# 1. Your decision and quarterly plan **Start here:** Choose a decision or a goal. Run the complete fictional request below, check the arithmetic and try the changed fact. Only then fill the card with what affected your own choice. Use the decision card for a choice, or the goal card for an improvement you have already chosen. The complete practice below teaches the difference; neither requires a school-wide reference. ### Make these instructions your own Choose the job first. Copy a request below, or say: “Help me with [job]. I want [useful result]. Ask one question at a time, follow up on my answers and read back what you understood before drafting.” Speak naturally; typing is optional. Replace brackets with relevant facts, dates and constraints. If you do not know a detail, say so. Read the answer against your notes or source, name a specific correction and ask for a revision. Keep the useful request with the context the next conversation will need. Use fictional or approved nonpersonal material. Personal projects belong in separate conversations from your school's reference. You decide what is sent, purchased or adopted. [Start with the included first lesson](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-1) for a practical introduction to prompting and follow-up. [Team AI use, effort log and source list](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/templates/recipes?section=14) are included in this kit; no other course resources are required. ### One-page decision memo: [Lesson 1](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-1) ``` Decision and why it matters: People affected, by role: Confirmed facts and sources: Assumptions still to check: Options: proceed / smaller pilot / stay as we are: Benefits, cost and risk of each: What could make each option fail: People or qualified reviewers to consult: Smallest useful next step and measure: Decision owner / review point / reason to reconsider: ``` **Example:** try weekly ordering in one department for two weeks. Agree who reviews it, how urgent requests work and how missed or duplicate requests will be counted. Compare with the current process before claiming improvement; a favorable AI assessment is not evidence of savings. ### Quarterly plan: [Lesson 2](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-2) Start with one useful goal. Record purpose; measure and definition; source report; baseline or UNKNOWN; owner-approved target; responsible role; first three actions; capacity; review date. Add a “not this quarter” list. Weekly review: What changed? What is the next action? What obstacle needs a decision? Do not rewrite the baseline to make progress appear better. Copy this card once for each goal: ``` Quarter and goal: The school experience this improves: Measure and exact definition: Source and period: Baseline, or UNKNOWN: Proposed target: owner must decide: Role responsible and capacity confirmed: First action: Second action: Third action: What must wait or stop to make room: Weekly review question: Next review and decision owner: ``` **Filled fictional example:** improve educator preparation; inspect six demonstration outlines for a learning goal, required materials and supervised practice time. The practice baseline is two complete outlines out of six. The Education Director proposes filling the missing elements, checks the lesson’s worked estimate (four revisions at 20 minutes plus 20 minutes for review) against a 45-minute weekly allowance and has an educator try one outline. The estimated 100 minutes extends into a third week before any buffer. This measures whether the preparation material contains the essentials; it does not by itself prove better teaching or student learning. [Work through the planning lesson](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-2) before substituting your own approved facts. ### Complete practice you can copy ``` Help me decide how to reduce last-minute supply orders at a fictional beauty school. We currently place three orders a week; each takes 20 minutes including approval. A single weekly order would take 30 minutes plus a 15-minute stock check. We have not measured rush fees, shortages or delivery reliability. Operations can run a two-week trial, but the owner approves any supplier change. Compare current vs proposed weekly ordering time. Identify the strongest reason the trial might fail, what to measure and a small next step. Do not claim savings beyond these supplied estimates or recommend a supplier contract. ``` Check 60 minutes now versus an estimated 45 minutes proposed. If stock checking rises to 35 minutes, the proposal becomes 65 minutes and exceeds the current estimate by five minutes. ### Use the decision and goal cards separately For a school decision or your own hobby project, name the choice and ask what could make each option fail. For a goal, supply a starting point and available time, then choose a workable first action. Do not invent extra goals to fill a quarterly sheet; check whether the planned work fits. ### Try the decision method outside school Use this fictional choice to practice without buying anything: ``` I have three hours for photography on Saturday. Option A needs 60 minutes total travel, 90 taking pictures and 30 for breaks. Option B needs 20 minutes total travel, 90 taking pictures and 30 for breaks. The times are estimates for this exercise. A