Hand off your work before vacation with clear decision rights

About this exercise

You're out for 2 weeks and need a delegation plan for your team's wiki. Write exactly 4 numbered lines in the form 'Task - person - Decide, Recommend or Inform', plain text, under 80 words. Pick people who are actually available, and follow the approval policy: spending decisions can't be delegated below a manager.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Asking for 'a coverage plan'. The AI writes a long document with sections, contacts and FAQs. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 4 numbered lines like 'Task - person - Decide/Recommend/Inform'. 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 line instead: "each line under 15 words."
• Ignoring the approval policy. The AI gives overtime to whoever runs the schedule. Try: Add: "Spending approvals go to a manager only: Theo."
• Assigning someone who's out. Bea usually owns escalations, so the AI assigns her by habit. Try: Add: "Bea is out Dec 20-Jan 2, don't assign her."
• Not saying how much authority. The AI says who covers a task but not whether they can decide. Try: Add: "End each line with Decide, Recommend or Inform."

What a strong prompt includes

• Shows decision rights
• Checks availability
• Follows the policy
• Sets the number of lines
• Sets a word limit

Practice this now ↑

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