Restflow.io

## Introduction

Managing meeting notes efficiently is crucial for startup teams, automation engineers, and operations specialists. Asana’s Meeting Notes feature allows users to sync meeting summaries directly into their task boards for streamlined project management. However, this functionality comes with a cost, often embedded within Asana’s premium plans. If you want to reduce SaaS expenses and maintain control over your data, building a custom automation with n8n to replicate this workflow is a powerful alternative.

This tutorial will walk you through creating a fully automated workflow that captures meeting notes (from Google Docs or another note-taking app) and syncs them directly as tasks into a task management tool like Trello or Notion. This workflow replicates the core value of Asana’s Meeting Notes integration, delivering the same productivity gains without licensing fees.

## Problem Statement and Benefits

**Problem:** Startup teams and operations specialists commonly capture meeting notes but face friction transferring them manually to task boards for tracking and accountability. Asana automates this, but its premium pricing can be prohibitive.

**Benefit:** This n8n automation workflow enables seamless syncing of meeting notes into task boards automatically, saving time, reducing errors, and cutting down on subscription costs. It empowers technical teams to maintain clean, updated project boards without dual data entry or manual workflows.

## Tools and Services Integrated
– **n8n:** The orchestration and automation platform.
– **Google Docs:** Source of meeting notes (you can adapt to other sources like Evernote or OneNote with API).
– **Google Drive:** To access Google Docs metadata and content.
– **Trello:** Example task board where meeting notes will be created as cards.

You can swap Trello with Notion, ClickUp, or any other task management tool with API support.

## Workflow Overview

**Trigger:** Scheduled cron trigger in n8n (e.g., daily or post-meeting)

**Steps:**
1. Search for newly updated meeting notes documents in a specific Google Drive folder.
2. Extract the content of each document.
3. Parse the content (e.g., summarize, extract key points if needed).
4. Create a new task/card in the Trello board with the extracted meeting notes summary.
5. Mark document as processed or move to an archive folder to avoid duplication.

**Output:** New, actionable cards in the task board representing meeting notes ready for tracking and assignment.

## Step-by-Step Technical Tutorial

### 1. Setting Up the Trigger
– Use n8n’s **Cron** node to define the automation schedule.
– For example, run daily at 7:00 AM to sync previous day’s meetings.

### 2. Fetching Meeting Notes from Google Drive
– Add a **Google Drive** node configured with OAuth2 credentials.
– Use the ‘List’ operation to retrieve documents from a dedicated “Meeting Notes” folder.
– Apply filters such as ‘Modified Time’ within the last 24 hours to get only new or updated notes.

### 3. Retrieving Google Docs Content
– For each file retrieved, add a **Google Docs** node.
– Call the ‘Export’ or ‘Get Document’ API to extract the document content in text or HTML format.

### 4. Parsing and Formatting Notes (Optional)
– Use a **Function** node to clean up, format, or summarize the notes.
– For advanced parsing, integrate an NLP API (like OpenAI) to generate concise summaries or extract action items.

Example: extracting bullet points or action items by matching patterns.

### 5. Creating Trello Cards
– Add a **Trello** node with your API credentials.
– Use the ‘Create a Card’ operation.
– Map fields:
– Card name: Meeting title or date
– Description: The formatted meeting notes or summary
– Labels or due dates can be set based on parsing results
– Assign to members if emails/usernames are extracted

### 6. Marking Files as Processed
– To avoid duplication:
– Option 1: Move processed Google Docs to an archive folder using another **Google Drive** node
– Option 2: Add a custom tag or metadata if supported

### 7. Error Handling and Robustness
– Add error workflow paths using n8n’s error triggers to log failures.
– Include retry logic with exponential backoff on API rate limits.
– Validate text extraction to ensure empty docs do not create blank tasks.
– Use environment variables for sensitive info and rate limits.

### 8. Scalability Considerations
– For larger teams or volume of notes, consider incremental sync using stored timestamps.
– Use pagination on Google Drive file retrieval.
– Add batch processing to handle numerous documents efficiently.
– Integrate with additional tools like Slack notifications or email summaries post-sync.

## Common Errors and Tips

– **Authentication Errors:** Ensure OAuth tokens for Google APIs and Trello are valid and refreshed.
– **API Rate Limits:** Google Drive and Trello have rate limits; design workflow to handle 429 status codes.
– **Data Parsing Issues:** Meeting notes vary in format. Create flexible parsing rules and consider standardized note templates.
– **Duplication:** Ensure processed files are marked or moved reliably to prevent duplicate card creation.

## Extending the Workflow
– Integrate with Slack or Microsoft Teams to notify teams when new meeting notes are available.
– Use AI summarization to extract action items automatically and assign tasks.
– Connect to Calendars (Google Calendar or Outlook) to trigger sync immediately after meetings.
– Support multi-source notes, e.g., extracting notes from Evernote or OneNote by adding corresponding nodes.

## Summary

Using n8n to automate syncing meeting notes into your task board replicates and replaces Asana’s Meeting Notes feature effectively at a fraction of the cost. This workflow frees your team from manual data entry, ensures accountability, and retains flexibility with open automation tools. By customizing the nodes and triggers, you can scale this integration across your organization for any volume of meeting documentation.

## Bonus Tip

To enrich your task cards, add a dynamic link back to the original Google Doc in the Trello card description. This preserves context and enables quick reference to detailed notes if needed. This is as simple as mapping the document’s Google Drive URL during card creation.

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Empowered with this guide, your startup or operations team can fully automate a pivotal workflow previously locked behind SaaS subscriptions—unlock productivity, save costs, and maintain control.