Review edition · Complete text lesson. Platform screenshots are being prepared.
Suppose you could…
Turn messy notes into a clear brief
Separate facts, proposals and unknowns, then create a short brief with a clear decision request.
Time is a practice estimate. Pause or return whenever you need.A useful little possibility.
A colleague hands you scattered notes. You need a brief another person can act on, not a prettier pile of words. You’ll turn a fictional onboarding idea into a decision-ready first draft. Your result: a brief under 180 words and a reusable brief-making template.
Let’s make a start.
Minute 0–2: read the sample. In your own words, name the decision the manager needs to make. Notice that a suggestion is not an approved plan.
Minute 2–5: open a fresh AI conversation. Copy the starter prompt, followed by the sample input, into one message. Read the draft before asking for changes.
Minute 5–8: check every name, number, date and commitment against the numbered notes. Ask for one targeted revision, such as making a proposed date explicitly unknown.
Minute 8–10: edit the decision request yourself and save the final brief in your document app. Use the checklist before marking the lab complete.
Your sample material
Fictional training material. No real customer information needed.
FICTIONAL NOTES — HARBOR WORKSPACE N1. New members sometimes ask where to find the booking guide. We have not counted how often. N2. Idea: try a welcome sheet with a guide link. Not approved yet. N3. Available print budget for a trial: 60 euros. N4. No launch date agreed. N5. Jo offered to draft the sheet, subject to manager approval. N6. Proposed trial: two weeks at the front desk. N7. We do not yet know who will collect feedback. N8. Manager needs to decide whether to approve a small trial, not a permanent rollout.Download sample .txt ↓
Turn the SOURCE NOTES below into a decision brief of at most 180 words for the workspace manager. Use headings: Purpose, Known facts, Proposed trial, Open questions, Decision requested. Separate facts from suggestions. Include note IDs beside factual claims. Do not invent evidence, dates, owners, approvals or expected savings. Preserve conditions such as “subject to approval.” Flag missing information instead of filling it in. SOURCE NOTES: [Paste the sample input here.]
Keep personal and confidential information out of external AI tools. Start with the sample material.
Turn a first try into your thing.
Compare your draft with the source, not with how confident the writing sounds. If it says “Jo will launch next week,” correct it: the offer is conditional and no date is agreed.
Ask: “Revise only the unsupported commitments. Keep the decision request to one sentence.” Then make the final edits yourself. Your saved brief should be understandable without the chat history.
Pause for the “aha.”
Fluent writing can hide a change in meaning. The useful skill is giving AI a purpose and checking whether it preserved the status of each claim.
A proposal, an approval and a completed action are different things. Before you reuse this workflow, identify the facts it must not silently change. The worked example is one defensible answer, not the only wording that can pass.
Useful beats convincing.
Check these against your actual output. Your answers stay on this device; this is self-review, not automated grading.
Finished your first try? Reveal a worked example ↓
Purpose: Decide whether to test a welcome sheet at Harbor Workspace.
Known facts: Some new members ask for the booking guide; frequency has not been measured (N1). A 60-euro print budget is available for a trial (N3).
Proposed trial: Put a sheet with the guide link at the front desk for two weeks (N2, N6). Jo has offered to draft it, subject to approval (N5).
Open questions: Who collects feedback? When would the trial start? What observation would justify continuing? No date or feedback owner is agreed (N4, N7).
Decision requested: Approve or decline the two-week trial, and if approved, name a feedback owner and agree a start date (N8).
Why it works: it preserves uncertainty and asks for a decision without presenting the trial as already approved.
A new case. Your own approach.
Apply the review principles to these new facts, not the previous sample’s specific numbers or answers.
WITHOUT THE STARTER PROMPT: Turn these fresh notes into a brief: “Team wants a shared FAQ; no tool chosen; Lee can suggest questions; we have 45 minutes for a trial discussion; approval not requested yet.” Write your own instruction, then apply the same evidence and commitment checks to the new facts; do not reuse the original sample’s budget or timing. Compare the statuses of “wants,” “can” and “approved.” Save one sentence explaining what you corrected.
One possibility leads to another.
Change the audience to a colleague who will run the trial. What extra information do they need? Keep unknowns visible. Share the brief through your normal channel only after reviewing it. No real member information is needed for this exercise.
Your reusable workflow card ↓
WORKFLOW: CLEAR BRIEF Use when: scattered notes need a decision or next step. Inputs: numbered source notes; audience; desired decision; length limit. Method: label facts, proposals and unknowns; draft headings; check each specific claim against its source; revise; save a standalone brief. Never invent: owners, dates, approvals or evidence. Done when: the reader can name the decision and the remaining unknowns. My preferred headings/tone: __________ My most common failure to check: __________Download workflow .txt ↓
You tried something. That counts.
Keep a note of what you made or what surprised you. It stays in this browser.