the team sound like two separate speeches.

• Name the handoff. "Maya will walk you through how we'd price the new line." It tells the judge what's next and who owns it.
• Connect, don't restart. The next speaker begins with a link: "Building on that pricing, here's how we'd reach the customers it's aimed at."
• No side conversations. You can't whisper during the presentation without it showing. Settle disagreements in prep.
• Stay engaged when you're not speaking. Nod, look at the judge, and be ready to add one sentence if your partner signals for help.

Who answers the judge's questions?

Decide before the presentation how you'll handle questions:

1. The owner answers first. If a question is about an indicator one partner presented, that partner takes it.
2. New topics alternate. For a question that matches neither person's part, take turns, starting with whoever has answered fewer.
3. Add, don't repeat. The second partner may add a short point if it's new. Repeating the first answer wastes time.

In DECA's sample case for this season, the judge asks two standard questions, and at least one goes beyond the indicators, so expect to think on your feet together. Answers can support any row, especially Practical and Effective.

How should partners practice together?

Practice the split, not just the content. Try these:

• Run full timed rounds with a 30-minute prep and a 15-minute presentation, using DECA's sample cases for your event.
• Swap roles every few rounds so each partner can cover any indicator if a case lands in their partner's weak area.
• Score yourselves on the public evaluation form row by row and note which row cost you the most.
• Study for the exam separately but check in. The averaged exam score is part of your result, so both partners need to prepare.

Our guide on how DECA role-plays are scored explains each row of the 2026-27 form, and how to ace a DECA role-play covers the prep routine for solo events.

How can you practice TDM with CompPrep AI?

CompPrep AI's DECA role-play practice includes Team Decision Making with exactly two partners. The AI judge keeps the event's clock, plays its role, saves its follow-up questions for the end and scores the 2026-27 rating sheet. It's a practice estimate, not an official score. Find your event on the DECA events page.