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Explain a rejected expense and exactly how to fix it
Practice: Getting the tone right. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
An employee asked why her expense report was rejected. Reply in Slack under 70 words, plain text. The first sentence names the one line that was rejected and why, then give the exact fix and the resubmission deadline, and say the rest of the report is approved. No 'per policy' or 'unfortunately'. Write a prompt that gets that reply.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- 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: "3 sentences, each under 20 words."
- Making it sound like the whole report failed. The AI explains the rules before saying only one line was rejected. Try: Say it: "Sentence 1: only the $157 Oct 14 dinner was rejected."
- No clear fix. The AI says "please follow the meal policy" without the steps or deadline. Try: Add: "Give the fix: itemized receipt, attendee names in Notes, resubmit by Nov 20."
- Scolding tone. AI cites "per policy", says 'unfortunately' and may bring up her past rejections. Try: Add: "Say the other $455 is approved. No 'per policy' or 'unfortunately'."
- Forgetting where it gets pasted. AI adds bold and headings by default, which show up as ** and # clutter in Slack. Try: Add: "Plain text, no bold, no headings."
What a strong prompt includes
- Sets a word limit
- Names the rejected line
- Gives the fix
- Gives the deadline
- Keeps the tone helpful
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