has a setting I have wanted to photograph; B is more familiar. Help me compare the tradeoffs. Check time, ask what matters most and suggest a small experiment. Don't pick based only on speed or invent information about either place. ``` A uses 180 minutes, leaving no buffer. B uses 140, leaving 40. Those numbers do not decide whether the new setting is worth the travel. A useful follow-up asks whether novelty, practice time or flexibility matters most to you. Change one fact: “I now have only two hours.” Neither original plan fits. Ask for smaller options and decide which tradeoff you accept; don't let the AI preserve the old plan by quietly dropping travel or breaks. The reusable skill is checking assumptions, comparing real options and making a decision you can explain. # 2. Your meeting and conversation planner **Start here:** For a meeting, use the decision, time and role facts to request an agenda. After a fictional practice meeting, paste the notes and compare every recap action with what was agreed. Use the linked lesson for the full notes. For a meeting, name its decision before drafting an agenda. For a difficult conversation, start with observable facts and rehearse aloud using a fictional situation. ### Meeting brief: [Lesson 3](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-3) ``` Decision or outcome required: Confirmed facts attendees need: Open questions: Participants and decision owner, by role: Agenda with time limits: Confirmed decision: Action | owner role | agreed due date: Unassigned work or dates not agreed: What attendees must confirm before the recap is final: ``` **Check:** “Explore a new clinic closing checklist” is not agreement to change the closing procedure. Confirm owners and dates with the people responsible. ### Conversation card: [Lesson 4](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-4) Record observable facts, effect on work, desired change, your two-sentence opening, three questions, support you can offer, promises you cannot make and next check-in. Practice cooperative, defensive and upset responses with fictional details. Handle real HR documentation in its approved private system. ``` Fictional practice situation: Observable facts, without assumed motives: Effect on the work: Change I want to discuss: My two-sentence opening: Three questions to understand the other perspective: Support I am authorized to offer: Promises or decisions I must not make: How we will agree and confirm next steps: What sentence I improved after practice: ``` **Example opening:** “The last two recaps arrived after our agreed deadline, which delayed the next day's planning. I'd like to understand what got in the way and agree on a workable next step.” This is a fictional communication exercise, not a recommendation about a real employee or a substitute for the school's HR process. [Practice the conversation](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-4) with a fictional role before using the planner for any approved real situation. ### Choose the conversation you need Use the meeting card for a real agenda or a permitted nonpersonal recap. Use the rehearsal card for a fictional difficult conversation at school or in everyday life. Change roles, facts and the desired next step; keep assumptions about motives out. A rehearsed agreement is not the other person’s actual agreement. # 3. Your hiring and growth kit **Start here:** Run the fictional Operations brief below. Read the duties, follow up for a matching work sample and try it yourself. Fill the blank hiring cards only after you know what work they should describe. Begin with the actual duties. Use the complete fictional role brief to draft a post, then match the work sample and onboarding practice to that role. **Role brief:** job to be done; actual schedule; essential responsibilities; officially verified qualifications; approved pay/benefits; supervisor; how to apply; review owner. **Interview kit:** eight consistent job-related questions, one short practical demonstration and a scorecard with what weak, adequate and strong evidence looks like. No AI profiling or automated candidate decision. Your qualified reviewer confirms applicable hiring requirements. **30/60/90 plan:** for each stage, list source policies to learn, supervised work to practice, observable skill to demonstrate, supervisor support and check-in. Completion of reading is not proof of readiness. ``` Role: no applicant or employee records: Approved duties and qualification source: Interview question shared by all candidates: Job-related criterion: Needs development: observable evidence: Meets this criterion: observable evidence: Strong evidence: observable evidence: Separate technical or safety checks and qualified reviewer: 30-day learning and supervised practice: 60-day skill demonstration: 90-day expected work and supervisor check: Support and check-in dates to confirm: ``` **Practice criterion for Operations:** notices missing information. Needs development: invents a quantity. Meets: flags the missing quantity and asks a clear question. Strong: also identifies how the gap affects the order deadline. For an educator role, choose a teaching demonstration and separate qualified accuracy and safety checks. The scorecard supports human review; it does not rank actual applicants. **Five-minute educator activity:** one approved procedure excerpt, why