Basics of Notion AI for Project Managers

Notion is a popular productivity software used by businesses worldwide. It has gained a massive following due to it offering a free to use basic plan, flexible, powerful, cloud-based and collaborative. It allows users to organize information, tasks, and projects in a customizable workspace. It offers a variety of tools, including note-taking, project management, database management, and wikis, all of which can be tailored to individual preferences and workflows. Notion also includes features such as templates, team collaboration, and integrations with other tools, making it a versatile and powerful tool for personal and professional use. Its flexibility and ease of use make it a popular choice for individuals and teams looking to improve their productivity and organization. The use of Notion and its many nuances are the subject of a different report, but here we will go into its newest feature, AI integration.

The creators of the Notion software began beta testing of a machine-learning algorithm called Notion AI in late 2022. In February 2023 it was made available to all users of Notion, including those on the free plan (with limits on the number of prompts). Let’s look at some features:

Enhancing Your Writing: According to Notion, users in testing were interested in using the AI capabilities to enhance their existing writing rather than create documents from scratch. The writing editor tool has been enhanced to allow conversational prompts to be used to improve existing text. For example, you can ask Notion to change the tone of your writing. By using the custom query block, you can easily ask the AI tool to expand on your notes or provide possible mitigations or counter arguments to your point of view. See it as a trusted and knowledgeable colleague with which to discuss ideas and expand upon them.

Create Meeting Summaries: You can ask the AI to find action items from meeting notes and put them down in an easy to manage point form or table. Creating summaries is also a built in feature with clear benefits for communicating information to stakeholders without burdening them with the full transcript.

Use Custom Prompts: Custom prompts using natural language requests are possible with Notion AI. Get good results by being specific in your prompt language. Try these:

• make this more professional

• summarize key points as an overview

• brainstorm product feature ideas for an electric vehicle for farmers

• translate this information into Italian

Build and Use AI Enabled Templates: Notion has produced AI supercharged templates for uses such as sales, planning, translation, human resources and meeting administration. As the tool becomes more widely used, you will find more templates suited to your application. You can even design your own and use them over and over to save time in your workflow.

Learning to use AI tools such as Notion AI can significantly improve your work by enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and productivity. AI tools can help automate repetitive tasks, analyze large amounts of data quickly, and provide insights and predictions that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to obtain. By leveraging AI tools, you can streamline workflows, reduce errors, and make more informed decisions, ultimately improving the quality and effectiveness of your work. Additionally, as AI technology continues to advance, it is becoming increasingly integrated into various industries, making it an essential skill set for professionals across multiple fields. By learning to use AI tools, you can stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive in the ever-evolving job market. AI may take away jobs in some industries but it is those project managers who most effectively learn to use the tools available who will make themselves most valuable in this new phase of work.