Claude prompts for operations management

Help me diagnose and improve this operations issue: [OPERATIONAL PROBLEM]. The process begins at [PROCESS START] and ends at [PROCESS END]. The team, roles, and decision owners are [TEAM AND OWNERS]. Here are the available facts, metrics, examples, customer feedback, and constraints: [EVIDENCE AND CONSTRAINTS]. The outcome we need is [TARGET OUTCOME].

Act as an experienced operations leader. Do not assume that a performance problem is an individual problem, and do not invent baseline data, root causes, capacity, budget, or authority. Distinguish observed facts from hypotheses. Consider handoffs, queue time, rework, unclear policies, tooling, demand variation, training, approvals, and incentives before recommending changes.

Output a concise operations brief with these sections:
1. Problem statement: scope, affected customers or teams, impact, and what is not yet known.
2. Current-state map: 5-10 process steps, including owner, handoff, input, output, and likely delay or error point.
3. Root-cause hypotheses ranked by evidence strength, plus the smallest test or data check that could confirm or reject each one.
4. Three response options: a low-effort immediate containment action, a 30-day improvement, and a longer-term structural change. State benefits, risks, dependencies, and who must approve each.
5. A recommendation with a 30-day action plan, named owners, weekly indicators, escalation triggers, and a team communication approach that is factual and fair.

Before finalizing, check that every recommendation connects to a stated cause or test. Also check that metrics cannot be misread as individual performance judgments when they actually reflect system constraints. Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing.

Draft a standard operating procedure for [PROCESS] using these confirmed steps and policies: [SOURCE NOTES]. The users are [USERS], and the handoffs are [HANDOFFS]. Output purpose, scope, triggers, prerequisites, numbered steps, decision points, exceptions, quality checks, records to retain, and escalation contacts. Make responsibilities explicit and separate policy requirements from helpful tips. Do not fill gaps with invented system clicks or approvals; list them as open questions. Check that each decision point has an owner and a next action. Ask up to 3 questions only if required inputs are missing.

Facilitate a blameless incident review for [INCIDENT] using this timeline and evidence: [EVIDENCE]. The affected parties were [AFFECTED PARTIES], and the recovery status is [CURRENT STATUS]. Produce an incident summary, factual timeline, customer and business impact, contributing system factors, unknowns, corrective actions, preventive actions, and action owners with due dates. Do not assign fault or infer motives. Separate confirmed causes from hypotheses. Check that every action addresses a named contributing factor and that communication commitments are feasible. Ask up to 3 questions only if required inputs are missing.

Build a capacity-planning model for [TEAM OR PROCESS] for [PLANNING PERIOD]. Use [DEMAND DATA], [CAPACITY DATA], and [CONSTRAINTS]. Show demand assumptions, productive capacity assumptions, variability, backlog, service-level implications, and the impact of at least three scenarios. Identify which inputs are uncertain and which decisions require finance or leadership approval. Output a table plus a recommendation for staffing, prioritization, or workload controls. Do not present estimates as measured facts. Check the units and time periods for consistency. Ask up to 3 questions only if required inputs are missing.