it matters, a short practice scenario and an understanding check. An educator verifies technical and safety content before teaching it. ### Complete practice you can copy ``` Draft a job post from this fictional school role brief: Role: part-time Operations Coordinator. Work: track classroom supply requests, prepare weekly ordering lists, maintain the shared internal calendar and route questions to the right department. Schedule: Monday-Thursday 9 AM-1 PM, on site. Proposed pay: $24/hour. Owner must approve the pay and posting before publication. We can train our ordering process. Applicants should demonstrate clear written communication, organized task tracking and basic spreadsheet use. No license, degree, benefits or application route has been confirmed. Mark those omissions in private review notes; do not invent requirements or publish the draft. Use plain language. ``` Resolve proposed pay and the missing application route before any posting. Test the work-sample exercise yourself; use only job-related criteria and keep real applicant records out. ### Match practice to the actual skill An Operations role needs an organizing work sample; an educator role may need a teaching demonstration. For personal use, adapt the development card into your own learning plan. Change the skill and evidence of doing it well. Do not use this as permission to profile candidates or upload employment records. # 4. Your outcomes and research sheets **Start here:** Choose numbers or research. For numbers, open the complete fictional report in the linked lesson and calculate beside the response. For research, begin with the supplied A/B excerpts before looking for public sources. Choose the outcomes sheet for a supplied report or the research sheet for a question needing outside evidence. Keep calculations separate from claims about why something happened. ### Outcomes review: [Lesson 6](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-6) ``` Period and source report: Measure definition / numerator / denominator where relevant: Fictional practice data or approved nonpersonal aggregate: Arithmetic and comparability checked by: Three observations: What these figures cannot establish: Questions for responsible roles: Next human action and review: ``` **Worked practice:** 8 of 40 is 20%; 6 of 42 is about 14.3%. Difference: about 5.7 percentage points. The figures do not explain why people fell behind. “Three completed this month” is not an official graduation rate without a defined cohort and denominator. Use fictional numbers unless approved aggregation and sharing have been confirmed; a small-group threshold alone cannot guarantee anonymity. ### Claim-and-source research sheet: [Lesson 7](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-7) ``` Decision and narrow research question: Claim | direct source | date/version | supporting passage/location | limitations | checked by/date | implication for decision What was NOT FOUND: Conflicting evidence: Next question before acting: ``` Open the source. Check the right school, program, period and definition. A vendor page can support what that vendor advertises, not an independent industry-wide outcome claim. ### Complete practice you can copy ``` Compare these invented program-cost excerpts for practice: Source A, practice catalog: Tuition $9,000; required kit $800; other charges are listed elsewhere in the catalog, not supplied here. Source B, practice price sheet: Total $10,200 including kit and registration. Whether there are additional required charges is not stated. Neither excerpt supplies its date, program hours or outcomes. Make a comparison table of known amounts, missing facts and source. Can we say A is $400 cheaper? Explain what must be checked before an owner uses the comparison. Do not browse or invent citations. ``` A has a $9,800 known subtotal; B states $10,200. This does not establish comparable total costs. Open current official sources and resolve the gaps before using the comparison. ### Separate a calculation from a claim Use the outcomes card for permitted aggregates or fictional practice figures, and the research card for public evidence about a school choice or personal project. Change the period, measure and sources. Verify arithmetic and comparability; a correct calculation does not prove a cause or a recommendation. # 5. Your agency request and readiness file **Start here:** Choose a letter or readiness check. Use the complete fictional letter in the linked lesson to extract exact words; for readiness, compare the practice desk sheet with the approved note. Record what is supported. Use the original permitted notice for a request, or an applicable official requirement for readiness. Fill the missing facts through the qualified responsible person. ### Agency request: [Lesson 8](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-8) Record received date; exact requested action; exact deadline wording; cited rule/version; materials to gather; owner role; qualified reviewer; open interpretation questions; draft response location; approved sender and actual status. Keep confidential correspondence in restricted storage. A deadline stated as “ten business days from receipt” stays in that form until the responsible reviewer confirms how it is calculated. Do not turn a draft response into a sent or resolved matter. ### Readiness checklist: [Lesson 