{"id":"mgr-x-reorg-team-announcement","audience":"managers","category":"writing-emails","track":"writing","technique":"context","title":"Announce a team change and answer the first question","free":false,"task":"Your team is moving to a new department, and you're announcing it in the team channel before the all-hands. Write it in under 110 words, plain text, with the change and its effective date in the first sentence, then answer the question everyone will ask first: does my manager or role change? Share only what's confirmed and leave out the options leadership considered.","materialLabel":"Your notes from leadership (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Notes from VP call - Mon Feb 3 (CONFIDENTIAL until Feb 5 all-hands; I can tell my team on Feb 5 morning)\n\nConfirmed:\n- Our team (Partner Support, 8 people) moves from Customer Success to the Partnerships department.\n- Effective March 1.\n- I stay as manager. Nobody's role, title or pay changes.\n- We'll report to Lina Ortiz (VP Partnerships) instead of Greg Hollis.\n- Our weekly partner escalation meeting stays as is.\n\nNot decided yet:\n- Whether we move to the 4th floor with Partnerships. Facilities will decide by mid-March.\n- Whether our on-call rotation merges with the partner engineers'.\n\nConsidered but rejected (don't share):\n- Splitting the team between two departments.\n- Merging us into the general support queue.\n\nTeam concerns I expect: \"Are there layoffs?\" (No, confirmed by Lina.) \"Will my manager change?\"\n\nTone: calm and direct. Several people have been anxious since the rumors started.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":110},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Leading with context","why":"The AI opens with 'As many of you know...' and buries the actual change.","fix":"Add: \"First sentence: we move to Partnerships on March 1.\"","checks":["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: \"6 sentences, each under 16 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Not answering the real question","why":"People want to know if their manager or job changes, and the AI talks about strategy instead.","fix":"Add: \"Right after: I stay your manager; no role, title or pay changes.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Sharing what's undecided as fact","why":"The AI states the floor move or rejected options to sound complete.","fix":"Add: \"Say the floor and on-call questions are not decided. Never mention rejected options.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Formatting it like a memo","why":"The AI adds a bold title and headings, which look alarming in a team channel.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, calm and direct, no bold or headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Puts the change first","patterns":["first sentence","lead with","start with","march 1"]},{"label":"Answers the manager question","patterns":["manager","role","title","pay"]},{"label":"Only what's confirmed","patterns":["confirmed","not decided","undecided","only what"]},{"label":"Keeps rejected options out","patterns":["rejected","considered","don'?t (share|mention)"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"Anxious teams want the change and what it means for them, fast. Tell the AI what goes first, which question to answer next, and what's confirmed versus not.","rubricLabels":["The first sentence says the team is moving to the Partnerships department effective March 1","States clearly that the manager stays the same and that no one's role, title or pay changes (and may confirm there are no layoffs); mentions reporting to Lina Ortiz","Marks the floor move and on-call rotation as not decided yet (or leaves them out) and never mentions the rejected options (splitting the team, merging into the general queue)"]}