Meeting autopsy skills

Meeting Autopsy

That meeting just ended. What was the ONE decision? Who owes WHAT by WHEN?

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When to Use

• Right after a meeting ends (within 5 minutes)
• You have back-to-back calls and can't remember what just happened
• The meeting had lots of discussion but unclear outcomes
• You want to be the person who actually follows through

Trigger: "I just got out of [meeting]" or calendar event ends.

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The Problem

Meetings generate fog:

• Lots of talking
• Vague agreements
• "We should..." without "Who will..."
• Everyone leaves with a different understanding

1 week later: "Wait, I thought YOU were doing that?"

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The 2-Minute Autopsy

Do this immediately. Not after your next meeting. NOW.

Question 1: What was decided? (30 seconds)

"What is ONE thing that is now different because of this meeting?"

If nothing is different → the meeting was information-sharing (fine) or a waste (less fine).

Format: "[Thing] is now [decided/approved/killed/changed]"

Examples:

• "Launch date is now April 15"
• "We're NOT doing the rebrand"
• "Budget is approved for Phase 2"
• "Nothing was decided" (valid answer — but note it)

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Question 2: Who owes what by when? (60 seconds)

List every action item with:

WHO	WHAT	BY WHEN
Name	Specific deliverable	Date/time

Rules:

• "The team" is not a WHO. One person owns it.
• "Soon" is not a WHEN. Get a date.
• "Look into" is not a WHAT. What's the deliverable?

If unclear:

"This action item doesn't have a clear owner or deadline. Flag it in your follow-up or claim it yourself."

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Question 3: What's the next interaction? (15 seconds)

• When do we meet again?
• Who's sending the summary?
• What triggers the next step?

If there's no next interaction defined → the project might stall.

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Question 4: What was unsaid? (15 seconds, optional)

"Was there tension, disagreement, or something avoided?"

Sometimes the real outcome of a meeting is what DIDN'T get said:

• Someone disagreed but didn't speak up
• A risk was glossed over
• Political dynamics affected the decision

Note it for context. Don't action it yet.

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The Output

Generate a quick summary you can paste or send:

## [Meeting Name] — [Date]

**Decision:** [One sentence]

**Action Items:**
- [ ] @Person: Thing (by Date)
- [ ] @Person: Thing (by Date)

**Next:** [Next meeting or trigger]

**Notes:** [Optional — unsaid dynamics, context]

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Send or Don't Send?

Send if:

• Others need the clarity
• You want to establish yourself as the organized one
• There's ambiguity that needs to be locked down

Don't send if:

• It's just for your records
• Someone else is already doing meeting notes
• The meeting was truly informal

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Patterns to Watch

The decision that wasn't

Everyone nodded but no one actually agreed. Look for: "I think we're aligned?" (that's a question, not a decision)

The orphaned action item

"Someone should..." = no one will. If it matters, claim it or assign it.

The phantom deadline

"Let's try to get this done soon" = never. Push for a date.

The meeting about the meeting

If the main outcome is scheduling another meeting, flag it. This might be a process problem.

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Speed Mode (30 seconds)

If you're truly rushing:

1. Decision: [One thing, or "none"]
2. My action items: [Just yours]
3. Next: [When we reconnect]

That's it. Better than nothing.

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Output

By end of autopsy:

1. The ONE decision (or acknowledgment there wasn't one)
2. Action items with WHO/WHAT/WHEN
3. Next interaction defined
4. Optional: unsaid dynamics noted

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For pre-meeting prep, see 5-Min Panic Prep (coming soon) For commitment tracking, see Promise Debt Tracker