01 the business
Accounting firm
8 partners, 120 staff
Partner meetings end with agreement, but actions live in one person's notebook. A month later the same topic returns and nobody is sure what was decided.
02 before
The problem
Leadership meetings end with agreement, but the actions live in one person's notebook. A month later the same topic comes back, nobody is sure what was decided, and follow-up depends on whoever remembers to ask.
- Decisions are not recorded consistently.
- Actions lack owners and dates.
- Topics come back unresolved.
03 the build
What the AI does
- Step 1: Reads the transcript or notes from Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet once the meeting ends.
- Step 2: Picks out decisions and actions, and proposes an owner and due date for each based on what was said.
- Step 3: Creates tasks in Asana, Jira, Monday.com or Microsoft Planner and links each one to a running decision log.
- Step 4: Reminds owners before each due date and asks for a one-line status update.
- Step 5: Prepares an open-actions list for the start of the next meeting, with anything overdue at the top.
paused: waiting for a person to approve
How it was put together
- Read the transcript or notes after each meeting.
- Picked out decisions and actions with proposed owners and dates.
- Created tasks in the project tool and linked them to a decision log.
- Reminded owners before due dates and prepared an open-actions list for the next meeting.
04 human in the loop
Where a person stays in charge
The meeting chair reviews the extracted decisions and owners before any task is created or anyone is notified. Owners can reassign or change dates themselves, and the log records who changed what.
- The chair reviews extracted decisions and owners before tasks are created.
- Owners can reassign or change dates, with changes logged.
- Recording follows each participant's consent.
05 rollout
From kickoff to live in 3 weeks
- Week 1Connect the meeting tool and task tool; agree the log format.
- Weeks 2–3Run for partner meetings with the chair reviewing.
- Week 4Extend to other leadership meetings.
06 after
What changes
Decisions are written down once and can be found later. Meetings open with progress on last week's actions rather than a repeat of last week's discussion, and follow-through no longer depends on one person's memory.
Assume four leadership meetings a month, each producing 8 actions, and 45 minutes to write up and circulate by hand.
4 × 45 minutes = 3 hours a month of note-taking, plus 32 actions a month that now have owners and dates.
What to measure
- Actions completed by their due date.
- Topics revisited without progress.
- Time to circulate actions after a meeting.
- Decision log entries per month.
07 evidence
What the research says
62% of people said they spend too much time searching for information, 68% lack enough uninterrupted focus time, and 55% said next steps at the end of meetings are unclear.
Microsoft, 2023 Work Trend Index: Will AI fix work? (opens in a new tab) · 2023
In a study of 453 professionals doing writing tasks from their own jobs, access to ChatGPT cut the time taken by 40% and raised quality, as rated by evaluators, by 18%.
08 lessons
Mistakes to avoid
- Creating tasks without the chair's check.
- Vague actions. 'Look into it' is not an action.
- Recording without consent.
09 questions
Common questions
- Why does this matter?
- In Microsoft's 2023 survey, 55% of people said next steps at the end of meetings are unclear.
- Which task tools work?
- Asana, Jira, Monday.com, Microsoft Planner and Notion.