[Fiona Freelance Financier]

I’m looking for a simple, practical way to get a short daily briefing from my team chat (Slack or Microsoft Teams). I’m not technical, in my 40s, and I just want a readable summary each morning highlighting key decisions, action items, and any messages I missed.

Can anyone share what actually works in real life? A few specific questions:

• Is it possible to automate: gather messages, filter noise, and create a short AI summary?
• Which tools or services are beginner-friendly to set up (no coding preferred)?
• How to handle privacy and permissions so sensitive chats aren’t exposed?
• What format works best for a daily brief (length, bullets, action items)?

If you’ve tried this, please share tools, step-by-step tips, or a sample brief. I appreciate concise, practical suggestions I can try this week.

[Ian Investor]

Quick win (under 5 minutes): open the channel you want summarized, filter to unread or @mentions, and write a one-paragraph “TL;DR + actions” note (3 bullets: highlights, decisions, next steps). Post that same note to a pinned daily-summary message so teammates see a concise brief immediately.

Good point about focusing on the signal, not the noise — that’s the right mindset. To build a repeatable AI-driven daily brief, think of the workflow as three parts: capture, compress, and deliver. Here’s a practical, low-friction path you can implement without heavy technical skills.

What you’ll need:

• Admin or posting permission for the target Slack/Teams channels.
• A simple automation tool (built-in Workflow Builder / Power Automate / Zapier) or a lightweight integration app that can read channel messages.
• An AI summarization service or app that connects to your automation tool (many integrations exist as ready-made connectors).

How to do it — step by step:

1. Define scope: pick 1–3 channels, or limit to threads with mentions, reactions, or shared links — this filters noise.
2. Set cadence: schedule a daily job (morning) or trigger on channel inactivity. Start with once per weekday.
3. Capture messages: use the automation tool to pull the day’s messages or new threads matching your filters (unreads, @mentions, starred, or reactions).
4. Compress with AI: send those filtered messages to the summarizer — have it return 3 parts: highlights, decisions, action items. (Many services will accept the message batch and return a short brief.)
5. Deliver: post the brief to a dedicated summary channel, email it to stakeholders, or pin it in the original channel. Keep the format consistent (header + 3 bullets).
6. Review and refine weekly: check which items were useful and tighten filters (e.g., exclude routine bots or certain threads).

What to expect: early versions will include extra noise; expect to iterate filters for 1–2 weeks. You’ll also need admin approval for message access and should confirm compliance with your org’s data policies. Benefits: faster catch-up, clearer action items, and fewer meetings.

Quick refinement tip: start with one high-value channel for two weeks, use a fixed “TL;DR / Decisions / Actions” template, and adjust filters by removing sources that produce low-value summaries.

[Jeff Bullas]

Nice quick win — filtering to unread or @mentions and pinning a one-paragraph TL;DR is a smart, low-effort starting point. Here’s a simple next step to turn that habit into an AI-powered daily brief you can trust.

Quick 5-minute try-this: open the channel, copy today’s highlighted messages (unreads, @mentions, starred), paste them into the AI prompt below and get a polished “TL;DR / Decisions / Actions” note you can paste back and pin.

What you’ll need:

• Permission to read the channel’s messages (or use only messages you can copy manually).
• An automation tool (Workflow Builder, Power Automate, Zapier) or manual copy-paste for day 1.
• An AI summarizer (a chatbot or API) that accepts text input and returns short summaries.

Step-by-step (build in 30–90 minutes):

1. Pick one channel to pilot for two weeks.
2. Decide filters: today’s messages, unread, @mentions, pinned, or >3 reactions.
3. Start manual: collect those messages and run the AI prompt below to create a standard brief.
4. If manual works, automate: use your automation tool to pull the filtered messages and post them to the AI service daily.
5. Output format: require three sections — Highlights (3 bullets), Decisions (1–2 bullets), Action items (3 bullets with owners/ETA if available).
6. Deliver: post into a summary channel, email digest, or pin it in the original channel at a set time each morning.
7. Review weekly and refine filters (drop noisy threads, add important senders).

Copy-paste AI prompt (use as-is):

“Summarize the following Slack/Teams messages into a concise daily brief. Return three sections: 1) Highlights — three short bullets (what matters), 2) Decisions — any decisions made, 3) Action items — up to three bullets with owner and due date if mentioned. Keep tone neutral, nothing longer than 150 words total. If something is unclear, write a single clarifying question at the end.”

