Vic SolDelegate the same way: the Context · Example · Criterion template
For any professional who uses ChatGPT or similar at work and ends up rewriting what it gives back.
When to use it
- You ask for an email in one line and get back text that sounds like nobody.
- You repeat the same explanation every time you open the chat.
- You want someone on your team to ask better without sending them to a course.
The sheet
You ask AI the way you would ask someone new on the team. You do not hand over the task with nothing else: you give context, an example and what a good result looks like.
| Piece | What to write | Guiding question | Illustrative example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Context | Who you are, who it is for and what you want to happen when they read it. | What would a new hire know after a week with you? | "I am head of operations. This is for my director. I want him to approve moving the delivery date." |
| 2 · Example | A text of yours that worked, with no names or client data. | What would you show them to say "like this, but for this"? | "Here is the email that got the supplier change approved in March." |
| 3 · Criterion | How long, in what tone and what it must never say. | How would you know it is right without rewriting it? | "Maximum 120 words. Direct, no apologies. Do not mention the budget." |
Before: "Write me an email to my boss asking for more time."
After: "I am head of operations writing to my director. I want her to approve moving the project delivery by one week. Here is an email of mine that worked for a similar change [paste, no names]. Maximum 120 words, direct, no apologies, and do not mention the budget."
Save pieces 1 and 3 as a standing instruction in the tool. That way you do not repeat them and only change the task.
How to fill it in 5 minutes
- Write the context in two sentences: who you are and what you want to happen when the reader finishes.
- Find an example of yours. If you have none, describe it: "like the email I send when a supplier is late".
- Write the criterion with a number (length), one word (tone) and one prohibition (what it must never say).
- Ask. If you rewrite more than two sentences, a piece is missing; it is almost always the criterion.
- The most common mistake: all the effort goes into the request sentence and none into the example. A text of yours that worked is worth more than ten adjectives.
The line that is almost always missing
The criterion. Most people give some context and sometimes an example, but nobody says what a good result is: how long, what tone, what it must never say. Without that, AI delivers something generic and you rewrite it. Same mistake we make with someone new on the team. If you know how to delegate to a person, you already know how to ask AI. If you do not, practising with AI helps you learn to delegate.
Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution. This sheet structures a conversation; it is not legal, financial or audit advice.