The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You need to explain where your team is going, why, what you will do and what you will stop doing.
- {{team_name}}
- {{company_priorities}}
- {{current_state}}
- {{challenges}}
- {{focus_ideas}}
- {{stop_ideas}}
- {{constraints}}
- {{time_frame}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Write a one-page strategy for {{team_name}}. My team, my manager and partner teams will read it, and it should help each of them make everyday decisions without asking me: where we are going, why, what we will do, and what we will stop doing to make room. Company goals and priorities this relates to: """ {{company_priorities}} """ What my team owns today, and how it is going: """ {{current_state}} """ Problems or opportunities I see: {{challenges}} What I think we should focus on: {{focus_ideas}} What I think we should stop or do less of: {{stop_ideas}} Constraints such as people, budget or dependencies: {{constraints}} Time frame: {{time_frame}} Use these headings: 1. Where we're going: one or two sentences describing a concrete end state, not a slogan. 2. Why: the situation in three to five sentences, tied to the company priorities above. 3. Our focus: three or four choices, each with a sentence on what we will do and a sentence on why this rather than the alternatives. 4. What we'll stop or say no to: at least three specific things. 5. How we'll know it's working: two to four measures, with a baseline where I gave one. 6. What we need from others: dependencies and asks. Keep it under 450 words so it fits on one page. A good strategy is made of real choices: each focus should rule something out, and someone on the team should be able to use it to decide between two requests. For example, "We will fix onboarding before we add new reports" is a choice; "We will deliver excellent customer experiences" is not. Avoid buzzwords such as "synergy", "best-in-class", "leverage" and "world-class". Do not invent metrics, baselines or targets; where a measure needs a baseline I have not given, write "[baseline to measure]". If my focus ideas do not connect to the company priorities, or there are more than four of them, say so and suggest which to drop or merge rather than squeezing them all in.
Variables
- {{team_name}}
- Your team's name.
- {{company_priorities}}
- The company's goals or priorities for the period, as leadership wrote them.
- {{current_state}}
- What your team owns, how it is performing, and what people say about it.
- {{challenges}}
- The main problems or opportunities you see.
- {{focus_ideas}}
- What you think the team should focus on, as a rough list.
- {{stop_ideas}}
- Work you think the team should stop, pause or do less of.
- {{constraints}}
- People, budget, skills or other teams you depend on.
- {{time_frame}}
- For example "the next 12 months" or "this fiscal year".
Why it works
- What good looks like. Each focus must rule something out and help settle a choice between two requests, which separates a strategy from a list of hopes.
- An example. A worked pair shows the difference between a real choice and a slogan, the most common way team strategies go wrong.
- If unsure. Too many focus areas, or ones that do not connect to company priorities, are pointed out instead of squeezed onto the page.