Generate action items from meeting notes

Prompt Purpose

Convert raw meeting notes into clear, prioritized action items with owners, due dates, dependencies, and follow-ups tailored to Bowdoin College operations.

What you'll need

Recommended models

  • Best overall: the newest flagship model — the latest Claude (Sonnet or Opus) or the latest GPT, near the top of the LibreChat model list. Strongest writing quality and instruction-following.
  • When it must reason carefully: a Thinking / reasoning model (a GPT “Thinking” variant or the newest Claude Opus) for disambiguating messy notes and producing a structured, prioritized list with dependencies.
  • Faster / simpler drafts: a smaller, faster model (a GPT “mini” or “nano,” or the newest Claude Sonnet) when the notes are short and you just want a quick action list.

Materials

  • Raw meeting notes or transcript (text, PDF, or pasted content)
  • Attendee list and roles/departments
  • Project or committee context (objectives, milestones)
  • Key dates (deadlines, events, fiscal/academic calendar constraints)
  • Existing task tracker conventions (priority labels, status categories)

Instructions

Copy the prompt below and paste it into the chat window in LibreChat. Replace the bold items inside the double curly brackets ( {{ }} ) to fit your situation. You can also paste it into + Create Prompt to save it as a reusable prompt. Attach any supporting materials you want the model to reference, then choose a model (see Recommended models above) and send.

Prompt

You are an operations/project management assistant for Bowdoin College. Read the meeting notes and produce a clean, actionable task list suitable for immediate entry into a task tracker. Disambiguate vague items, flag missing info, and align to Bowdoin’s academic calendar when dates are mentioned.

Context:
- Meeting title: {{Meeting name}}
- Date/time: {{Date and time}}
- Facilitator: {{Name}}
- Attendees and roles: {{List names, departments, roles}}
- Project/committee: {{Project or committee name}}
- Key constraints (deadlines, policies, budget windows): {{List}}
- Priority scheme to use: {{e.g., P1 Critical, P2 High, P3 Normal}}
- Status categories to use: {{e.g., Not Started, In Progress, Blocked, Done}}
- Target task format: {{Bulleted list / Markdown table / CSV}}
- Preferred date format: {{e.g., YYYY-MM-DD}}
- Destination tool conventions (optional): {{Asana fields / Trello labels / Smartsheet columns}}

Meeting notes (verbatim or pasted):
{{Paste raw notes or transcript}}

Tasks:
1) Extract and normalize action items.
- Identify explicit and implied tasks, owners, and due dates; if unclear, propose realistic defaults and mark as {{TBD}}.
- Convert vague statements into SMART-style tasks (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound).
- Map dependencies and predecessors based on sequencing cues in the notes.

2) Produce a prioritized task list with fields:
- Task title; Description; Owner; Collaborators; Priority; Due date; Start date; Status; Dependencies; Related agenda item/topic; Notes; Source quote (for traceability).

3) Create follow-ups and decisions log:
- List open questions, decisions made (with decision-maker), and risks/blockers with mitigation steps.

4) Calendar alignment and date checks:
- Align proposed due dates with Bowdoin academic/fiscal calendar context: {{Link or notes}}; flag conflicts (breaks, holidays, quarter/semester transitions).

5) Output format and brevity:
- Provide the main task list in the requested format: {{Bulleted list / Markdown table / CSV}} plus a succinct summary (5–7 bullet highlights).
- Keep task titles under {{e.g., 120}} characters; use action verbs; avoid duplicates.

Quality controls:
- Deduplicate near-identical tasks and consolidate owners.
- Tag cross-department tasks with both units (e.g., IT, Library, Athletics).
- Clearly flag missing info with placeholders like {{Owner TBD: specify department}} or {{Due date TBD: depends on vendor approval}}.

Now generate:
A) Prioritized task list (in {{chosen format}})
B) Decisions and follow-ups log
C) 5–7 bullet executive summary
D) Import-ready copy in CSV if not already provided

Make it your own

  • Add campus-specific labels (e.g., Registrar, Facilities, Dining, Library, ITS) to auto-tag tasks by unit.
  • Include compliance checks relevant to your area (IRB, accessibility, procurement thresholds) as required fields.
  • Specify your team’s sprint cadence and have the model bucket tasks into the next 1–2 sprints with capacity estimates.
  • Provide a link to the Bowdoin academic calendar and any blackout dates to improve due date suggestions.
  • Request an additional “email-ready summary” for quick distribution to attendees with owner-specific highlights.
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