📝 Essential Workflows
Meeting Notes System
Never enter a meeting unprepared or leave without clear action items
Meeting Notes System
⏱️ 3-15 minutes setup • 📊 Beginner • 🆓 Free Transform chaotic meetings into productive sessions with clear preparation, active capture, and immediate follow-up. This system works for everything from 1:1s to board meetings.Quick Start: The 3-Step Meeting Flow
Perfect for any meeting type:1
Pre-Meeting Prep (2 minutes)
Record your priorities, questions, and key points before joining
2
Live Capture (During meeting)
Use Cleft to capture decisions, action items, and key insights as they happen
3
Immediate Follow-up (2 minutes)
Record action items and next steps while they’re fresh in your mind
The Complete Meeting System
Phase 1: Pre-Meeting Preparation
When: 5-10 minutes before any important meetingPre-Meeting Voice Template
Pre-Meeting Voice Template
Record these elements:
-
Meeting Purpose (30 seconds)
- Why are you meeting?
- What decision needs to be made?
- What outcome do you want?
-
Your Priorities (60 seconds)
- Top 2-3 points you must communicate
- Questions you need answered
- Information you need to gather
-
Context & Background (30 seconds)
- Relevant updates since last meeting
- Key constraints or considerations
- Your current position on main topics
Phase 2: Live Meeting Capture
During the meeting: Use these capture techniquesQuick Captures
30-second bursts for:- Key decisions made
- Action items with owners
- Important insights or quotes
- Questions that come up
Detailed Recording
2-3 minute captures for:- Complex explanations
- Strategic discussions
- Problem-solving sessions
- Detailed feedback
Pro Tip: Don’t try to capture everything live. Focus on decisions, actions, and insights you might forget. You can always ask for clarification later.
Phase 3: Immediate Follow-up
Within 5 minutes of meeting end:1
Action Items Review
Record who’s doing what by when - be specific about deadlines and deliverables
2
Decision Summary
Capture key decisions made and their rationale while they’re fresh
3
Next Steps
Note what needs to happen before the next meeting or interaction
Meeting Type Specializations
1:1 Meetings
1:1 Optimization
1:1 Optimization
Pre-Meeting:
- Review previous 1:1 notes for context
- Prepare specific feedback or discussion topics
- Note any team/project updates to share
- Focus on capturing commitments and development goals
- Record specific examples or situations discussed
- Note emotional context and team dynamics
- Summarize growth opportunities discussed
- Document any promises or commitments made
- Plan concrete next steps for development items
Team/Project Meetings
Team Meeting System
Team Meeting System
Pre-Meeting:
- Status updates from your area
- Blockers or issues to raise
- Decisions you need from the team
- Project milestone updates and timeline changes
- Resource needs and allocation decisions
- Cross-team dependencies and coordination needs
- Clear ownership for all action items
- Updated project timelines or priorities
- Communication needs for stakeholders not present
Client/External Meetings
Client Meeting Framework
Client Meeting Framework
Pre-Meeting:
- Relationship history and previous commitments
- Current project status and any issues
- Specific asks or proposals to present
- Client feedback and reaction to proposals
- Budget or timeline discussions and constraints
- New requirements or scope changes
- Formal next steps and proposal requirements
- Timeline commitments made to client
- Internal actions needed to deliver on promises
Strategic/Planning Meetings
Strategic Meeting Approach
Strategic Meeting Approach
Pre-Meeting:
- Key data or insights to contribute
- Your position on major decisions
- Questions about strategic direction
- Strategic decisions and their reasoning
- Resource allocation and priority changes
- Risks and mitigation strategies discussed
- Strategic direction changes to communicate
- Resource or priority shifts affecting your work
- Follow-up analysis or research needed
Advanced Techniques
The Meeting Stack Method
For back-to-back meeting days:1
Morning Batch Prep
Record 5-minute overview covering all day’s meetings and priorities
2
Transition Captures
30-second brain dump between meetings to clear your head
3
End-of-Day Synthesis
10-minute comprehensive review of all meetings and unified action plan
Meeting Intelligence System
Build a searchable meeting database:- Recurring Issues: What problems keep coming up?
- Decision Patterns: How does your team/company make decisions?
- Communication Styles: How do different stakeholders prefer to work?
Integration Workflows
Export to Your System
Task Management
Export action items to your task manager with proper due dates and contextCRM/Notes
Send client meeting summaries to your CRM or contact management systemProject Docs
Add strategic decisions and changes to your project documentationCalendar
Block time for follow-up actions and add context to future meetingsAutomation Ideas
Apple Shortcuts:- Trigger meeting prep recording based on calendar events
- Automatically export action items to your task manager
- Send meeting summaries to relevant team members
- Create calendar events for follow-up actions
- Add action items to project management tools
- Send summary emails to meeting participants
Common Meeting Challenges
I cannot capture during fast-moving meetings
I cannot capture during fast-moving meetings
- Solution: Focus only on decisions and action items, not discussion
- Tip: Use 15-30 second micro-captures for key points
- Alternative: Do a 5-minute comprehensive recap immediately after
People talk over my recording
People talk over my recording
- Solution: Step away briefly or mute yourself while capturing
- Tip: Use text notes during meeting, voice summary after
- Best Practice: Let people know you’re taking comprehensive notes
I forget to do follow-up
I forget to do follow-up
- Solution: Block 5 minutes immediately after in your calendar
- Tip: Set phone reminder to capture within 10 minutes
- Automation: Use shortcuts to trigger follow-up reminders
My notes are inconsistent across meetings
My notes are inconsistent across meetings
- Solution: Create custom instruction templates for different meeting types
- Tip: Start each capture with meeting type and participants
- System: Use consistent naming conventions and tags
Success Metrics
Track your meeting system effectiveness:- Preparation Quality: Do you feel confident and ready for meetings?
- Action Item Completion: Are you and others following through on commitments?
- Decision Clarity: Is everyone clear on what was decided and why?
-
Meeting Efficiency: Are meetings shorter with better outcomes?
Level Up: Task Management
Convert meeting actions into systematic task workflowsAdvanced: Knowledge Management
Build a searchable database of meeting insights and patterns