9](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-9) ``` Requirement quoted / official document, version and section: Applicability confirmed by: Evidence needed / restricted location: Owner role: Evidence inspected / date / reviewing role: Status: UNCHECKED / CHECKED / NEEDS ATTENTION / MISSING Gap, agreed next step and follow-up date: ``` Keep suggested good practices separate from requirements. Record a satisfactory status only after inspecting the actual evidence. A month summary includes only checks really performed and leaves missing weeks visible. ### Complete practice you can copy ``` Extract a task list from this invented training letter; it is not a real agency request or legal instruction: 'Please provide the current public program schedule and identify its effective date by November 6 at 5 PM Central. Send questions through the contact route on this request.' The copy supplied for this exercise does not contain that contact route. Our practice schedule is v3, effective October 1, 2026; Education has not yet checked that it is the current approved copy. List requested material, deadline as stated, unresolved facts and responsible school role. Do not invent a year for November 6, address, attachment, submission or completed action. ``` The letter lacks a year and a contact route. Confirm both with the authorized responder; Education must check the schedule version. A draft is not a submission. ### Keep the organizing method and the real authority The request card helps identify what an original notice asks, what remains unknown and who handles it. The readiness card helps compare an actual applicable requirement with evidence. You can practice extraction on public community-event instructions, but neither an everyday analogy nor an AI summary replaces qualified review of consequential notices. # 6. Your public presence and vendor comparison **Start here:** Choose a page correction or vendor comparison. Open its complete fictional example through the linked lesson, request a concrete replacement or missing-question list and check against both source excerpts. For a page correction, supply old wording and the approved replacement source. For vendors, decide your needs before comparing proposals or arranging demonstrations. ### Public presence: [Lesson 10](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-10) Record the public page or profile, current statement, approved school source, exact correction, authorized editor and readback after the edit. For FAQs, answer the prospect's question first, include conditions and provide the approved next step. For visibility observations, log date, question, search/tool, school mentioned, accuracy and cited source. Results vary; this is not a ranking guarantee. Use neutral review requests, no incentives, no review-writing for customers and no selective positive-only invitations. ### Vendor comparison: [Lesson 11](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-11) Define the school's required job, pass/fail must-haves, weighted criteria, evidence requested and reviewers before sales calls. Compare total cost, implementation, training, support, access, privacy, export, contract and exit. UNKNOWN is better than an invented feature. Ask every vendor the same core questions. Verify consequential claims in the actual written proposal. For an event, use the official agenda, prepare questions tied to your goals and write a short personal follow-up yourself. ### Complete practice you can copy ``` Compare these invented proposals for a school scheduling tool: Our needs: 10 staff users, shared internal calendar, export of events, clear account permissions and an owner-approved total cost. A: $80/month includes 10 users. Calendar shown in demo. Export, setup fees, support terms and data arrangement not supplied. B: Export demonstrated with sample data. Price and included users not supplied. Permissions and data arrangement not supplied. Return: requirement | A evidence | B evidence | question to ask. Separate demonstrated features from sales claims and unknowns. Do not select a winner, assume security or contact either vendor. ``` A has a stated monthly price but important unknowns; B has a demonstrated export but no comparable total. Prepare focused questions to resolve those missing facts before choosing. ### Give the comparison a specific purpose For a public-information correction, provide the old wording, current approved source and authorized editor. For a school vendor or personal class comparison, provide needs and comparable evidence. Change the sources, criteria and next step; keep unsupported promises and unknown costs visible. A drafted edit or comparison is not an external action. # 7. Check public sources without a noisy digest **Start here:** Copy the complete public-source request below into a chat. Inspect the returned limits, then open one permitted source yourself. Add scheduling only if a repeated manual check has proved useful. Use this when you want to notice an official update or see what people can find about the school. Start manually: bookmark the relevant agency pages and public school profiles. Choose a review time that serves the work. 1. Open the original pages and note what changed, when and which location or program it concerns. 