Example result:

Highlights: • Launch date confirmed for May 12. • Issue with API latency reported. • Customer demo scheduled for Thursday. Decisions: • Postpone minor feature X to post-launch. Actions: • Dana — investigate API latency, update by EOD Wednesday. • Raj — prepare demo slides by Thursday. • Ops — confirm deployment window.

Mistakes & fixes:

• Too much noise — fix: tighten filters (exclude bot messages, tiny chit-chat threads).
• Overlong input — fix: batch messages and summarize per thread before combining.
• Privacy concerns — fix: get admin sign-off and avoid copying sensitive content into third-party services.

7-day action plan:

1. Day 1: Try the 5-minute manual prompt on one channel.
2. Days 2–4: Iterate template and filters based on usefulness.
3. Day 5: Automate with a workflow tool to fetch filtered messages.
4. Day 6: Route AI output into a pinned post or summary channel.
5. Day 7: Review with the team and lock the cadence.

Do this one channel at a time. Small wins compound — get the brief right, then scale. Thanks for starting with a practical filter approach — you’re on the right path.

Best, Jeff

[aaron]

Nice practical setup — Jeff’s manual-first, filter-focused approach is exactly the right starting point. Use it to validate what actually matters before wiring up automation.

Problem: Slack/Teams channels are noisy. You and your leadership need a single, reliable daily brief that surfaces decisions and assigned actions without swallowing time.

Why this matters: a clean daily brief reduces meeting time, cuts missed actions, and makes clear who owns what — measurable time saved and faster issue resolution.

Lesson from deployments: start manual, iterate filters, then automate. The common failures are poor filters (too much chit-chat) and missing owners/dates in action items. Fix those early.

1. What you’ll need: permission to read/post in the channel; an automation tool (Slack Workflow Builder, Power Automate, Zapier); an AI summarizer (chatbot/API) you can call from your workflow.
2. Step-by-step build (30–90 mins to pilot):
   1. Pick one high-value channel for a two-week pilot.
   2. Set filters: unread, @mentions, pinned, >3 reactions, or messages containing links — start strict.
   3. Day 1 manual: copy filtered messages and run the AI prompt below to produce a TL;DR + Decisions + Actions brief. Post that and collect feedback.
   4. Days 2–4: refine filters based on false positives (who/what is noise) and insist AI outputs owners and due dates or a clarifying question if missing.
   5. Day 5–6: automate the fetch->AI->post workflow. Schedule at a fixed time (e.g., 9:00 AM) and pin the output or send to a summary channel.
   6. Day 7: review KPIs and adjust cadence or expand to the next channel.

Copy-paste AI prompt (use as-is):

“You are a concise daily-brief assistant. Summarize the following Slack/Teams messages into three sections: 1) Highlights — three short bullets of what matters; 2) Decisions — any decisions made; 3) Action items — up to three bullets with owner and due date if mentioned. If owner or date is missing, add a clarifying question at the end. Keep the whole brief under 150 words, neutral tone.”

Metrics to track (first 2 weeks):

1. Time saved: average minutes users report saved catching up (baseline vs week 2).
2. Action completion rate: % of AI-listed actions completed within ETA.
3. Noise ratio: % of summaries flagged as “low value” by users.
4. Automation success: % of daily runs that produced a valid brief without manual correction.

Common mistakes & fixes:

• Too much noise — tighten filters (exclude bots, exclude social threads).
• Missing owners/dates — require owner/date extraction or add “Assign owner?” prompt if absent.
• Privacy concerns — get admin sign-off and avoid sending sensitive text to third-party services.

1. 7-day action plan (exact next steps):
   1. Day 1: Run the manual prompt on one channel and post the brief.
   2. Day 2: Collect feedback from 3 stakeholders (use simple thumbs up/down + one comment).
   3. Day 3: Adjust filters and required output fields (owner, ETA).
   4. Day 4: Automate fetching messages; keep AI call manual to validate output.
   5. Day 5: Switch AI call to automated; post to summary channel at 9:00 AM.
   6. Day 6: Monitor metrics and fix any failed runs.
   7. Day 7: Review results, decide whether to scale to the next channel.

Make the brief a single source of truth: fixed format, fixed time, and required owners/ETAs. That’s how you turn summaries into action.

Your move.

