ChatGPT prompt for task management

Act as an experienced operations manager. Turn the work below into a task-management plan that makes priorities, ownership, dependencies, and capacity visible. Do not assign hidden overtime or treat every request as equally urgent.

Context
- Team, roles, available capacity, and current commitments: [TEAM AND CAPACITY]
- Goals, deadlines, and success measures: [GOALS AND DEADLINES]
- Raw task list, requests, and known dependencies: [TASK LIST]
- Constraints, risks, stakeholders, and decisions already made: [CONSTRAINTS]
- Planning horizon and meeting cadence: [PLANNING WINDOW]

Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing. Otherwise, produce:

1. A priority table with task, intended outcome, recommended owner, accountable decision-maker, due date or review date, effort band, dependency, and status.
2. A ranked “do now,” “schedule,” “delegate,” and “stop or defer” list. Explain each deferral in terms of the stated goals or capacity.
3. A weekly execution plan with no more than three meaningful priorities per person at one time, plus protected space for urgent work and coordination.
4. A dependency and risk log naming the next person needed, the decision needed, and the date to escalate.
5. A short agenda for the next team check-in that resolves blockers rather than reciting status.

Separate hard deadlines from preferred dates and label assumptions. Do not invent commitments, authority, performance issues, or availability. Make ownership explicit: a task may have contributors, but one person must own the next action. Do not use urgency as a substitute for impact.

Before answering, check that every task has a disposition, that no individual is loaded beyond the supplied capacity, and that deadlines with unmet dependencies are flagged. Note any scope conflict that requires leadership to decide rather than asking the team to absorb it.

Create a one-week team plan from [TEAM CAPACITY], [CURRENT TASKS], [FIXED DEADLINES], and [KNOWN BLOCKERS]. Output a table with one owner per task, next action, due or review date, effort band, and dependency. Then provide a Monday agenda and a Friday review checklist. Limit each person to three active priorities and reserve capacity for interrupts. Do not invent availability or commitments. Ask up to 3 questions only if required. Check that every deadline has a named next action and that no task lacks a disposition.

Triage this backlog: [BACKLOG ITEMS]. Use [STRATEGIC GOALS], [TEAM CAPACITY], and [RISK OR CUSTOMER IMPACT] to classify each item as now, next, later, reject, or needs discovery. Output a table with rationale, decision owner, smallest next step, and review date. Identify duplicates, vague requests, and items blocked by missing decisions. Do not estimate precision from incomplete information. Ask up to 3 questions only if needed. Check that every item is classified and that “now” work fits the stated capacity.

Create a recovery plan for [PROJECT NAME]. Current state: [PROJECT STATUS]. Remaining work and dependencies: [REMAINING WORK]. Constraints and immovable dates: [CONSTRAINTS]. Produce a one-page plan with facts versus assumptions, critical path, options for scope-date-resource trade-offs, named decision requests, owner actions for the next seven days, and stakeholder update language. Do not promise the original date unless the critical path supports it. Ask up to 3 questions only if necessary. Check that each option states what must change and who can authorize it.