2. If using AI search, give the school name and city to avoid similarly named businesses. Ask for direct links, dates and access gaps. 3. Open any result that could affect a decision. Route official-rule questions to the responsible qualified reviewer; a headline does not establish applicability. ``` Help me review recent public information about [school name, city] for [date range]. Give direct links, dates when available and a short factual summary. Say what you could not access. Separate new items from old results. Do not contact people or post replies. ``` If your tool cannot browse, use the bookmarked review yourself and ask AI to organize permitted excerpts. “Nothing found” means this check found nothing, not that nothing happened. Set an alert only if a manual check has proved useful. Know where to cancel the actual alert, and keep required duties in place if you stop optional AI help. [Research method](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-7) · [Ongoing assistant setup](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-13) # 8. Prepare a considerate review reply **Start here:** Read the fictional review and confirmed contact-route facts below. Send the draft request, check that it discloses no relationship or record, and keep the actual posting in your normal approved process. Use a fictional review for practice. Supply the school's actual voice and confirmed private-contact route before drafting a real reply through your approved process. ``` Draft a public reply to this fictional review: 'The clinic team was kind, but I did not realize the visit could take longer because it is a teaching clinic.' Our voice is warm, direct and respectful. Acknowledge the feedback without confirming a person's relationship to the school or describing their visit. No discount, excuse or promise. Do not invent a contact route. Keep it under 60 words. I will review and post myself. ``` Look for acknowledgment without argument: the reply can thank the writer and say the school appreciates feedback about explaining the teaching environment. It cannot establish what happened during that person's visit. Reply: “Make it sound less like a corporate apology; keep it factual.” Read it aloud. For real use, check privacy and any next step, then post through the approved account yourself. Never offer incentives or request a particular rating. [Public-information lesson](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-10) # 9. Find and fix a confusing public instruction **Start here:** Copy both fictional page excerpts into a new chat with the request below. Compare old wording and replacement, then give an authorized editor the precise change. Reopen a published page only after an approved edit. Start with one page a prospect or guest uses. Compare it with the current approved source, draft the exact replacement and give it to the authorized editor. ``` Approved practice process: the website's Request a Tour form accepts requests; Admissions replies with options and confirms a visit. Fictional public page: 'Drop in any evening, your place is reserved.' Identify the unsupported promises. Write a replacement under 45 words and an editor note showing the supporting process. Do not invent opening hours or publish anything. ``` The replacement should point to the form and explain confirmation. After an authorized edit, open the live page on a phone and follow the link. Keep the page address, old wording and corrected wording together so the editor has a clear job. For a broader visibility check, try a few questions a prospect would ask and record the date, tool, answer accuracy and cited source. Search results vary. An accurate public page is an improvement you can inspect; one favorable AI answer is not a ranking guarantee. [Full public-information method](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-10) # 10. Turn a checked item into a useful readiness note **Start here:** Use the fictional approved hours and desk-sheet mismatch below. Ask for a work note, check which copy needs attention and leave replacement pending until somebody inspects the real changed copy. Use a requirement whose applicability your qualified representative has confirmed. Inspect the real evidence in its restricted location; give AI only approved nonpersonal observations to organize. ``` Fictional internal practice, not a legal requirement: P1 says the desk sheet must show current approved clinic hours. Approved v2 says Tue/Thu 10 AM-3 PM. The sheet inspected at the front desk is v1, Mon-Fri 9 AM-5 PM. The clinic lead confirms hours; Operations replaces desk copies. No follow-up date is agreed. Draft a short note: requirement, evidence inspected, gap, responsible role and next step. Do not claim a replacement or invent a deadline. ``` The gap is the actual outdated desk copy. After confirmation and replacement, inspect the new copy before marking this item checked. Keep other items unresolved until someone checks them; this one exercise cannot establish overall readiness. Use your normal review calendar. An optional AI reminder can be stopped without cancelling any underlying school obligation. [Readiness lesson](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-9) # 11. Turn numbers into better questions **Start here:** Enter the complete fictional figures below. Ask for observations, calculate each ratio yourself and separate an observed difference from an explanation of its cause. Practice with fictional data. For