Meetings & notes21 categories
Decline or shrink a meeting politely
An invite arrives that should be 15 minutes, three people, or an email.
Help me respond to this meeting invitation. 1. Judge what the meeting actually needs: my attendance, a shorter slot, fewer people, or no meeting at all. Give one recommendation, not options. 2. If I should not attend: draft a reply under 50 words that declines, says why in one clause, offers what I will do instead (send input, read the notes, nominate someone), and keeps the goodwill. 3. If it should be shorter or smaller: draft the reply that proposes that, framed around the outcome rather than around my calendar. 4. If it should be async: draft the message suggesting the alternative and the specific format it would take. 5. Tell me honestly if this is one I should just attend. The invitation and my context:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Fewer meetings. Declining, shrinking or replacing a meeting that does not earn the hour.
Related prompts
Replace this meeting with something asyncA recurring meeting that has become a status ritual nobody defends.Does this meeting need to happen?An invite that arrives with a title and no stated outcome.Could this meeting be async?A recurring meeting that has become a status ritual nobody defends.Turn messy notes into decisions and actionsThe default pass on any notes you took while half-listening.Design an agenda that earns the hourBefore sending a calendar invite that would otherwise just have a title.Write a pre-read people will actually readWhen the meeting only works if everyone arrives with the same context.
Keep this one
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