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 meeting

Pre-Meeting Voice Template

Record these elements:

1. Meeting Purpose (30 seconds)

   • Why are you meeting?
   • What decision needs to be made?
   • What outcome do you want?

2. Your Priorities (60 seconds)

   • Top 2-3 points you must communicate
   • Questions you need answered
   • Information you need to gather

3. Context & Background (30 seconds)

   • Relevant updates since last meeting
   • Key constraints or considerations
   • Your current position on main topics

Custom Instructions Example:

Format this meeting prep as:
- Meeting objective and desired outcome
- My top 3 priorities to discuss
- Key questions I need answered
- Important context to share

Phase 2: Live Meeting Capture

During the meeting: Use these capture techniques

Quick 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

Pre-Meeting:

• Review previous 1:1 notes for context
• Prepare specific feedback or discussion topics
• Note any team/project updates to share

During Meeting:

• Focus on capturing commitments and development goals
• Record specific examples or situations discussed
• Note emotional context and team dynamics

Follow-up:

• Summarize growth opportunities discussed
• Document any promises or commitments made
• Plan concrete next steps for development items

Team/Project Meetings

Team Meeting System

Pre-Meeting:

• Status updates from your area
• Blockers or issues to raise
• Decisions you need from the team

During Meeting:

• Project milestone updates and timeline changes
• Resource needs and allocation decisions
• Cross-team dependencies and coordination needs

Follow-up:

• Clear ownership for all action items
• Updated project timelines or priorities
• Communication needs for stakeholders not present

Client/External Meetings

Client Meeting Framework

Pre-Meeting:

• Relationship history and previous commitments
• Current project status and any issues
• Specific asks or proposals to present

During Meeting:

• Client feedback and reaction to proposals
• Budget or timeline discussions and constraints
• New requirements or scope changes

Follow-up:

• Formal next steps and proposal requirements
• Timeline commitments made to client
• Internal actions needed to deliver on promises

Strategic/Planning Meetings

Strategic Meeting Approach

Pre-Meeting:

• Key data or insights to contribute
• Your position on major decisions
• Questions about strategic direction

During Meeting:

• Strategic decisions and their reasoning
• Resource allocation and priority changes
• Risks and mitigation strategies discussed

Follow-up:

• 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:

Pattern Tracking

• 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 context

CRM/Notes

Send client meeting summaries to your CRM or contact management system

Project Docs

Add strategic decisions and changes to your project documentation

Calendar

Block time for follow-up actions and add context to future meetings

Automation 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

Zapier (Plus):

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 workflows

  Advanced: Knowledge Management

  Build a searchable database of meeting insights and patterns