Text guides
Work coordination
Give meetings, handoffs and decisions a clear next step without adding another long thread.
10 practical tasks. Each guide includes a sample request and a way to check the answer.
- Write a decision log entry from agreed factsA decision log is only useful if it records what happened, not a tidy version of it. Give the assistant the decision, the date, who made it, which options were on the table, and the conditions for revisiting it.
- Write a handoff before taking time offA handoff works when the person covering for you can act without hunting for context. Give the assistant your current projects, the next concrete action on each, any deadlines that fall while you are out, and who is covering.
- Turn a long work thread into a meeting agendaPaste the thread text and tell the assistant how long the meeting is and who is attending. It can pull out what still needs a decision, who seems to own each item, and how much time each topic might take.
- Cancel an unnecessary meeting with a useful updateA cancellation is more useful when it includes what people would have gotten from the meeting. Give the assistant the meeting's purpose, what was decided or what changed, and what attendees should do instead.
- Extract actions from meeting notesPaste your notes and the assistant can sort what was decided, what was assigned, and what was only discussed. Actions with no named owner should stay in their own group until you confirm who has them.
- Plan a new colleague's first weekA first-week plan that matches reality is more useful than a perfect template. Tell the assistant who is starting, what they will own, which people and systems matter most, and which access takes time to set up.
- Explain a project delay without hiding the factsAn update that buries the cause or offers a vague new date makes the next conversation harder. Give the assistant the cause, what is still unknown, any revised date your team has agreed on, and who will read it.
- Prepare questions for a project kickoffThe best kickoff questions surface what is still unclear, not what everyone already agrees on. Give the assistant the project brief and your role, and it can draft questions that may head off problems later.
- Write a weekly update people can scanGive the assistant your bullet notes from the week and tell it who will read the update. A good update leads with what changed, names blockers honestly, and ends with a specific ask instead of a vague heads-up.
- Plan a workshop with a clear outputTell the assistant who is attending, how long you have, what the group must produce by the end, and any constraints such as mixed time zones or a room with no whiteboard. A stated output gives every exercise in the plan something to build toward.
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