# Meeting Notes Skill

This skill structures meeting notes to maximize value and ensure follow-through.

## Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:
- **Meeting title and date**
- **Attendees** (names and roles)
- **Raw notes or transcript** (paste discussion notes, a transcript, or describe what was discussed)
- **Meeting type** (1:1 / sprint planning / product review / stakeholder sync / other) — determines which template to use

## Reads from / Writes to the Brain

If a [`professional-brain`](../professional-brain/SKILL.md) (`brain/`) exists, this is where notes become durable memory:

- **Read first:** the relevant `stakeholders/` files (so you arrive knowing each attendee's
  open asks and concerns) and any `decisions/` the meeting revisits.
- **Write after:** append each **decision** (with its rationale and a `reopen-when`) to
  `decisions/`, add new **asks/concerns** to the right `stakeholders/` file, and flag any new
  **assumption** into `hypotheses/`. Tag every captured fact with its provenance — most meeting
  statements are `[verbal]` until independently confirmed. Save the raw notes to `source/`.

## Standard Meeting Notes Template

### Meeting Header
**Meeting**: [Meeting Title]  
**Date**: [Date]  
**Attendees**: [Names/Roles]  
**Note Taker**: [Name]  
**Duration**: [Actual duration]

### Agenda
- [ ] Topic 1
- [ ] Topic 2
- [ ] Topic 3

*(Check off items as discussed)*

### Decisions Made
Clear documentation of decisions:

**Decision**: [What was decided]  
**Context**: [Why this decision]  
**Owner**: [Who's responsible for executing]  
**Deadline**: [When if applicable]  

Use this format for each decision made.

### Action Items
All action items should be:
- [ ] **[Action item]** - @Owner - Due: [Date]
- [ ] **[Action item]** - @Owner - Due: [Date]

Format:
- Clear, specific action
- Single owner (no "team" ownership)
- Concrete deadline
- Checkbox for tracking

### Discussion Notes
Key points discussed organized by topic:

**Topic 1: [Name]**
- Key point or discussion highlight
- Important context or concern raised
- Any data or information shared

**Topic 2: [Name]**
- Key discussion points
- Decisions or conclusions reached

### Open Questions / Follow-Up
Questions that couldn't be answered:
- **Question**: [What we need to know]
- **Owner**: [Who will find out]
- **By When**: [Deadline]

### Next Steps
Clear summary of what happens next:
1. [Immediate next action]
2. [Follow-up meeting if needed]
3. [Any broader process to start]

## Best Practices

**During the meeting:**
- Focus on decisions and action items over dialogue
- Capture specific commitments, not general discussion
- Note dissenting opinions on important decisions
- Ask for clarity on vague commitments ("I'll look into it" → "I'll analyze the data and share findings by Friday")

**After the meeting:**
- Send notes within 2 hours while fresh
- Tag action item owners (@mention them)
- Include links to relevant documents
- Follow up on overdue action items

**What to capture:**
✅ Decisions made
✅ Action items with owners and deadlines
✅ Key points of discussion
✅ Open questions
✅ Next steps

**What to skip:**
❌ Verbatim transcripts
❌ Off-topic tangents
❌ Preliminary discussion before decisions
❌ Redundant information

## Meeting Types & Adaptations

### 1:1 Meetings
Focus on:
- Career development discussions
- Feedback (both directions)
- Current challenges
- Action items for both parties

Template additions:
- **Recent Wins**: What's going well
- **Challenges**: What's not going well
- **Career Discussion**: Development topics
- **Feedback**: For both parties

### Sprint Planning
Focus on:
- Story acceptance criteria
- Sizing/estimation decisions
- Dependency identification
- Sprint commitment

Template additions:
- **Sprint Goal**: What we're committing to
- **Story Points**: Capacity and estimates
- **Dependencies**: External blockers
- **Definition of Done**: Acceptance criteria

### Product Reviews
Focus on:
- Design decisions
- User feedback discussed
- Changes requested
- Launch readiness assessment

Template additions:
- **Design Decisions**: What was approved/rejected
- **User Feedback**: Key insights discussed
- **Open Design Questions**: What needs iteration
- **Launch Criteria**: Remaining requirements

### Stakeholder Sync
Focus on:
- Status updates delivered
- Concerns raised
- Approvals given
- Escalation needs

Template additions:
- **Status Overview**: High-level progress
- **Approvals Obtained**: Sign-offs received
- **Escalations**: Issues raised to stakeholders
- **Next Sync**: When and what to cover

