If you’ve ever left a meeting thinking, “Great, but will anyone actually do the things we just talked about?”—this guide is for you. Sembly promises to turn meeting notes into action, but getting those follow-ups out of your head (and your inbox) is where most people get stuck. Here’s how to actually set up automated reminders so your next steps don’t just vanish into the ether.
Who should read this?
If you use Sembly to record, transcribe, or summarize meetings, but your to-dos still slip through the cracks, keep reading. This is for folks who want to close the loop between “sounds good” and “done.” If you’re tired of chasing people (or being chased), automating reminders is worth the time to set up.
Step 1: Make Sure You’re Capturing Action Items in Sembly
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves—Sembly can’t remind you to do things it doesn’t know about. So first, double-check how your meetings are being captured.
- Turn on action item detection. Sembly’s AI tries to pick out tasks, but it’s not magic. If your meeting is rambling or vague, it’ll miss things. Be explicit: “John, can you send the deck by Friday?”
- Review the meeting summary. After the meeting, look for the action items section. If Sembly missed something, add it manually. You can usually edit or add tasks right in the platform.
- Keep it simple. The clearer your language, the better Sembly does. “Update the doc” works better than “Let’s maybe revisit that thing.”
Pro tip: If you’re running the meeting, summarize assignments out loud before you wrap up. This helps both your team and Sembly.
Step 2: Understand What Sembly’s Reminders Can (and Can’t) Do
Before you start fiddling with settings, know what you’re getting:
- Sembly can: Send reminders for action items it’s captured, either by email or through integrations (like Slack or Teams).
- Sembly can’t: Read your mind, chase people who aren’t in your Sembly workspace, or handle complex project management. This is about nudges, not Gantt charts.
What works:
- Reminders for straightforward, well-defined tasks.
- Nudging people who actually use Sembly or are on your connected email/Slack.
What doesn’t:
- Reminders for vague, multi-step, or group tasks (“Everyone please look this over”).
- Chasing people who ignore all notifications. No software can fix that.
Step 3: Set Up Automated Follow Up Reminders
Here’s how to actually set up the reminders, step by step:
1. Check Your Sembly Plan
Not all Sembly plans include automation or advanced integrations. If you’re on the free or basic tier, some features may be limited. Look for “Automated Reminders” or similar in your account settings. If you don’t see it, you might need to upgrade—or ask your admin.
2. Connect Your Calendar and Communication Tools
Reminders work best when Sembly can reach you where you actually work.
- Go to your Sembly profile or settings.
- Link your Google or Outlook calendar.
- Connect Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email (whichever your team uses most).
- Authorize permissions—yes, this can be annoying, but it’s necessary.
3. Enable Action Item Reminders
- In Sembly, find the section for action items or meeting outcomes. Usually, it’s in the summary for each meeting.
- Look for an option like “Remind me” or “Set follow-up.”
- For each action item, assign a due date and (if needed) the responsible person.
- Turn on “reminder notifications”—this is sometimes a toggle, checkbox, or button.
Heads up:
If you skip assigning a due date or owner, reminders may not trigger. Sembly needs something concrete to work with.
4. Choose How and When Reminders Go Out
- Default: Sembly will usually send a reminder on the due date.
- Customize: You can often add a “nudge” a day or two before, or set recurring reminders until the task is marked done.
- Channels: Pick where the reminder lands—email, Slack, Teams, or all three.
Pro tip: Don’t spam people. Too many reminders and they’ll start ignoring them all.
5. Test It Out
Before you roll this out for every meeting:
- Assign yourself a test action item.
- Set a due date for tomorrow.
- Make sure you get the reminder where you expect (inbox, Slack, etc.).
- If you don’t, double-check your connections and notification settings.
Step 4: Integrate With Other Tools (If You Need To)
Sembly plays decently with other productivity apps, but don’t expect flawless, real-time syncing.
- To-do apps: Some integrations (like with Asana or Trello) let you push action items straight into your task list. This can be handy, but check that tasks come over with full context and due dates—not just cryptic one-liners.
- Zapier: If your tool isn’t officially supported, Zapier can bridge the gap, but it takes some tinkering.
- Manual export: Sometimes, copying and pasting is faster and less error-prone. Don’t overcomplicate things.
What to ignore:
Don’t waste time wiring up integrations you’ll never use. Start with the basics and only add more if you’re drowning in manual follow-ups.
Step 5: Actually Follow Up (Automation Can Only Do So Much)
Automated reminders are great, but they’re not a silver bullet. Here’s how to make the most of them:
- Check Sembly after meetings. Don’t assume it caught everything. Edit and assign as needed.
- Acknowledge reminders. Mark tasks as done in Sembly so the nudges stop.
- Use reminders as prompts, not nags. If someone consistently ignores reminders, talk to them. Don’t just add more reminders.
- Review regularly. Every week or so, glance through outstanding action items. Sometimes you’ll spot things that fell through the cracks.
Honest Pros and Cons
Pros: - Cuts down on “Did you do this?” emails. - Keeps action items from getting lost in giant meeting notes. - Simple setup if your team already uses Sembly and connected apps.
Cons: - Reminders are only as good as the action items you capture. - Sembly’s AI misses things if meetings are messy or unclear. - Too many notifications can cause alert fatigue. - Doesn’t replace real project management for complex workflows.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Start small: get your most common meeting types set up with automated reminders, see what sticks, and tweak as you go. Don’t try to automate every possible follow-up from day one. If something’s not working, change it. The goal is less chasing, more doing—and you don’t need a fancy system for that.
If you’re hitting walls, remember: no tool will magically make people reliable. But with Sembly’s reminders in place, at least you’ll know you did your part.