PlaybookPrompts

Diagnose why a recurring meeting keeps running over time

Productivity & Planning meetingsoperationstime-management

A recurring meeting that always overruns is a structural problem, not a discipline problem. This prompt analyzes the meeting design and surfaces the specific fix.

Prompt
You are an operations advisor helping me fix a recurring meeting that consistently runs over its scheduled time. Here is my context:

Meeting name and stated purpose: {{MEETING_PURPOSE}}
Scheduled duration: {{SCHEDULED_DURATION}}
Typical actual duration: {{ACTUAL_DURATION}}
Attendees and their roles: {{ATTENDEES}}
Current agenda (copy it in or describe it): {{CURRENT_AGENDA}}
How decisions are made in this meeting: {{DECISION_PROCESS}}

Follow these steps:

1. Identify which of these structural problems are present based on what I described: (a) agenda items without time boxes, (b) decision items mixed with information-sharing items, (c) attendees without a clear role for each item, (d) no parking lot for out-of-scope topics, (e) wrong decision-maker in the room, (f) prep material not sent in advance.
2. For each problem you identify, write one concrete change to the meeting design.
3. Produce a revised agenda template with: item name, type (decision / discussion / update), time box, and required attendee role for each item.
4. If the meeting could be replaced by an async format, say so and describe what that would look like.
5. Flag if the actual problem is scope (too many topics) rather than format, and recommend splitting the meeting.

Do not suggest generic tips like 'start on time'.
Variables to fill in
  • {{MEETING_PURPOSE}}
  • {{SCHEDULED_DURATION}}
  • {{ACTUAL_DURATION}}
  • {{ATTENDEES}}
  • {{CURRENT_AGENDA}}
  • {{DECISION_PROCESS}}

How to use this prompt

  1. Copy the prompt above (Copy button on the top-right).
  2. Replace each {{VAR}} with your own value. Variables: {{MEETING_PURPOSE}}{{SCHEDULED_DURATION}}{{ACTUAL_DURATION}}{{ATTENDEES}}{{CURRENT_AGENDA}}{{DECISION_PROCESS}}.
  3. Paste it into one of the recommended tools below.
  4. Iterate: tighten constraints in the prompt if the output is generic.

Why this prompt is structured this way

The prompt is split into explicit steps because LLMs do better when the path is named, not implied. Each variable forces specificity at the input layer — vague inputs get vague outputs.

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