Technology & AI for Business
The best use of AI in a small business is often the dullest: the twenty minutes of admin you dread.
Meeting notes, task lists, emails, standard documents, formulas, checklists. None of it is exciting and all of it takes time. AI can take a first pass at much of it. It can also summarise a meeting wrongly or write a formula that quietly gives the wrong total. This session is about the saving and the checking.
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Saved time only counts if the work is still right.
AI is at its most useful on tasks that are tedious, low in risk and easy to check. Turning rambling notes into a list, drafting a standard letter or explaining a formula are good examples. It is least useful, and most risky, where nobody checks the output because it looks neat.
Productivity also has a cost side. Too many tools, a team using them differently and private business information in the wrong places can make a business slower and more exposed. This session is as much about discipline as about prompts.
What the session covers
33 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts, practised on ordinary admin tasks.
Find the Time FirstWhere does your week actually go?4
- Listing recurring tasks and how long each takes
- Marking those that are repetitive and low risk
- Choosing one or two to try, not twenty
- Noting what you will compare against
Without a baseline, you will not know whether it saved anything.
Notes, Summaries and Task ListsA common first win.5
- Turning a voice note or rough points into a task list
- Summarising a meeting you attended
- Listing decisions, owners and dates
- Comparing the summary with your own memory
- Sending the list to people so errors are caught
Drafting Routine DocumentsStandard things, written once.5
- Emails and message replies
- Checklists and simple procedures
- Job descriptions and notices to staff
- Forms and templates you reuse
- Reading each draft before it leaves your hands
Spreadsheets and NumbersHelp with formulas, not blind trust.5
A formula that runs without an error can still be wrong. Test it before you rely on it.
- Asking for a formula or an explanation of one
- Testing it on rows where you know the answer
- Checking totals against a known figure
- Not pasting real customer or payroll data
- Keeping the original file untouched
Building Your Own Prompt LibraryMaking good results repeatable.4
- Saving prompts that produced something useful
- Including the context a good answer needs
- Keeping a note of what to check each time
- Sharing the useful ones with your team
Rules for Your TeamSimple, written and short.5
- Which tasks AI may be used for
- What must never be pasted in
- Who reviews what before it goes out
- What to do when you are unsure
- Why a short rule beats a long policy no one reads
Keeping ControlAvoiding the slow costs.5
- Too many tools doing the same job
- Information scattered across accounts
- Relying on a tool you could not replace
- Checking whether it is really saving time after a month
- Staying skilled enough to spot a bad answer
Practised in the room
- Turning rough meeting notes into a task list and checking it
- Drafting and editing a standard letter
- Testing a suggested formula on sample data
- Writing three short rules for a hypothetical team
A check before relying on any output
- Did I compare it with the original notes or data?
- Did I test the formula on a case I know?
- Is anything private in what I pasted?
- Would someone else be able to catch an error?
- Did it really save time, or just move it?
How the session runs
A practitioner who runs a small business shows how to use AI for everyday admin, including moments where a summary is wrong or a formula needs fixing. Participants choose a task from their own week, try it with made-up or non-sensitive content, and check the results together. No product is recommended, and examples are hypothetical.
What your students leave with
- A short list of the admin tasks in their week that suit AI help
- A way to turn spoken or rough notes into tidy tasks and summaries
- A habit of testing formulas and checking summaries before relying on them
- A small personal library of prompts and templates that save time
- Simple rules to share with staff about what to use it for and what to keep out
- A plan to measure whether it is actually saving time
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Hand over the dull work, and keep the checking for yourself.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.