Module 8: Meeting Management & Documentation

The Meeting Productivity Crisis

The average Project Manager spends 35-50% of their week in meetings. That's 14-20 hours weekly—nearly half your work week consumed by discussions. Yet most meetings are poorly run: no clear agenda, discussions meander, decisions get lost, and action items are forgotten within 24 hours.

ChatGPT transforms meetings from time sinks into productivity engines. Generate agendas in 2 minutes, capture action items in real-time, and create summaries that ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

📋 1. Creating Effective Meeting Agendas

A great agenda does three things: sets clear objectives, allocates time wisely, and assigns pre-work. Without an agenda, meetings drift and waste time.

The 5-Component Agenda Structure

ChatGPT Agenda Generator Prompt

Generate a focused meeting agenda:

Meeting Title: [Q1 Marketing Campaign Planning]
Duration: [60 minutes]
Attendees: [Product Manager, Marketing Lead, CMO, 2 designers]
Goal: [Finalize campaign messaging, timeline, and budget]

Discussion Topics:
1. [Review campaign theme options (3 finalists)]
2. [Decide on target audience segments]
3. [Set launch timeline and key milestones]
4. [Approve $150K budget allocation]

Decisions Needed:
- [Which campaign theme to pursue]
- [Launch date (March 1 vs March 15)]
- [Budget split between digital/traditional channels]

Pre-Work:
- [Review campaign mockups (sent Monday)]
- [Analyze Q4 campaign performance data]

Create an agenda with:
- Specific time allocation for each topic (add up to 60 min)
- Clear outcomes for each section
- Pre-read assignments
- Decision-making protocol
- Parking lot for off-topic items

Format: Professional, scannable, concise

📝 2. Capturing Action Items in Real-Time

The biggest failure of meetings? Action items that never happen. People leave without clear ownership, deadlines, or accountability. ChatGPT helps you extract and format action items from messy notes.

Action Item Extraction Prompt

Extract action items from these meeting notes:

[Paste your raw meeting notes here—can be messy, incomplete, or unformatted]

Example notes:
"Sarah mentioned we need to finalize the design by Friday. Mike said he'd reach out to the vendor about pricing, hopefully by end of week. Lisa wants to see the budget breakdown before we proceed. Priya said she can start on mockups once we approve the theme—probably early next week. Also need someone to update the project timeline in Asana."

Generate:
1. Clear action items with specific verbs (Review, Finalize, Send, Update, etc.)
2. Owner for each item (even if implied in notes)
3. Deadline (specific date if mentioned, otherwise suggest reasonable timeframe)
4. Priority (High/Medium/Low)

Format as a table for easy tracking.

📄 3. Writing Meeting Summaries People Actually Read

Nobody reads 2-page meeting notes. They need scannable summaries: key decisions, action items, and open questions—nothing more.

Meeting Summary Prompt

Create a concise meeting summary from these notes:

Meeting: [Q1 Marketing Campaign Planning]
Date: [January 23, 2024]
Attendees: [Sarah (PM), Mike (Marketing), Lisa (CMO), Priya & Jake (Design)]

[Paste raw meeting notes or transcript here]

Generate a summary with these sections:
1. **Key Decisions Made** (bullet list with who approved)
2. **Action Items** (table with owner, deadline, priority)
3. **Open Questions** (unresolved issues needing follow-up)
4. **Next Meeting** (if scheduled)

Keep under 300 words. Format for easy scanning (bold, bullets, tables).