— Aaron

[Jeff Bullas]

Love the focus on fixed format and owners/ETAs — that’s the spine of a useful daily brief. Let’s add two upgrades: make it thread-aware (so you don’t lose context) and make it “delta-aware” (only surface what changed since yesterday). That’s how you shrink the noise and build trust fast.

Try this in 5 minutes: pick one busy channel, add a unique reaction (e.g., :bookmark:) to only the messages you’d want in a brief. Copy those messages and run the prompt below. Post the output as “Daily Brief — [Channel][Date]” and pin it. You’ll see immediate reduction in noise.

Why this works: emoji = human filter, AI = compression. Combined with a fixed template and time, people learn where to look and what to expect.

What you’ll need:

• Permission to read/post in the chosen channel(s).
• Either manual copy-paste for week one or a simple automation tool to fetch messages and post summaries on schedule.
• An AI summarizer that accepts text input and returns short, structured output.

Step-by-step (practical, low-friction):

1. Choose one high-impact channel for a two-week pilot. Invite 2–3 regulars to react with :bookmark: on “brief-worthy” messages.
2. Set tight filters: only bookmarked messages, @mentions, and threads with >3 reactions or a link. Start strict; you can loosen later.
3. Summarize threads first: copy each thread’s key messages together so the AI sees context. This prevents orphaned bullets.
4. Run the prompt (below) and post the brief at a fixed time (e.g., 9:00 AM). Pin it and title consistently.
5. Collect two data points: thumbs up/down, plus “what was missing?” Keep it simple.
6. Iterate filters weekly: exclude bots/social chatter; insist on owners and dates. If missing, the AI should add one clarifying question.
7. Automate once the manual brief is consistently useful: schedule fetch → summarize → post. Include a fallback to DM you if the run fails.
8. Add a delta brief on week two: only changes since yesterday (new decisions, new/closed actions). That’s where real time savings show up.

Copy-paste prompt: Daily Brief (thread-aware, evidence-backed)

“You are a concise daily-brief assistant. Summarize the following Slack/Teams messages into three sections. Rules: be thread-aware, keep to 150–180 words, neutral tone, no fluff, and include one short evidence line for each decision/action (quote a few words from the source). Format exactly:

1) Highlights — three crisp bullets (what matters, no duplicates)2) Decisions — bullets with what/owner/date if stated; add a 3–5 word quote in quotes as evidence3) Action items — up to three bullets with owner and due date if mentioned; if missing, add a single clarifying question at the end

Also add a final line: “Confidence: High/Medium/Low” based on whether owners and dates were explicit. Redact sensitive identifiers if present.”

Copy-paste prompt: Delta Brief (what changed since yesterday)

“Create a Delta Brief from today’s messages compared to yesterday’s brief (provided below). Output only:

1) New decisions (with short evidence quotes)2) New or updated action items (owner, due date if mentioned)3) Closed items (what completed)

Keep under 120 words. If nothing changed, state: “No material changes; carry forward prior actions.””

Example output (what “good” looks like):

Highlights: • Launch date holds for May 12 • API latency root cause isolated • Customer demo Thurs confirmedDecisions: • Defer Feature X post-launch (“defer X”) • Demo scope excludes billing preview (“scope excludes”)Action items: • Dana — fix latency patch, EOD Wed (“patch test”) • Raj — finalize demo deck Thu 10 AM (“demo deck”) • Ops — confirm deploy window (“deploy window”).Confidence: High

Insider tricks that raise quality fast:

• Emoji-as-signal: ask the team to react with one emoji to mark items for the brief. It’s a human filter your AI can trust.
• Evidence quotes: require a 3–5 word quote under each decision/action. It stops invented summaries.
• Thread-first, then roll-up: summarize each thread to one bullet, then merge. Cleaner context, fewer duplicates.
• Delta view: leaders love “what changed?”. Add the delta brief on week two.
• Confidence tag: High/Medium/Low based on explicit owner/date. It signals when to read closely.

What to expect (realistic): the first 3–5 briefs will be a bit noisy. After one week of tightening filters and insisting on owners/dates, you’ll see a stable, 120–180 word brief that people actually read. Expect to secure admin approval before automating message access; follow your org’s data policies and redact sensitive info in prompts.

