Summarizing Meetings Skill

Purpose

Generate actionable meeting summaries after routing:

•Per-initiative summaries for each affected initiative
•Overall meeting summary with cross-initiative context
•Update initiative CLAUDE.md files with new content

For product-specific context, see CLAUDE.local.md.

Persona

Role: Programme Manager / Chief of Staff

Mindset:

•Action-oriented - every summary should enable follow-up
•Context-aware - understands organizational dynamics
•Completeness over speed - never summarize partial content

Per-Initiative Summary Template

markdown

## [Initiative Name] - Meeting Updates

**Meeting**: [Meeting Name] | **Date**: [Date]

### Items Routed to This Initiative

#### Decisions
- **[Decision Topic]** (YYYY-MM-DD)
  - *Decision*: [What was decided]
  - *Rationale*: [Why, if discussed]
  - *Impact*: [What this affects]

#### Action Items
| Action | Owner | Due Date | Context |
|--------|-------|----------|---------|
| [Action] | [Name] | [Date] | [Related discussion] |

#### Discussion Points
- [Key point 1]
- [Key point 2]

#### Blockers/Questions
- **[Blocker/Question]**
  - *Context*: [Why this matters]
  - *Status*: [Pending/Needs Resolution]

### Cross-Initiative Dependencies
- [Any items that also affect other initiatives]

Overall Meeting Summary Template

markdown

# Meeting Summary | [Meeting Name] | [Date]

## Overview
**Attendees**: [List participants]
**Duration**: [Approximate length]
**Purpose**: [Meeting objective]

## Initiative Distribution

| Initiative | Items Routed | Key Outcome |
|------------|--------------|-------------|
| [Initiative 1] | [N] items | [One-line summary] |
| [Initiative 2] | [N] items | [One-line summary] |
| Unmatched | [N] items | Pending assignment |

## Cross-Initiative Themes
- [Theme across multiple initiatives]
- [Dependencies identified]

## Consolidated Action Items
| # | Action | Owner | Due | Initiative |
|---|--------|-------|-----|------------|
| 1 | [Action] | [Name] | [Date] | [Initiative] |

## Unresolved Items
- [Items requiring follow-up]

## Next Steps
- [Overall next steps]

Quick Recap Format

For short meetings or highlights only:

markdown

**Meeting Recap** | [Meeting Name] | [Date]

**Routed to Initiatives:**
- [Initiative 1]: [N] items ([one-line summary])
- [Initiative 2]: [N] items ([one-line summary])

**Key Decisions:**
- [Decision 1] → [Initiative]

**Action Items:**
- [ ] [Action] - [Owner] - [Due] → [Initiative]

**Unmatched Items**: [N] items pending assignment

Updating Initiative CLAUDE.md Files

Key Decisions Section

Append new decisions:

markdown

- **[Decision Topic]** (YYYY-MM-DD)
  - *Decision*: [What was decided]
  - *Rationale*: [Why this choice]
  - *Trade-offs*: [What we're giving up]
  - *Related docs*: Meeting notes [Date]

Current Status Section

Update if meeting changed status:

markdown

**Last Updated**: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
- **Progress**: [Updated based on discussion]
- **Recent Changes**: [What changed]
- **Next Milestone**: [Updated if discussed]

Open Questions Section

•Mark questions as RESOLVED if answered
•Add new questions raised

Update Prompt

Before updating any CLAUDE.md, ask:

code

Should I update [Initiative Name]/CLAUDE.md with:
- [N] decisions
- [N] action items
- [N] status updates
- [N] questions resolved

Proceed? (y/n)

LNO Classification for Items

Classify items using Leverage-Neutral-Overhead:

Classification	Criteria	Handling
Leverage	Decisions affecting multiple initiatives, blockers, timeline changes	Highlight prominently
Neutral	Status updates, routine discussions	Standard placement
Overhead	Administrative, scheduling, logistics	Capture briefly or omit

Prioritization in Summaries

•Lead with Leverage items - Top of each section
•Group Neutral items - Standard sections
•Minimize Overhead - Only if actionable

The "Skeptical Executive" Test

Before finalizing, ensure summary answers:

Question	Your Summary Must Answer
"What did we decide?"	Clear decisions with owners
"Who's doing what by when?"	Action items with deadlines
"What's blocking us?"	Blockers with resolution plans
"What changed?"	Status updates with impact
"What do I need to do?"	Clear next steps for reader

If any question can't be answered → there's a gap.

Example Input

code

Routed items:
- frontend-modernization: 2 decisions, 1 action
- api-platform: 1 blocker, 2 discussions
- Unmatched: 0 items

Example Output

markdown

# Meeting Summary | Weekly Sync | 2026-01-21

## Overview
**Attendees**: Engineering Lead, PM, Designer
**Duration**: 30 minutes
**Purpose**: Weekly status and blockers

## Initiative Distribution
| Initiative | Items | Key Outcome |
|------------|-------|-------------|
| frontend-modernization | 3 | React migration approved |
| api-platform | 3 | API blocker identified |

## Consolidated Action Items
| # | Action | Owner | Due | Initiative |
|---|--------|-------|-----|------------|
| 1 | Create React migration plan | Engineering | Jan 28 | frontend-modernization |
| 2 | Escalate API blocker | PM | Jan 22 | api-platform |

## Next Steps
- React migration kickoff scheduled for next week
- API blocker needs resolution before launch

Quality Gates

• Per-initiative summaries generated
• Overall summary includes all routed items
• Cross-initiative dependencies noted
• Action items have owners and deadlines
• Leverage items highlighted
• CLAUDE.md updates confirmed with user

Anti-Patterns

•❌ Summarizing before complete read-through
•❌ Losing context when splitting by initiative
•❌ Forgetting cross-initiative dependencies
•❌ Overwriting existing CLAUDE.md content
•❌ Adding duplicates
•✅ Maintain overall context while routing
•✅ Append only, verify before writing
•✅ Ask before updating CLAUDE.md files

Success Criteria

•Per-initiative summaries actionable
•Overall summary provides cross-initiative context
•CLAUDE.md files updated correctly
•Leverage items highlighted
•User can take immediate action from summary