Action items have a higher chance of getting done the first time if it’s clear what to do and it has a single owner.

A lot of our meetings produce things to do afterwards, and whether you’re [writing meeting notes by hand](/content/newsletter/touch-typing-still-a-skill-worth-learning/index.html) or relying on AI to summarize for you, those action items are critical to maintain progress.

An action item might be a single task or need to be broken down into multiple actions by the person that is responsible for it.

I like to use this format: {{ Person’s first name }} to {{ verb }} {{ concise context }} by {{ date }}

Here are some examples:

1. Angela to react to current state data architecture by Tuesday 8/20 EOD  
2. Brooks to send proposal for discovery & design intensive by Friday 8/23 EOD  
3. Carl to build user interface to manage household relationships by Friday 9/6 EOD

Did you notice how each of those is increasingly more work bundled in the action item?

1. Angela has a single task that might take an hour to half a day for this work  
2. Brooks might have multiple tasks to write the proposal, compile pricing, get it reviewed by someone, and finally send it; this could be 1 to 4 tasks  
3. Carl likely has several tasks here to build layouts, add interactivity, and receive/send data to a backend server

Be mindful that people may not be able to commit to a date on the spot. If that’s the case, ask when they’re able to and follow up with them if necessary.

**TLDR:** Capture action items with a format that makes it clear who will do what, and ideally by when.