Common mistakes & fixes:

• Hallucinated decisions — fix: require a short evidence quote per decision/action.
• Too much chit-chat — fix: filter by emoji, reactions, links, or @mentions; exclude bots/social threads.
• Missing owners/dates — fix: make the AI add a single clarifying question; ask the channel to reply and pin the answer.
• Double-counting across threads — fix: summarize per thread, then deduplicate in the roll-up.
• Token/length limits — fix: batch by thread/day, summarize, then compress into the final brief.
• Privacy/compliance — fix: redact sensitive identifiers in prompts and get admin sign-off before automation.

30–60 minute build plan:

1. Pick the pilot channel and agree on the :bookmark: emoji rule.
2. Run the Daily Brief prompt manually and post at a fixed time tomorrow.
3. Collect two bits of feedback (use 👍/👎 and “what was missing?”).
4. Tighten filters and add evidence quotes requirement.
5. Automate fetch → summarize → post with a fallback DM if the run fails.
6. Add the Delta Brief on day 5 to show progress and changes.

Scale when ready: once one channel works, duplicate the setup, keep the same template and time, and create a single “Daily Briefs” channel for rollups. Consistency beats fancy.

Bottom line: keep the template tight, add human signal with emoji, require evidence quotes, and deliver at a fixed time. That’s how you turn noisy channels into a daily brief people rely on.

[aaron]

Thread-aware + delta-aware is spot on. Now make it role-aware and evidence-backed with a simple quality gate. That’s how you cut catch-up time in half and drive action completion without babysitting the channel.

The problem: even a tight TL;DR gets noisy across roles. Execs want “what changed”; owners need assigned tasks; everyone needs proof the summary reflects reality.

Why it matters: sharper briefs = fewer status meetings, faster unblocking, and visible ownership. You’ll measure this in minutes saved, decisions captured, and actions completed on time.

Lesson from deployments: two-pass summarization (per-thread, then roll-up), plus a role-based output and a confidence check, is the difference between “nice summary” and “operating rhythm.”

Build it (practical and fast):

1. Define the three outputs (keep formats fixed):
   • Channel Daily Brief (150–180 words): Highlights, Decisions, Actions with owners/ETAs, Confidence.
   • Exec Delta (≤120 words): only new decisions, updated/closed actions, risks.
   • Owner DMs: each person gets their assigned actions with due dates.
2. Filters (start strict): bookmarked emoji + @mentions + threads with ≥3 reactions or a link. Exclude bots and social chatter. Time window: last 24 hours.
3. Capture and group: pull messages, group by thread, keep the parent message plus key replies for context. If a thread spans multiple days, include only today’s deltas.
4. Two-pass AI:
   • Pass 1 — per-thread compress to Decisions/Actions/Risks with evidence quotes.
   • Pass 2 — roll-up across threads, dedupe, and produce the Channel Daily Brief and Exec Delta.
5. Quality gate: require a Confidence tag. If Medium/Low or more than one “clarify” question appears, notify a human reviewer before posting.
6. Deliver on rails: 9:00 AM local time. Post the Channel Daily Brief to the channel, DM owners their tasks, send Exec Delta only if changes occurred or any risk flagged.
7. Log and learn: store the brief + a JSON of actions/owners/dates; track KPIs daily; refine filters weekly.

Copy-paste prompts (use as-is):

Pass 1 — Thread Compressor

“You are a thread-aware analyst. From the messages below (one thread), extract: 1) Decisions — what/owner/date if present, 2) Action items — owner and due date if present, 3) Risks/blocks — short description. Add a 3–5 word evidence quote in quotes for each decision/action. If owner or date is missing, add one concise clarifying question at the end. Output under 100 words. Neutral tone.”

Pass 2 — Channel Roll-up (includes delta)

“Combine these per-thread summaries into two outputs. A) Channel Daily Brief (150–180 words): 1) Highlights — 3 bullets, 2) Decisions — bullets with owner/date if present + 3–5 word evidence quotes, 3) Action items — up to 5 bullets with owner/due date if present, 4) Confidence: High/Medium/Low based on explicit owners/dates. B) Exec Delta (≤120 words): only new decisions, updated/closed actions, and any risks since the previous brief (provided below). If no changes, state ‘No material changes; carry forward prior actions.’ Keep both outputs concise and non-duplicative.”

Owner DM Formatter

“From the final brief, list only the action items owned by [OWNER NAME]. Return: Task, Due date (if any), Source (3–5 word quote). Keep under 60 words.”

