Work and Cowork
Delegate a finished result with a review point.
Delegate useful AI work with source boundaries, deliverables, acceptance criteria and review points for reports, campaigns and recurring tasks.
Updated
Define the handoff
‘Research this topic’ leaves the end point vague. A brief for a decision meeting has a reader, length and deadline. A spreadsheet has fields, formulas and a user. State what you expect to open or read when the work finishes.
For a report, ask for the file, the source list and unresolved questions. For a campaign, ask for a coherent set of draft assets and a review of whether their offers match. Give each output a purpose.
Create [deliverable] for [audience] to support [decision]. Use [sources] within [date range]. Deliver [files or formats] with references and an assumptions list. Finished means [acceptance criteria]. Ask before making a consequential external change.
Give connected sources clear scope
Access to a tool does not explain which material belongs in the task. Name the project, period and source types. If a file contains customer data, minimise what the task needs. Conflicting versions should become a question instead of a silent merge.
Use only the approved campaign brief, the current product sheet and the last four weekly summaries for [project]. Identify the latest version of each. If dates, prices or commitments conflict, list the conflict and ask before finalising the assets.
Place review points where judgement matters
Some tasks need an early decision on direction; others can produce a draft immediately. Ask for a plan when alternative approaches would lead to substantially different work. A review point should resolve a choice rather than interrupt every routine step.
First propose three approaches with their trade-offs. Wait for my choice before producing the final set. After the direction is chosen, complete the draft and run the agreed checks without stopping for routine formatting choices.
Improve the workflow before repeating it
Save the prompt only after the output has been useful on real inputs. Note where context was missing, which checks caught errors and which steps required judgement. If you later schedule it, define what change is worth reporting and what should stay quiet.
Review this completed task. Identify the inputs we had to clarify and the checks that changed the output. Rewrite the reusable brief with those lessons and mark the decisions that still require a human each time.
Common questions
How is a work prompt different from a chat prompt?
It defines the completed deliverable, source scope, checks and handoff. The assistant can then carry out a sequence of steps while you review the result.
Keep exploring
Sources and editorial note
Guidance checked 9 October 2026. These AI-assisted guides and original templates are reviewed against the linked sources. Results depend on your inputs and available tools. Model recommendations are editorial starting points, not comparative test results.