The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when Planning season is here and you need a few team goals that tie to company priorities and can be checked at the end of the quarter.
- {{company_priorities}}
- {{team_scope}}
- {{capacity}}
- {{last_quarter}}
- {{committed_work}}
- {{team_name}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
<company_priorities> {{company_priorities}} </company_priorities> <team_context> Team and what it owns: {{team_scope}} Capacity next quarter: {{capacity}} Last quarter's results: {{last_quarter}} Work already committed: {{committed_work}} </team_context> <constraints> - Each goal ties to one of the company priorities above, named in brackets after it. - Use only baselines and numbers from the context. Where a goal needs a baseline that is missing, write "baseline: to measure" and make measuring it the first key result, instead of inventing a number. - Each key result is an outcome someone could check at the end of the quarter, not an activity. For example, "Cut median time to first reply from 9 hours to 4 hours" is a key result; "Launch a new library of reply templates" is an activity. - Fit the goals to the stated capacity, including the committed work. Do not plan as if the team had no other work. </constraints> <format> Markdown: - 3 to 4 goals, each a one-sentence objective with 2 to 3 key results in a numbered list. - After each goal, one line on what the team will stop or deprioritize to make room for it. - A short table at the end with the columns Key result, Baseline, Target, How it will be measured, Owner (write "to assign" if the context names no one). </format> <task> Based on the priorities and context above, draft quarterly goals for {{team_name}}, for the manager to review with the team before they are final. Good goals should be few, ambitious but reachable with the stated capacity, and measurable without debate. If the company priorities and the team's scope do not connect clearly, say so and suggest one question to ask leadership before planning. </task>
Variables
- {{company_priorities}}
- The company's priorities or goals for the period, as leadership wrote them.
- {{team_scope}}
- What the team owns, in a sentence or two.
- {{capacity}}
- Who is available next quarter, for example "five engineers, one on leave for half the quarter".
- {{last_quarter}}
- Results against last quarter's goals, with numbers where you have them.
- {{committed_work}}
- Work already promised for next quarter. Write "none" if there is none.
- {{team_name}}
- The team's name.
Why it works
- An example. A worked pair separates a key result from an activity, the most common way goals turn into a task list.
- What to avoid. A missing baseline becomes a key result to measure it, instead of an invented starting number.
- Length. Goals are sized to the stated capacity, with a line on what the team will stop doing, so the plan is realistic.