Created through generative artificial intelligence (AI), action items link what is supposed to be done with when it was referenced in the conversation, so employees have greater context on what action needs to be taken.
In the earlier parts of this series, we covered how Vocol.ai can enhance collaboration through various workflows. These included translating a transcription, adding comments to these transcripts, tagging teammates, and sharing access with them.
In this article, we will cover action items, which address a very real problem with remote and hybrid work. After all, Zoom fatigue is not only a feeling, but an effect: When colleagues are burnt out from an endless stream of meetings, it is also much harder to become aligned. Although these items may have been discussed over the meeting, people forget what is supposed to be done, and who is in charge of what.
With an endless stream of meetings, people tend to forget what is supposed to be done, and who is in charge of what.
Vocol.ai changes this issue through action items. Created through generative artificial intelligence (AI), action items link what is supposed to be done with when it was referenced in the conversation, so team members have greater context on what action needs to be taken. There are other features that complement this core functionality, such as the ability to assign and re-assign tasks as-needed, set a deadline and urgency level, and even check-off items as they get accomplished.
After a meeting, items often slip through the cracks. An important deliverable will not get done, or a key partner will not be reached out to. The culprit is not that everyone suddenly forgot about these items - it’s because they forgot who was responsible for them. Jane might have thought it was Simon; Simon might have thought it was Jordan; and Jordan might have thought it was Jane.
Companies must do their best to avoid this game of mental hot potato. There should not only be a clear roadmap of tasks after a meeting, but who is responsible for each one. Unfortunately, companies often try to handle this task through meeting minutes. One person will jot down notes as the meeting goes on and detail who is supposed to do what. This system tends to fail, however, because there is no reliable means with which to share and view them. The note-taker could email the meeting minutes, but participants will often skip reading through them for their specific deliverables.
Action items on Vocol.ai is a better way forward after meetings because team members get notifications on what is assigned to them, and if necessary, automated reminders of the upcoming deadline.
Here’s how it works:
Within the Vocol console, you can either record a meeting (by clicking the "Record" button) or upload a meeting recording (by clicking the "Upload" button).
Once uploaded, action items will be auto-generated by AI and assigned to the right collaborator, so long as they have been previously granted access to the file.
You can also manually add action items by selecting the text that you want to add an action item to.
Then, just type in the action item and click “Send.”
Even when teams are aligned on action items and who is responsible for each one, deadlines still get missed. For most businesses, a missed deadline can be catastrophic. It can result in the delay of a product launch or the loss of an important customer.
There are two common issues with deadlines. The first issue is that - while a deadline may have been established - it is overlooked by the team member because it is in a hard to find place, such as buried deep within meeting minutes. The second issue is that no deadline was set in the first place. Leaders simply trusted an item would get done with urgency, but the team member failed to deliver.
While a deadline may have been established during a meeting, it is overlooked by the team member because it is in a hard to find place, such as buried deep within meeting minutes.
Vocol.ai addresses both of these problems. Users have the ability to set a deadline, which is helpfully denoted in Coordinated Universal Time for international teams working across multiple time zones. Now no matter where team members are, they will still know exactly when an item is due, without the confusion of converting times. Users can also turn on reminders, so the team member assigned an action item gets automated reminders about the upcoming due date.
On top of deadlines, Vocol.ai also allows users to set a priority level, choosing from low, normal, high, or urgent. While this feature may seem like a minor one, it can actually make a world of difference for teams, who are not often aligned on the importance of different tasks. Jane may neglect a task that is actually urgent, while Jordan may inadvertently focus on a task that the rest of the team deems low priority. Both underestimating and overestimating the urgency of a given task results in the same problem: Resources are wasted.
In addition to deadlines and priority levels, users can also edit the name of the action item and its description to further emphasize its relative importance.
Here’s how it works:
Upon clicking “Create action item,” you can type in the action item.
You can select a due date on the calendar and set the specific time according to Universal Coordinated Time.
You can then set priority level, choosing between low, normal, high, urgent, or no priority.
Finally, you can input the action details.
Another common problem with projects is on the opposite end of the spectrum: Teams don’t exactly know what has been finished. This lack of tracking can make project management more difficult, and it can also affect motivation: When people do not see progress, they can lose the determination to see a project through.
Vocol.ai enables action items to function like a check-list. As team members complete various items, they can check them off one-by-one. In this way, the entire team can see the momentum building toward the completion of the project and not overlook any loose ends. This ability keeps them on track and motivated as well.
Here’s how it works:
Go to the Action Item panel, and you can tick the box of the item you have accomplished.
When speaking about the pandemic, many journalists, analysts, and thought leaders remark on how it changed the nature of work. This language makes it seem like organizations can only passively accept these seismic shifts.
While the pandemic has certainly popularized remote and hybrid work, we do not need to sit idly by and blindly accept conventions as they are. We can improve how we work remotely through our intelligent selection of tools.
Teams that power their meetings with Vocol.ai will collaborate more efficiently. With action items, they can clarify who is responsible for which tasks, set appropriate deadlines and urgency levels, and even track progress by marking items as complete. In short, with action items, Vocol.ai ensures what gets discussed will get done.
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