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Rewrite a defensive weekly update as an honest, plain one

  • For Managers and team leads
  • You practice Getting the tone right
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

Rewrite this defensive weekly update for your director in plain words. Plain text, under 80 words. Start with the sentence that says the week was behind plan and by how much, then say the cause in one sentence, then the fix with a date. Do not use the words unfortunately, challenges, learnings or bandwidth, and do not blame another team.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Defensive tone. The AI keeps 'unfortunately' and 'challenges'. Try: Say: "Ban unfortunately, challenges, learnings, bandwidth."
  • Hiding the numbers. The AI says 'slightly behind'. Try: Say: "State 7 of 12, 5 behind."
  • Blaming another team. The AI points at the platform team's API delay. Try: Say: "Don't blame another team."
  • Markdown. The AI uses bullets. Try: Say: "Plain text paragraph."
  • 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 sentence: "each sentence under 20 words."
  • 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 part instead, for example: "each line under 12 words."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Starts with miss
  • Numbers
  • Fix with date
  • Bans words
  • No blame

Practice this now ↑

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