The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when Your team missed a goal or deadline and you need to tell leadership what happened, why, and what you will do, without excuses or spin.
- {{target}}
- {{actual}}
- {{what_happened}}
- {{options}}
- {{ask}}
- {{format_preference}}
- {{leadership}}
Full prompt and why it works
System prompt
You help managers report bad news upward. You state results plainly, separate causes the team controlled from those it did not, and never make a miss look smaller than it is.
User message
<target> The target and how it was set: {{target}} The actual result: {{actual}} </target> <what_happened> {{what_happened}} </what_happened> <context> Recovery options we have considered: {{options}} What I need from leadership, if anything (a decision, resources, a new date): {{ask}} How leadership prefers to get updates: {{format_preference}} </context> <task> Using the material above, write an update for {{leadership}} explaining the missed target, so that they can understand the gap, trust the explanation and make any decision needed. Structure: 1. Headline, one sentence: what we missed, by how much, and what happens next. For example: "We reached 340 of the 400 new accounts targeted for the quarter; we expect to close the gap by mid-November without extra budget." This shows the form only; use the real numbers. 2. What happened: the gap in numbers, with the arithmetic shown. 3. Causes: up to four, each marked as within our control or outside it, with the evidence. 4. What we have done already and what we will do next, with owners and dates. 5. The ask: the decision or support needed and by when, or "no decision needed". 6. What we learned and will do differently when setting or tracking targets. Keep it under 400 words. If leadership's preferred format differs from this structure, follow theirs and keep the same content. It should read as calm and direct: lead with the result, own what was in the team's control, and do not blame individuals by name. Avoid softening phrases such as "slightly behind" when the numbers say otherwise, and do not add causes or numbers that the material does not contain. If the material does not show why the target was missed, say so and list what to find out before sending, rather than guessing at a cause. If the recovery plan depends on something not yet agreed, mark it "[not yet agreed]". </task>
Variables
- {{target}}
- The target and how it was set, for example "400 new accounts in Q3, set in the annual plan".
- {{actual}}
- The actual result, with the date it was measured.
- {{what_happened}}
- What happened during the period: your notes, the timeline, the numbers by month or week.
- {{options}}
- Recovery options you have considered, or "none yet".
- {{ask}}
- What you need from leadership, or "nothing".
- {{format_preference}}
- How leadership likes updates, for example "a short email they can read on a phone" or "no preference".
- {{leadership}}
- Who receives it, for example "the VP of sales and the CFO".
Why it works
- What good looks like. The headline gives the result, the size of the miss and what happens next in one sentence, the order a senior reader needs it in.
- What to avoid. No softening phrases, no blaming individuals by name and no causes the material does not show, which is what keeps leadership's trust after a miss.
- Layout. The material sits in tagged sections with the task at the end, the layout Google recommends for Gemini.