Recording in-person meetings with Granola – Workarounds

Understanding Granola's in-person meeting limitations and how to use it effectively

Granola works best in virtual meetings where it can separate speakers based on audio source. In-person meetings pose a challenge since all voices come through a single microphone, making it hard to tell who's saying what.

Optimal setup for in-person meetings with Granola

1. Use the iPhone app when possible

The iPhone app has better speaker identification for in-person meetings:

• Put your iPhone in the middle of the table

• Make sure everyone is close enough to be heard

• Start the Granola app before the meeting begins

• Create a new note for the meeting

For a team brainstorming session, you might place your iPhone in the center of the conference table so all five team members can be heard clearly.

2. Maximize microphone input quality

When using the Mac version:

• Put your laptop or microphone in a central spot

• Use a good omnidirectional microphone if you have one

• Turn your microphone volume up in system settings

• Test everything before important meetings

For client meetings, a dedicated conference microphone connected to your Mac will work better than your laptop's built-in mic.

3. Help Granola with speaker identification

Since it's hard to identify speakers in person:

• Start your comments with your name: "This is Sarah, I think we should..."

• Identify speakers in your notes: "Alex suggested..."

• Ask participants to say their names before speaking

• Use names often in your manual notes

In a board meeting, the chair could ask everyone to say their name before speaking to help with attribution in the transcript.

Setting up an in-person meeting in Granola

For calendar-based meetings:

1. Connect your calendar to Granola

2. Create a calendar event with all participants

3. Open Granola when the meeting starts

4. Check that transcription is working by looking for the "dancing bars"

5. Take your own notes alongside the automatic ones

For impromptu meetings:

1. Open Granola when an unplanned meeting happens

2. Create a new meeting note

3. Type participants' names if you can

4. Start transcription and make sure it's working

5. Add your own context in notes

If a coworker stops by to discuss a project, you could quickly open Granola, create a note called "Project Discussion with Jamie," and start recording.

Enhancing your notes during in-person meetings

1. Use the live transcript feature

• Click the "dancing bars" to see the transcript in real time

• Check that it's catching everything accurately

• Spot any gaps that need clarification

• Make sure all voices are being picked up

During a negotiation, checking the transcript occasionally helps confirm that important details are being captured.

2. Use the Ask Granola function

Press Command+J during meetings to:

• Get summaries of what you missed: "What did I just miss?"

• Find specific information: "What did Maria say about the budget?"

• Get action items: "List all my tasks so far"

If you step away during a planning meeting, you can use this to catch up without interrupting.

3. Balance manual and automated notes

• Take your own notes on key points

• Use clear formatting

• Identify who's speaking

• Add context that might not be obvious from the transcript

• Note non-verbal cues and reactions

In a client meeting, you might note that "Client seemed unsure about the timeline" even as Granola captures what was said.

Post-meeting optimization

After your meeting:

1. Review and edit enhanced notes

• Use Granola's enhancement feature to clean up your notes

• Check the transcript for accuracy

• Fix speaker attributions if needed

• Add any missing context

• Organize information as you prefer

2. Export and share effectively

• Export notes to platforms your team uses

• Customize the format for different recipients

• Highlight action items and decisions

• Use Granola's sharing feature to distribute notes

3. Use Granola's AI for follow-up tasks

• Draft follow-up emails based on the meeting

• List action items

• Identify questions that weren't answered

• Prepare summaries for people who couldn't attend

After a product meeting, you could ask Granola to "List all feature priorities we discussed" or "Draft an email summarizing our decisions."

Common challenges and solutions

Challenge: Poor audio quality

Solution: Get a good omnidirectional microphone made for meetings. Test where to put it before important meetings.

Challenge: Multiple people speaking at once

Solution: Set rules where only one person speaks at a time. Gently redirect when people talk over each other.

Challenge: Speaker misidentification

Solution: Use a consistent format in your notes to identify speakers. Edit the notes after the meeting to fix attribution errors.

Challenge: Transcription stops unexpectedly

Solution: Keep Granola open and visible during the meeting. Check the "dancing bars" regularly to make sure it's still recording.