Create a reusable prompt pack for an assistant supporting [PRINCIPAL OR TEAM]. Their recurring work includes [RECURRING RESPONSIBILITIES], their working preferences are [WORKING PREFERENCES], and the tools, records, or boundaries they must respect are [OPERATING CONSTRAINTS]. The people and projects currently in scope are [CURRENT CONTEXT]. Build 8 copy-paste prompts for the highest-value recurring tasks. Include prompts for inbox triage, meeting preparation, meeting follow-up, task tracking, research briefing, scheduling coordination, status updates, and one task specific to the responsibilities I provide. Each prompt must have clearly labeled fill-in fields, an explicit output format, and a decision rule for ambiguity. For each prompt: 1. State what source material to paste and which facts must not be inferred. 2. Specify who owns the final decision, message, commitment, or calendar change. 3. Ask the model to distinguish facts, open questions, recommendations, and next actions. 4. Require it to surface deadlines, dependencies, commitments, and sensitive information that needs human handling. 5. Prevent it from sending messages, changing calendars, disclosing confidential material, or making promises unless I explicitly instruct it to do so. Produce a table with task, when to use it, and the full prompt. Keep each prompt between 120 and 180 words so it is usable without extensive editing. Also produce a one-page “daily operating prompt” for a morning priorities review. Before answering, check that no prompt assumes access to systems or authority I did not give it and that every prompt names a concrete deliverable. Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing.
Fill in
| Placeholder | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [PRINCIPAL OR TEAM] | Name the person or team being supported and their role. | Maya Chen, VP of Customer Success at a 90-person software company. |
| [RECURRING RESPONSIBILITIES] | List the assistant’s recurring tasks and approximate frequency. | Daily inbox triage, weekly leadership meeting prep, customer escalation follow-ups, quarterly planning trackers, and travel coordination. |
| [WORKING PREFERENCES] | Describe communication style, priorities, meeting habits, and preferred update format. | Maya wants a 9 a.m. priority brief with three decisions, concise bullets, and no meeting longer than 25 minutes unless essential. |
| [OPERATING CONSTRAINTS] | List confidentiality rules, tools, approval gates, and records the assistant may use. | Never send customer emails or change calendar events without approval. Treat renewal figures and employee feedback as confidential. |
| [CURRENT CONTEXT] | Provide current projects, stakeholders, deadlines, and recurring meetings. | Renewal planning due October 18; weekly leadership meeting Tuesday; three escalated accounts: Brindle, AltoWorks, and Kite Labs. |
How to use
- List the work you repeat every week, not only broad labels such as “admin,” so the pack covers real handoffs.
- Name approval boundaries directly, especially for customer messages, contracts, calendar changes, personnel information, and spending.
- Test one prompt on a completed task and compare its output with the format your principal actually uses.
- Follow up with: “Turn the inbox triage prompt into a version that sorts messages into reply, delegate, calendar, read later, and sensitive.”
Variations
Meeting brief
Use this before a meeting where the principal needs decisions and context quickly.
Prepare a meeting brief for [MEETING NAME] on [DATE] using [SOURCE MATERIAL]. The principal is [PRINCIPAL], and the desired meeting outcome is [OUTCOME]. Produce: a 75-word purpose statement, attendees with role and likely interest, decisions requested, agenda with time boxes, relevant history, risks, and three suggested questions. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions. Do not invent attendee views, commitments, or prior decisions. Flag missing pre-reads or owners. Check that every agenda item advances the stated outcome. Ask up to 3 questions only if required inputs are missing.
Action tracker
Use this after a meeting, email thread, or project update with many loose commitments.
Turn [NOTES OR THREAD] into an action tracker for [PROJECT]. Use [KNOWN OWNERS AND DATES] as the source of truth. Produce a table with action, owner, due date, dependency, status, and evidence source. Separate explicit commitments from proposed actions and unresolved decisions. If a task has no owner or date, label it “needs assignment” rather than guessing. Add a short escalation list for work blocked by a dependency or deadline within [TIME WINDOW]. Check that no action is duplicated and each deadline is supported by the source. Ask up to 3 questions only if inputs are missing.
Research brief
Use this when an assistant needs a short, source-based brief before a decision or conversation.
Create a decision brief on [TOPIC] for [DECISION MAKER]. The decision or conversation is [USE CASE], and the available sources are [SOURCES OR NOTES]. Produce a 500-word brief with: question, confirmed facts, relevant context, options, tradeoffs, open questions, and source links or source labels. Mark every inference as an inference. Do not fabricate market data, quotes, customer views, or competitor claims. End with three questions the decision maker should answer before acting. Check that each recommendation follows from cited material. Ask up to 3 questions only if required inputs are missing.
Tips
- Build separate prompts for drafting and sending: a useful draft can still require approval because it creates a commitment, reveals information, or changes a relationship.
- Make task trackers distinguish explicit commitments from ideas raised in discussion; otherwise tentative comments quietly become assigned work.
- For meeting briefs, lead with decisions needed and unresolved questions, not a chronological recap of prior conversations.
- Use one shared vocabulary for status, such as not started, in progress, blocked, and done, so updates can be compared across projects.
FAQ
Can an AI assistant manage my inbox without supervision?
It can classify, summarize, and draft, but final handling should stay with a person when messages create commitments, involve sensitive data, or depend on relationship context.
What is the most useful first prompt to create?
Start with a morning priorities review if work arrives through many channels. It reveals the decisions, deadlines, and information sources the rest of the prompt pack must handle.
Should every prompt use the same output format?
Use consistent labels for priorities, owners, dates, and blockers. Let the format differ when the task needs a different artifact, such as a meeting brief versus an action tracker.