Workshop 3: Collaboration on Projects

Workshop 3: Collaboration on Projects

Use AI for meetings, project planning, shared prompts, and team documents

Tuesday, July 14, 2026 | 1:00–2:00 PM | Bring a laptop; come with a team or project in mind

NoteDemo Files

No team materials on hand? Download a synthetic demo file (all content fictional and non-sensitive): Messy meeting notes (Word) · Project description (Word) · Team style guide (Word) · Update template (Word)

What You’ll Leave With

By the end of this hour, you will be able to:

  1. Turn meeting notes into recaps, decisions, and action items the team can use
  2. Use AI to draft and pressure-test a project plan
  3. Set up a shared Project in ChatGPT Edu—files, instructions, and chats your team works in together
  4. Build a custom GPT in ChatGPT Edu that your team can reuse internally
  5. Start a shared prompt library so the whole group benefits from what works
  6. Apply data-governance and consent rules to shared and team AI use

Run of Show

Time Segment
0:00–0:08 Overview: from solo use to team use
0:08–0:22 Ethics & Governance: data, consent, and equity in team use
0:22–0:35 Activity 1: Meetings and project planning
0:35–0:52 Activity 2: Create and share a Project
0:52–0:58 Activity 3: Custom GPT + shared prompt library (quick / optional)
0:58–1:00 Wrap-up and a team commitment

Overview (8 min)

The first two workshops were about you and a tool. This one is about your team. AI helps most on shared work when it does three things: captures what happened (meeting recaps, decisions), structures what’s next (plans, task lists), and standardizes how the group works (shared prompts and custom assistants so everyone gets the same quality, not just the early adopters).

Three ideas carry the session:

  • Shared Projects (in ChatGPT Edu) are a team workspace: one place that holds related chats, uploaded files, and custom instructions. Everyone invited works in the same context, so ChatGPT’s answers draw on the group’s shared files and instructions and a teammate can pick up where you left off.
  • Custom GPTs (in ChatGPT Edu) are reusable assistants you set up once with your own instructions and reference files, then share with colleagues inside the Drexel workspace—so a good prompt becomes a team tool.
  • A shared prompt library is just a running document of prompts that worked. It’s the cheapest, highest-return habit a team can start.
NoteProject vs. Custom GPT — which is which?

A Project is a shared workspace you and colleagues work inside together (shared chats, files, and instructions). A custom GPT is a reusable assistant you configure once and call on for a repeated task. Use a Project when a team is collaborating on an ongoing body of work; use a custom GPT when you want a consistent tool for a specific job.

For meetings specifically, Zoom AI Companion (included with Drexel Zoom) can generate the summary and action items for you automatically—a natural starting point for the recap work below. Drexel lists Zoom AI Companion as usable with High Risk Data when a meeting is not recorded or transcribed, and Low Risk Data when it is recorded or transcribed. Same principle across tools: match the tool and use case to Drexel’s data classification. See Tools & Access.


Activity 1: Meetings and Project Planning

Activity 1: Meetings and Project Planning

Duration: ~13 minutes | Format: Hands-on, individual or in pairs

Goal: Use AI to turn raw inputs into the artifacts a project actually runs on. Use non-sensitive content or content appropriate for the tool under Drexel’s classification.

Part A — From Notes to a Usable Recap (~8 min)

Tip: if your meeting was on Zoom, Zoom AI Companion can produce a summary and action items automatically—start from that instead of raw notes.

  1. Paste messy meeting notes (real but non-sensitive, or use Workshop3_Demo_MeetingNotes.docx — a fictional study-team check-in — or the short sample below) into ChatGPT Edu. Use GPT-5.5 if it is available; otherwise use the current default/latest GPT model in the Drexel workspace.

  2. Use this prompt:

    Turn these notes into three sections: (1) Summary in 3 bullets, (2) Decisions made, (3) Action items as a table with owner and due date. Flag anything that’s unclear or unassigned.

  3. Notice it surfaces the gaps—unassigned tasks, vague deadlines—that are easy to miss live.

Sample notes if you don’t have your own: “talked about the survey rollout, Maria will check the IRB amendment, need final instrument by end of month, budget tight, someone should ask about the no-cost extension, next meeting in 2 weeks, recruitment slower than expected.”

Watch for (demo notes): only one decision was actually made in that meeting — did the AI invent others? Two action items have no owner — did it flag them? And there’s a personnel note that should never reach a shared recap: that’s the shared-space test in practice.

Part B — Draft and Stress-Test a Plan (~10 min)

  1. Describe a project in a sentence or two (or paste the two-paragraph description from Workshop3_Demo_ProjectDescription.docx) and ask:

    Draft a simple project plan for this with phases, key tasks, and a rough timeline. Then list the top 5 risks and what would reduce each one.

  2. Push back: “What am I missing?” or “What would make this slip?” Use it to find blind spots, not to write the final plan.

Watch for (demo description): the description hides five real risks — a data use agreement stuck in legal review, an installation schedule the team doesn’t control, a shared analyst, student-worker coverage, and a report clock that starts regardless. How many did the AI’s risk list catch?

Reflection

  • Did the recap catch anything you’d have forgotten?
  • Where was the AI’s plan generic, and where did it add something useful?