## Example Meeting Notes

```
# Product Roadmap Review - Q1 2026
**Date**: January 20, 2026  
**Attendees**: Sarah (CPO), Mike (Eng Lead), Jennifer (Design), Tom (PM)  
**Note Taker**: Tom  
**Duration**: 45 minutes

## Agenda
- [x] Review Q1 planned features
- [x] Discuss resource constraints
- [x] Prioritization discussion
- [x] Timeline alignment

## Decisions Made

**Decision**: Move multi-channel dashboard to Q2, prioritize mobile app improvements for Q1  
**Context**: Customer feedback shows mobile experience is significantly impacting retention (65% of users primarily mobile). Engineering team can only tackle one major initiative this quarter.  
**Owner**: Tom (PM) to communicate to stakeholders  
**Deadline**: January 22

**Decision**: Allocate 20% of engineering time to technical debt  
**Context**: Accumulated tech debt is slowing feature development. Team velocity dropped 30% last quarter.  
**Owner**: Mike (Eng Lead) to create tech debt backlog  
**Deadline**: January 27

**Decision**: Run mobile beta with 100 users before full launch
**Context**: Need to validate improvements on diverse devices
**Owner**: Jennifer (Design) to coordinate with QA
**Deadline**: February 10

## Action Items
- [ ] **Update Q1 roadmap deck with new prioritization** - @Tom - Due: Jan 22
- [ ] **Schedule alignment meeting with support team about dashboard delay** - @Tom - Due: Jan 24
- [ ] **Create tech debt prioritization rubric** - @Mike - Due: Jan 27
- [ ] **Run user testing on mobile designs** - @Jennifer - Due: Feb 3
- [ ] **Document decision rationale for executives** - @Sarah - Due: Jan 23
- [ ] **Identify 100 beta users for mobile** - @Tom - Due: Feb 1

## Discussion Notes

**Q1 Feature Prioritization**
- Customer retention is #1 company priority this quarter
- Mobile app NPS score is 6.2 (vs 8.1 for web)
- Mobile accounts for 65% of daily active users
- Multi-channel dashboard would take 8 engineering weeks
- Mobile improvements estimated at 6 engineering weeks with higher ROI
- Sales has 3 enterprise deals waiting on dashboard feature

**Resource Constraints**
- Currently 4 engineers available (down from 6 last quarter due to attrition)
- Design team can support both initiatives but at reduced capacity
- QA team needs 2 weeks for thorough testing on mobile
- One engineer on loan to security team through February

**Risk Discussion**
- Delaying dashboard may impact enterprise sales (3 deals waiting)
- Sarah noted: "We can position mobile improvements as foundation for enterprise features"
- Mike raised concern about mobile tech stack stability - addressed through tech debt allocation
- Need to communicate clearly with Sales about timeline change

**Mobile Implementation Plan**
- Week 1-2: Design refinements based on user feedback
- Week 3-4: Engineering implementation
- Week 5: Internal testing
- Week 6: Beta with 100 users
- Week 7: Full rollout

## Open Questions
- **Question**: What's the impact on enterprise pipeline if we delay dashboard?  
  **Owner**: Sarah will check with Sales leadership  
  **By When**: January 23

- **Question**: Can we do a limited beta of dashboard for enterprise customers?  
  **Owner**: Tom will explore MVP scope with Mike  
  **By When**: January 25

- **Question**: What's our plan if mobile improvements don't hit target metrics?
  **Owner**: Tom will create contingency plan
  **By When**: January 27

## Next Steps
1. Tom to send updated roadmap to leadership by EOD Wednesday (Jan 22)
2. Team to begin sprint planning for mobile improvements next Monday (Jan 27)
3. Follow-up meeting on Feb 1 to review progress and validate prioritization
4. Sarah to present decision rationale to executive team on Jan 24

---

**Next Meeting**: February 1, 2026 - Progress Check-in
**Notes Sent**: January 20, 2026 5:30 PM
```

## Quality Checks

- [ ] Every action item has a single named owner (not "team")
- [ ] Every action item has a concrete deadline
- [ ] Decisions include context (why the decision was made)
- [ ] Open questions have an owner and a "by when"
- [ ] No verbatim transcripts — synthesis only

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not assign action items to "the team" or "everyone" — every action item must have exactly one named owner or it will not be completed
- [ ] Do not capture verbatim transcript content — meeting notes record decisions and commitments, not the full conversational path to get there
- [ ] Do not omit the context for decisions — a decision without its rationale is useless when someone asks "why did we do that?" six months later
- [ ] Do not leave open questions without an owner and deadline — an unanswered question with no follow-up assigned is a blocked decision
- [ ] Do not delay sending notes beyond 2 hours after the meeting — notes sent the next day miss the window when action item owners can act on commitments while fresh

## Notes Distribution

**Subject Line Format**: "[Meeting Type] Notes - [Date] - [Key Topic]"

Example: "Product Roadmap Review Notes - Jan 20 - Q1 Prioritization"

**Recipients**:
- All attendees
- Anyone mentioned in action items
- Anyone who requested notes

**Follow-Up**:
- Send reminder 3 days before action item due dates
- Weekly summary of all open action items
- Mark action items as complete and share updates
