Library › Data AI › Managers and team leads
Flag who is averaging too many hours, with the math shown
Practice: Catching mistakes and made-up facts. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
HR asked you to flag anyone on your team averaging over 45 hours a week across the last 4 weeks. Write exactly 6 numbered lines, one per person, each showing the 4 weeks added up, divided by 4, the average, and then FLAG or OK. Apply the payroll note first. Exactly 45 is not over. Plain text, under 120 words, nothing else.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Ignoring the payroll note. The AI uses Kenji's double-counted 58-hour week and flags him at 47. Try: Add: "Use 46 for Kenji's week 3, per the payroll note."
- Fuzzy cutoff. The AI treats 45 as over 45 and flags Omar. Try: Add: "Over 45 means more than 45. Exactly 45 is not flagged."
- Not asking to see the work. Bare averages are hard to check before you send them to HR. Try: Add a line to copy: "1. Ana Ruiz: 42 + 44 + 43 + 45 = 174 ÷ 4 = 43.5 OK"
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each line: "each line under 18 words, nothing else."
- Forgetting where it goes. AI loves markdown tables and bold, which show up as clutter in an HR email. Try: Add: "Plain text, no bold, headings or tables."
What a strong prompt includes
- Applies the payroll note
- Defines the cutoff
- Asks to show the math
- Sets a word limit
- Asks for plain text
Related exercises
- Alert sales to a competitor's price change, facts only (Research AI · Product managers)
- Approve or return expense claims against the policy (Productivity AI · Finance and accounting)
- Approve part of an overtime request with the math (Writing AI · Managers and team leads)
- Average daily call activity after fixing a dialer glitch (Data AI · Sales and customer success)
- Average handle times after removing outage calls (Data AI · Customer support teams)