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Reply to two requesters whose deadlines compete for the same hours

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

About this exercise

Write one email to both requesters (Priya in Sales and Tom in Finance) in plain text, under 150 words. First line exactly: Subject: Plan for your two requests this week. Apply this rule: the earlier deadline gets done first and in full; the other gets the hours that remain, and the rest is scheduled the next available day. Show the hours for each request and the date for the remainder. Ask them to reply by Monday noon if they cannot accept. End with: Thank you for your patience.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Splitting evenly. The AI gives each 10 hours. Try: Say: "Earlier deadline first and in full; the other gets what remains."
  • No remainder date. The AI says "later". Try: Say: "Schedule the remainder for Tuesday, Nov 18."
  • Picking by the word critical. The AI asks which is more critical. Try: Say: "Apply the rule; ignore claims of importance."
  • Missing exact lines. The AI writes its own subject and ending. Try: Say: "First and last lines exactly as given."
  • Markdown. The AI bolds hours. 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

  • Exact first and last lines
  • The rule
  • Hours and dates
  • Reply by Monday noon
  • Caps words

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