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Order a new agent's tool setup so nothing is blocked
Practice: Setting limits and rules. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
A new support agent starts Monday, and you're writing the IT setup checklist for your team's wiki. You want exactly 5 numbered steps in an order where no step depends on one that comes later, each starting with a verb and naming the tool, under 70 words, plain text. Use IT's corrected rule about the phone system, and leave out steps the agent does herself. Write a prompt that gets you exactly that.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Keeping the notes' order. The notes list Zendesk first, but it can't happen until the email exists. Try: Add: "Order the steps so nothing depends on a later step."
- Missing IT's correction. The old dependency is written into the notes, and the AI follows it. Try: Add: "Use IT's correction: Ringwell now needs Slack, not Zendesk."
- Including the agent's own tasks. The AI adds everything, so the team lead's checklist has the videos too. Try: Add: "Only the steps the team lead does."
- Letting the AI pick the layout. The AI adds headings and explanations of each tool. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 5 numbered steps, plain text."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 70 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part instead: "each line under 9 words."
What a strong prompt includes
- Says how many steps
- Asks for dependency order
- Uses IT's correction
- Only team lead steps
- Sets a word limit
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