Manual Minus

Workflow library

Make repetitive work less repetitive.

Three practical, repeatable approaches. Each includes the objective, a simple method and the verification step that matters.

Meeting notesEmailReporting

Workflow 01 · Meetings

Meeting notes → accountable action list

Use when meeting notes are long, scattered or ambiguous.

  1. Paste your notes, with sensitive data removed, into a trusted AI tool.
  2. Ask for a table of decisions, actions, owners, deadlines, blockers and dependencies.
  3. Mark an owner or deadline as Not assigned when the notes do not supply one.
  4. Review conditional decisions and distinguish target dates from decision checkpoints.
  5. Verify each row against the original notes before sharing.
Get the prompt →

Example: A launch stays on October 20 unless a blocker appears by October 10. October 10 is the blocker checkpoint, not the launch date.

Workflow 02 · Email

Long email thread → concise project briefing

Use when conversations contain overlapping updates, requests and dependencies.

  1. Gather the relevant messages and remove personal or confidential details.
  2. Request a summary of confirmed facts, open actions, owners and unanswered questions.
  3. Separate the latest confirmed status from earlier proposals.
  4. Flag missing approvals, dependencies and dates instead of filling them in.
  5. Compare key claims with the original messages before acting.
Get the prompt →

Rule: A person saying “I can handle it” is not automatically a firm commitment with a deadline.

Workflow 03 · Reporting

Weekly report → repeatable quality check

Use when a recurring update combines figures, narrative and outstanding items.

  1. Define the report audience and reporting period first.
  2. Collect the source numbers and note missing inputs.
  3. Draft the narrative using only supplied data.
  4. Verify calculations and every numeric claim against the source.
  5. List what changed, what needs attention and who owns the next step.
Get the checklist →

Never put unverified AI-generated figures into a real report.