Start with a better brief. Not a better prompt.

Before looking for more elaborate wording, ask a simpler question: have you explained the work?

“Write a good proposal” is an instruction, but it is not much of a brief. It leaves the reader, the decision, the evidence, the constraints and the definition of “good” largely unstated.

A person receiving that instruction would need context. It is useful to make that context explicit when working with AI too.

Start with the decision

What should the output help someone do? Choose between options, prepare for a meeting, understand a change or complete an internal task?

A defined use makes the rest of the brief easier. It gives you a reason to include some information and leave other information out.

Next, name the audience. A working note for someone who knows the subject is different from an explanation for a new colleague. “Professional tone” does not describe that difference very well.

A brief with six useful parts

Describe the objective: the task and the decision it supports.

Identify the audience: who will use the result and what they already know.

Provide permitted sources: the information that may be used, with any important boundaries. Do not assume that a system knows the current state of your business.

Set constraints: what must be included, what must not be invented and what should happen when information is missing.

Specify the output: a short memo, a comparison table or a draft with clearly marked questions.

Define review: what a person will check before the output is accepted.

These are not magic ingredients or a guarantee of correctness. They are a way to make the task and its limits visible.

An example: a meeting brief

A weak request might be: “Research this account and give me a great sales brief.”

A more useful, hypothetical brief would be:

“Prepare an internal briefing for the account manager before a first meeting. Use only the supplied company information and approved notes. Separate observed facts from questions to ask. Do not infer a prospect’s budget or priorities. Include the relevant background, three open questions and any missing information. The account manager will verify factual claims before using the brief.”

The improvement is not a special phrase. It is that the person directing the task has made several decisions in advance.

Review what the brief cannot solve

A clear instruction does not repair an unreliable source. It does not grant permission to use confidential information. It does not remove the need to check an important conclusion.

When the output is weak, diagnose the cause. Was the source incomplete? Was the task unclear? Was a judgement being asked of the system that should remain with a person?

Changing the prompt repeatedly without answering those questions can become another form of busywork.

Make the method shareable

Once a brief works well enough for its purpose, record the task, the sources, the review criteria and a useful example. Ask another person to follow it.

That is the beginning of team capability: not a collection of clever prompts, but a shared understanding of what the work requires.

Explore the Capability Programme for role-specific practice in briefing, evaluation and repeatable ways of working.