{"id":"lead-tell-team-project-cancelled","audience":"managers","category":"leadership-work","technique":"tone","track":"leadership","level":"advanced","free":true,"title":"Tell your team their 8-month project is cancelled before the all-hands","task":"Leadership cancelled Project Harbor, and you must tell your team in writing today, before tomorrow's all-hands rumor mill starts. Write the message from you, Jordan, as plain text under 200 words. The first sentence must say plainly that Harbor is cancelled, before any thanks or background. Then give the reasons leadership approved sharing (Northgate, the 3 of 40 accounts, Beacon), credit the work with specifics, say what happens to everyone and when, and invite questions with a specific way to reach you. Do not mention the budget cut, any dollar figure, or a possible reorganization. No corporate spin such as \"difficult decision\", \"exciting new chapter\", \"pivot\" or \"realign\". The last line before your signature must be exactly: You do not have to reply today. Sign it \"Jordan\".","materialLabel":"Your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"FROM MY NOTES - Project Harbor wrap-up. Today: Mon Nov 9. All-hands is tomorrow, Tue Nov 10 at 10:00, and the cancellation will come up there. I want the team to hear it from me first, in writing, today.\n\nHarbor: offline field-service app for Tallis Systems technicians, 8 months, team of 9.\n\nWhy leadership decided:\n- Northgate Utilities, our one pilot customer, did not renew its contract last week.\n- Only 3 of the 40 accounts we targeted committed to Harbor after the beta.\n- The company is putting its engineering effort into the Beacon billing platform instead.\n\nWhat the team built:\n- Dana Reyes (project lead) designed the offline sync engine: technicians worked up to 11 hours with no signal and nothing was lost.\n- Beta shipped Sep 14 to 212 technicians. Crash-free rate was 99.6%.\n- Marcus Webb rebuilt the work-order screen after the first field test; completion time dropped from 6 minutes to 2.\n\nWhat happens next:\n- Everyone on the team keeps their current role and title. Nobody is being let go.\n- Beacon work starts Mon Nov 23. Until then people finish handoffs and take time to breathe.\n- I have 1:1 slots open today 2:00-5:00 pm and before the all-hands tomorrow at 9:00 am.\n\nAlso from the leadership meeting:\n- Product's budget is being cut about 18% next year, roughly $1.4M.\n- A reorganization is being discussed for January; nothing is decided.\n\nDana found out an hour ago and is devastated. She poured nights and weekends into this.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":200},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Burying the news","why":"The AI opens with warm thanks and a long background, so the team has to read three paragraphs to learn the project is dead.","fix":"Say: \"The first sentence says plainly that Harbor is cancelled.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Corporate spin","why":"The AI reaches for \"difficult decision\", \"exciting new chapter\" and \"pivot\", which a hurt team hears as dishonest.","fix":"Add: \"No corporate spin. Do not use difficult decision, exciting, pivot or realign.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Vague or missing next steps","why":"The AI says \"we will share more soon\" instead of the real facts: roles are safe and Beacon starts Nov 23.","fix":"Add: \"Say everyone keeps their role and that Beacon starts Mon Nov 23, plus the approved reasons, and end with the line: You do not have to reply today.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Generic praise, leaked secrets","why":"\"Great work, team\" means nothing, and the AI uses every fact in the notes, including the budget cut and the reorg talk.","fix":"Add: \"Credit specific work from the notes. Leave out the budget figures and the reorganization.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Too long and formatted","why":"AI writes a long email with bold headings and bullets, when a hurt team needs a short plain note.","fix":"Say: \"Plain text, under 150 words, no bullets or bold.\"","checks":["maxWords","plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Says the hard thing first","patterns":["first sentence","open(s)? with","say(s)? plainly","right away","upfront|up front"]},{"label":"Bans spin and euphemism","patterns":["no (corporate )?spin","euphemis","don'?t (use|soften)","plain(ly)? words"]},{"label":"Credits specific work","patterns":["specific","credit","dana","sync engine","beta"]},{"label":"Says what happens next and when","patterns":["keeps? (their|his|her) role","nov 23","what happens next","beacon"]},{"label":"Leaves out confidential items","patterns":["budget","reorg","leave out","don'?t mention","confidential"]},{"label":"Ends with an exact closing line","patterns":["do not have to reply","last line","end with","exactly"]}],"hint":"Your team is hurt and will read every word. Tell the AI the order (news first), the tone (no spin), what to credit, what happens next and when, how to reach you, and what must stay out.","mission":"Tell the team the hard news first, honestly, before the all-hands.","musts":["Cancelled said in sentence one, no spin","Credit specifics; say what's next and when","Invite questions; end with a no-reply-needed line; leak nothing"],"rubricLabels":["The very first sentence says Project Harbor is cancelled (or ended) in plain words, before any thanks or background, and the message uses none of: \"difficult decision\", \"exciting\", \"pivot\", \"realign\", \"unfortunately\", \"sunset\"","It gives at least two of the approved reasons (Northgate did not renew; only 3 of 40 targeted accounts committed; effort moving to Beacon), says everyone keeps their current role, and says Beacon work starts Mon Nov 23, and the last line before the signature is exactly \"You do not have to reply today.\"","It credits specific work (Dana Reyes' offline sync engine, or the beta to 212 technicians at 99.6% crash-free, or Marcus Webb's work-order screen going from 6 minutes to 2), invites questions with the specific 1:1 times (today 2:00-5:00 pm or tomorrow 9:00 am), and says nothing about a budget cut, 18%, $1.4M or a reorganization"]}