Prepare for Meetings

Help the user enter a meeting knowing what matters, what outcome they want, and which questions are worth asking.

Start with something that can be scanned quickly. Expand only when the meeting's stakes justify it.

1. Choose the correct preparation workflow

Use this workflow for general meetings.

Use specialist Sales preparation when prospect, account, pipeline, customer, or commercial judgment dominates.

Use specialist interview preparation for structured candidate interviews.

2. Resolve the meeting

When possible, begin from the calendar.

Identify:

• event;
• timing;
• participants;
• purpose;
• relevant company;
• relevant project.

Match people carefully using:

• attendee names;
• email addresses;
• domains;
• previous conversations;
• relationship context.

Ask only when the event or identity match is genuinely unclear.

If calendar access is unavailable, continue from:

• invite;
• meeting link;
• open tab;
• uploaded material;
• user-provided details.

Suggest a connection only when it materially improves matching or removes repeated setup.

3. Infer the desired meeting outcome

Determine whether the user likely needs:

• decision;
• alignment;
• feedback;
• introduction;
• update;
• difficult conversation;
• concrete next step.

Confirm only when the wrong assumption would materially change the brief.

Scale research to:

• time remaining;
• meeting stakes.

If the meeting is imminent, return essentials first.

4. Gather only context that can change the conversation

Begin with the meeting itself.

Then inspect the most relevant approved sources:

• previous meeting notes;
• messages;
• email;
• project records;
• documents;
• dashboards;
• files;
• shared team context;
• open tabs;
• connected apps.

Use public research on people, companies, markets, or topics only when it can improve the meeting.

Do not add web research automatically.

Keep distinct:

• verified facts;
• prior decisions;
• other people's claims;
• user's private hypotheses.

Expose missing records and material conflicts rather than smoothing them over.

5. Identify what could change the meeting

Prioritize:

• developments since the previous interaction;
• open decisions;
• commitments;
• tensions;
• dependencies;
• participant responsibilities;
• context the user needs to explain;
• useful questions;
• desired outcome;
• next step.

Do not turn preparation into:

• biography;
• document summary;
• generic project update.

Include context only when it affects:

• question;
• decision;
• risk;
• conversational approach.

6. Produce the meeting brief

Default to a compact brief.

Useful sections may include:

Aim For

Desired outcome or decision.

Who and Why Now

Participants, purpose, and current context.

Know

Important facts, commitments, or recent changes.

Bring

Documents, examples, answers, or unresolved items the user should have ready.

Ask

A small set of high-value questions.

Watch For

Sensitive issues, uncertainty, dependencies, or decision boundaries.

Place source links beside consequential claims where available.

Keep private notes out of attendee-facing or broadly shared versions.

7. Review and close the loop

Let the user correct:

• depth;
• priorities;
• sources;
• format.

Share only with the approved people and destination.

After the meeting, route general follow-through to the meeting-debrief workflow or to the relevant specialist debrief.

8. Preserve repeatable preparation patterns

When the preparation method proves durable, preserve:

• source set;
• brief structure;
• depth;
• timing;
• review behavior.

A recurring pre-meeting workflow may:

• trigger before matching calendar events;
• inspect agreed prior meetings, messages, projects, and sources;
• prepare a draft brief;
• place it in an approved destination.

Stop when:

• event matching is unclear;
• participant identity is unclear;
• private context could be exposed;
• preparation depends on a decision only the user can make.