Activity 2: Create and Share a Project

Activity 2: Create and Share a Project

Duration: ~17 minutes | Format: Hands-on; pair up so you can share with someone in the room

Goal: See how a Project gives a team one shared context—files, instructions, and chats—and how sharing actually works.

Part A — Build a Project (~10 min)

  1. In ChatGPT Edu, create a new Project and name it for a real piece of team work (e.g., “Heat Response Brief,” “New Staff Onboarding,” “Grant XYZ Progress Report”).

  2. Add project instructions—the standing context everyone in the project should get automatically. For example:

    This project supports the DSPH [team] working on [goal]. Always write in plain, non-technical language. When asked for a summary, use bullets and a one-line bottom line. Flag anything that needs a human decision. Never include identifying or sensitive data.

  3. Upload one or two reference files that are appropriate under Drexel’s ChatGPT Edu Terms of Use—a template, a style guide, a public report. No files of your own? Use the demo pair: Workshop3_Demo_StyleGuide.docx and Workshop3_Demo_UpdateTemplate.docx. No PHI, sensitive PII, confidential HR or contract material, or identifiable research data.

  4. Start a chat inside the project and ask something that should draw on your files: “Using the uploaded template, draft a project update for this month.” Notice it uses the project’s files and instructions without you re-pasting them.

Part B — Share It (~8 min)

  1. Open the project’s share settings. Invite your partner (or a colleague) using “Only those invited”—the right choice for Drexel work. Avoid “Anyone with a link” for anything involving Drexel content.
  2. Choose an access level:
    • Can chat — they can use the project and its files, and see the chats.
    • Can edit — they can also change instructions and add or remove files.
  3. Have your partner open the shared project and continue your chat, or start a new one. See that they get the same context and can pick up where you left off.

Good to Know

  • A shared project uses its own isolated memory—your personal ChatGPT memory is not used inside it, which keeps team work separate from your private chats.
  • Teammates work by branching chats (remixing a thread to try a different direction), not editing the same message live at the same time.
  • Keep sharing inside Drexel. Shared Projects are an Edu/Team/Enterprise feature—they’re built for exactly this kind of internal collaboration.

Reflection

  • What’s one ongoing team effort where a single shared context would save everyone re-explaining things?
  • Who needs can edit versus can chat?
TipProject vs. Custom GPT, in practice

If three people are co-writing a brief over several weeks, a Project holds the shared files, instructions, and history. If everyone separately needs to turn messy notes into a standard recap, a custom GPT (next activity) is the reusable tool for that one job. Many teams use both.


Activity 3: Custom GPT + Shared Prompt Library

Activity 3: Custom GPT + Shared Prompt Library

Duration: ~6 minutes (quick demo / optional if time) | Format: Hands-on; build something your team can reuse

Goal: Create one reusable internal team tool and start the habit that keeps it going.

Part A — Build a Custom GPT (~15 min)

In ChatGPT Edu, create a custom GPT for a task your team repeats. Examples: a “Meeting Recap Assistant,” a “Plain-Language Rewriter,” a “Grant Reminder Drafter,” an “Onboarding Q&A” assistant.

  1. In ChatGPT Edu, start a new GPT and give it clear instructions—who it is, what it does, the format it should always use, and the tone.
  2. Optionally add reference files that are appropriate under Drexel’s ChatGPT Edu Terms of Use: a style guide, a template, a list of standard sections. Do not add PHI, sensitive PII, confidential HR material, protected contracts, or identifiable research data.
  3. Test it with two different inputs. Refine the instructions where it drifts.
  4. Note how to share it internally with your Drexel team or workspace. Do not share outside Drexel.

Starter instruction template:

You are a [role] for the DSPH [team]. When given [input], always produce [output] in this format: [structure]. Use a [tone] tone. If key information is missing, ask for it before producing the output. Never include sensitive or identifying data.

Part B — Start a Shared Prompt Library (~10 min)

  1. Open a shared document (Teams/SharePoint/OneDrive) the team can all reach.
  2. Add 2–3 prompts that worked for you, each with: a title, the prompt (with placeholders), and a one-line “use this when…”
  3. Agree on one norm: where it lives, and that anyone can add to it.

A library entry looks like:

Title: Monthly project update Prompt: You are a research coordinator. Write a status update for [project] covering Done / In Progress / Needs Attention, under 150 words. Use when: Prepping for the monthly team check-in.

TipWhy Sharing Beats Solo Use

When one person finds a prompt that works and keeps it to themselves, the team gets one faster worker. When they put it in a shared library or a custom GPT, the team gets a repeatable standard. The second is where the real return is.


Wrap-Up (2 min)

  • AI helps teams most by capturing meetings, structuring plans, and standardizing how the group works.
  • A shared Project gives a team one context—files, instructions, and chats—so no one re-explains the basics.
  • Custom GPTs turn a good prompt into an internally shared tool.
  • A shared prompt library is the easiest high-value habit to start today.

Team commitment: before you leave, name one thing your team will set up this month—a shared Project, an internal custom GPT, a prompt library, or an AI-assisted meeting recap habit.


Where to Go Next

This series is the shared foundation. Specialized sessions for research staff who code and analyze data are coming in summer or fall (AI for data cleaning, Stata/R/Python, debugging, and reproducible analysis). The series also repeats in fall.

See the Resources page for guides and further learning, and reach out to daq26@drexel.edu with ideas for future topics.