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Order launch prep tasks by deadline and drop the cancelled one
- For Product managers
- You practice Keeping the AI to your sources
- Time about 5 minutes
About this exercise
Your feature launches Oct 30 and you need a prep list for this week's standup. Write exactly 5 numbered lines, earliest deadline first, each like '1. Oct 14 - Task - Owner'. Leadership cancelled one task, so leave it out entirely. End with an unnumbered line starting 'Blocked:' naming the task that's waiting on someone outside the team. Plain text, under 90 words.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Keeping the cancelled task. The press release is in your list, and the AI misses Dee's message. Try: Add: "Dee cancelled the press release. Leave it out."
- Ranking by importance. The AI orders by what sounds big, not by deadline. Try: Add: "Earliest deadline first."
- Missing the blocker. The AI lists QA like any other task. Try: Add: "End with 'Blocked:' naming what's waiting on someone outside the team."
- Letting the AI pick the layout. The AI writes a table with bold headers. Try: Show it: "1. Oct 17 - Android QA pass - Ravi". Plain text.
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting words, so a total word cap usually lands over. Try: Cap each line: "each line under 10 words."
What a strong prompt includes
- Sorts by deadline
- Drops the cancelled task
- Adds a blocked line
- Shows the line shape
- Caps the length
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