{"id":"mgr-x-offsite-cancel-message","audience":"managers","category":"writing-emails","track":"writing","technique":"tone","title":"Tell the team the offsite is canceled, without spin","free":false,"task":"The team offsite is canceled because of budget, and you're telling the team in Slack. Write it in under 70 words, plain text, with the cancellation in the first sentence, the honest reason in plain words, and the confirmed alternative. Don't blame finance or leadership, don't use corporate spin, and don't promise a rescheduled offsite.","materialLabel":"Your notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Offsite update - Customer Ops team (12 people)\n\n- The 2-day offsite in Asheville (Apr 23-24) is canceled. Q2 travel budget was cut company-wide by 40%.\n- Finance (Lorena) made the call; she told me it wasn't personal and every team lost travel.\n- Confirmed alternative: a half-day local team day on Apr 24 at the Riverside Commons room, lunch included (catering approved, $35/person).\n- Not confirmed: rescheduling Asheville in the fall. I'd love to, but there's no budget decision yet.\n- Team was excited. Mia already booked a dog sitter.\n- Hotel deposit was refundable, so nobody is out of pocket. If anyone booked anything personally, send me the receipt and I'll get it reimbursed (approved by Lorena).\n\nMy draft from earlier, which felt wrong: \"Due to evolving business priorities, we've made the strategic decision to reimagine our offsite experience!\"","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":70},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Spinning the bad news","why":"AI defaults to upbeat corporate phrasing that people see through.","fix":"Add: \"Start directly with the news, no greeting. Say it plainly: canceled because travel budgets were cut.\"","checks":["r1","r0"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each part instead: \"4 sentences, each under 15 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Blaming someone","why":"The AI may name finance to explain the decision.","fix":"Add: \"Don't name or blame finance or leadership.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Over-promising","why":"To soften it, the AI says 'we'll do Asheville in the fall'.","fix":"Add: \"Only the confirmed team day. Don't promise a fall offsite.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Formatting for Slack","why":"The AI adds bold headings and emoji bullets.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold or bullets.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Puts the news first","patterns":["first sentence","lead with","start with","canceled first"]},{"label":"Bans spin","patterns":["spin","corporate","plain(ly)?","honest"]},{"label":"Avoids blame","patterns":["blame","finance","leadership"]},{"label":"Limits promises","patterns":["don'?t promise","no promise","fall","confirmed"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"Bad news goes down better when it's plain. Tell the AI the news goes first, the honest reason, the confirmed alternative, and what not to say.","rubricLabels":["Starts directly with the cancellation of the Asheville offsite (Apr 23-24): no greeting, empathy line or lead-in before it","Gives the reason in plain words (company-wide travel budget cut) without blaming finance, Lorena or leadership, and with no corporate spin ('evolving priorities', 'reimagine', 'strategic decision')","Mentions the confirmed half-day team day on Apr 24 at Riverside Commons with lunch, and does not promise a fall offsite (it may say nothing is decided)"]}