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Brief an assistant to put approved time off on the team calendar

  • For Managers and team leads
  • You practice Keeping the AI to your sources
  • Time about 5 minutes

About this exercise

You want an AI assistant to add your team's time off to the shared calendar from HR emails. Write its brief: add only approved requests as all-day events titled "Out of office: [Name]", send pending requests to you with ASK_HUMAN, use the dates exactly as approved, and never decline or move anyone's meetings. Output exactly 5 numbered plain-text lines: one per request in email order, then DONE.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Not showing the log format. Left alone, the AI writes a friendly report with headings instead of a checkable action log. Try: Show it literally: "Format every line like 1. ACTION: tool(args), then ASK_HUMAN: and DONE: lines. Plain text."
  • Copying the wrong dates. The AI uses Priya's original request instead of the approved day, or makes up its own title. Try: Add: "Use the approved dates exactly. Title: Out of office: Name, all day."
  • Adding pending requests. The AI puts everything on the calendar, so the team plans around time off that isn't approved. Try: Add: "Only approved requests. Pending ones go to ASK_HUMAN."
  • Acting on people's meetings. Someone asks, so the AI declines their meetings for them. Try: Add: "Never decline or move meetings."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Only approved requests
  • Sets the title
  • Uses approved dates
  • Forbids declining meetings
  • Shows the action-log format

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