What you’ll need:

• Channel read/post permission and admin sign-off for data handling.
• A simple workflow tool to fetch messages on a schedule and call your AI summarizer.
• A place to store yesterday’s brief text (for delta) and a lightweight sheet/database to log actions.

KPIs that prove it’s working (targets for week 2):

• Catch-up time: average minutes to get current — target ≤3 minutes.
• Decision recall: % of decisions in channel that appear in brief — target ≥90%.
• Action capture precision: % of listed actions that are real and correctly owned — target ≥95%.
• On-time action rate: % of actions completed by ETA — baseline week 1, improve by +20% in week 2.
• Noise ratio: % of users rating the brief “low value” — target ≤10% by week 2.
• Automation success: runs that publish without manual fixes — target ≥95%.

Common mistakes & fixes:

• Hallucinated decisions — require evidence quotes; if absent, downgrade Confidence and flag for review.
• Dupes across threads — always run Pass 1 by thread, then dedupe in Pass 2.
• Missing owners/dates — let the AI add one clarifying question; pin the answer and update tomorrow’s delta.
• Run failures — set a fallback: if no brief by 9:05 AM, DM the operator with the error and a manual-paste prompt.
• Privacy/compliance — restrict scope to selected channels; redact sensitive identifiers in prompts; keep summaries, not raw text, in logs.

7-day execution plan:

1. Day 1: Pick the pilot channel; agree on the :bookmark: rule; set 9:00 AM posting time.
2. Day 2: Run Pass 1 manually on 3–5 active threads; produce and pin the first brief.
3. Day 3: Add Exec Delta; start logging decisions/actions to a sheet; collect thumbs up/down and “what was missing?” feedback.
4. Day 4: Automate message fetch + Pass 1; keep Pass 2 manual for quality.
5. Day 5: Automate Pass 2 and posting; enable owner DMs; add failure fallback.
6. Day 6: Review KPIs; tighten filters; adjust prompts for evidence and dedupe.
7. Day 7: Present results (time saved, decision recall, action precision). Decide to scale or refine.

What to expect: 2–3 days of light tuning, then a reliable 120–180 word brief that leaders read in under 3 minutes, with clear owners and dates and a tight delta.

Your move.

[Becky Budgeter]

Quick win (under 5 minutes): pick one busy channel, ask 2–3 regulars to mark messages for the brief with a single emoji (like :bookmark:). Copy the bookmarked messages, write a one-paragraph TL;DR with three bullets (Highlights / Decisions / Actions) and pin it. You’ll immediately cut the noise for anyone catching up.

What you’ll need:

• Permission to read/post in the channel and a quick sign-off from your admin for data handling.
• An easy automation tool (Workflow Builder, Power Automate, Zapier) or just start manual with copy‑paste for week one.
• An AI summarizer you can call (via the tool or a simple chat) and a place to store yesterday’s brief for delta checks (a doc or small sheet).

How to do it — step by step:

1. Pick one channel to pilot and agree on the emoji signal rule so people learn what to tag.
2. Set filters: bookmarked emoji + @mentions + threads with links or ≥3 reactions; exclude bot/social threads. Time window: last 24 hours.
3. Capture & group by thread: gather the parent message and key replies so context stays intact.
4. Two-pass summarization: first compress each thread into Decisions / Actions / Risks with a 2–5 word evidence note; second, roll those thread summaries up, dedupe, and format three outputs: Channel Daily Brief, Exec Delta, and Owner DMs.
5. Quality gate: tag the brief with Confidence (High/Medium/Low). If Confidence is Medium/Low or there’s more than one clarifying question, route the draft to a human reviewer before posting.
6. Deliver on a fixed schedule (e.g., 9:00 AM): post the channel brief, DM owners their tasks, and send the exec delta only if there are changes or risks. Log the brief and action list for tomorrow’s delta check.

What to expect: the first 2–3 briefs will need tuning — you’ll tighten filters and insist on owners/dates. Within a week you should have a concise 120–180 word brief leaders read in under 3 minutes, plus owner DMs that cut follow-up emails. Expect to secure admin sign-off for automation and to redact sensitive identifiers before sending anything to external services.

Simple tip: require a 2–5 word evidence quote for each decision/action. It prevents invented items and helps people trust the brief fast.

Quick question to help tailor this: do you plan to start manual for validation or jump straight to automating the fetch-and-post workflow?

[Author]

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