Library › Leadership AI › Managers and team leads

Resolve four overlapping time-off requests with a stated rule

  • For Managers and team leads
  • You practice Setting limits and rules
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

Four people asked for time off in the week of Aug 11-15. Apply these rules. At least 2 of the 4 must be at work every day. Requests are handled in order of the date submitted, except that anyone who had this same week off last year goes last. Output a table with the header Name | Decision | Reason, one row per person, using Approved or Needs change. If a request can only be partly approved, say which days are open. End with the exact line: Manager confirms before anyone is told. Plain text, under 110 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Using the wrong order. The AI goes in submission order and approves Ben over Dee. Try: Say: "Anyone who had the same week off last year goes last."
  • Skipping the coverage check. The AI approves everyone or guesses. Try: Say: "At least 2 of 4 at work each day; check each day. Header Name | Decision | Reason."
  • No partial answer. The AI just says denied. Try: Say: "If only some days work, say which days are open."
  • Missing closing line. The AI adds a friendly sign-off. Try: Say: "End with the exact line Manager confirms before anyone is told."
  • Markdown. The AI bolds decisions. Try: Say: "Plain text."
  • 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 15 words."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the table columns
  • States the coverage rule
  • States the ordering rule
  • Asks for open days
  • Gives the closing line

Practice this now ↑

Related exercises