real work, your reporting and privacy roles must approve the definitions, aggregation and sharing first; removing names alone does not guarantee anonymity. ``` Fictional school snapshots: this month, 40 enrolled and 8 more than 40 hours behind; last month, 42 enrolled and 6 more than 40 hours behind. Definitions match for this practice, but populations may have changed. Calculate the shares and percentage-point change. Give one supported observation and three questions for Education. Do not infer a cause or identify individual students. ``` Check with a calculator: 20% versus about 14.3%, a rise of about 5.7 percentage points. The data do not establish why. A useful follow-up asks what additional context or comparable period would help, rather than assigning blame. Use [the outcomes sheet](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/templates/recipes?section=4) to keep the definitions, calculation and next human question together. Official reporting still uses its governing definitions and school process. [Numbers lesson](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-6) # 12. Draft an answer to an inquiry **Start here:** Copy the general fictional question and source notes below. Ask for a short reply and check its conditions and next step. Keep internal sources separate and send nothing from the practice. You can gain value without connecting an inbox. Start with the general question and relevant approved facts; leave names and contact records in the admissions system. ``` Write a fictional Admissions reply under 100 words. Question: Do you offer evening study, and can I visit after work? Facts: Color Foundations meets Tue/Thu 5-8 PM; start date unknown. The website's Request a Tour form takes requests; Admissions replies with options and confirms. Evening tour slots have not been supplied. Use a warm, direct voice and [NAME] for the greeting. Answer first, then give one next step. No invented availability or promises. Put sources and missing details below the reply, not inside it. Do not send or book anything. ``` The answer can explain the evening classes and form, but class times do not prove evening tour availability. Reply: “Shorten the program detail; make the visit next step easier to find.” Check the form yourself, resolve any missing facts and personalize in the approved system before sending. For another inquiry, change the question, relevant facts and next step. Supply only the source material needed; no other course or finished school reference is required. [Keep this method useful](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-12) # 13. Keep the work you will use **Start here:** Choose one method you tried. Count setup, use and checking, identify the useful output and use the keep/change/stop decision below. A blank tracker is not a reason to invent a routine. Review the methods you tried. Include checking time and useful results, then choose what to keep, improve or stop. Keep a useful plan, one honest review note and a reusable prompt with the source and checks someone needs to use it. A fictional practice example is enough to learn the method. Expand into a recurring routine or staff handoff when it helps; no month-long record or completed shared reference is required. For every active routine, record purpose, input, trigger/timezone, tool, owner, reviewer, next action, actual latest run and stop method. A saved task is not proof of execution; a draft is not a sent message. Keep routines that help and simplify or stop those that do not. Review total effort including corrections. Schedule a specific use of any recovered time, such as educator coaching. Do not claim guaranteed savings, compliance or formal certification from the exercise. ### Complete practice you can copy ``` Review these fictional weekly routine notes: Staff-message drafting: manual, 15 minutes drafting plus 10 checking; previous manual process took 40 minutes. Operations owns it. Planning reminder: ordinary calendar, Monday 15 minutes; owner uses it to plan. It does not read email or create the plan itself. Public-mentions digest: daily AI task, seven runs taking 10 minutes each to check. Returned old links; no useful new finding this week. Owner controls its task settings. Keep decisions provisional. Show effort and useful output, then suggest keep/improve/stop with reasons. Do not claim any routine has been turned off. ``` Check 25 versus 40 minutes for drafting; digest checking took 70 minutes. Any stop decision still needs the owner to pause or delete the actual task and inspect its status. ### Judge the routine by the help it provides Change the list to the school or everyday routines you tried. Count time spent checking, describe a useful result and keep, improve or stop accordingly. No particular number of routines is required. If stopping a recurring task, inspect its saved status; ending the conversation may leave it scheduled. # 14. Team AI use and working notes **Start here:** Choose just the card needed for today’s task. Fill it from actual approved facts or a fictional practice, try the saved request in a new conversation and repair any missing context. Copy only the card you need: team agreement, effort comparison, source list or reusable request. Fill the real roles and account arrangement before adopting a team policy. ### A short team-use agreement This is a starting worksheet for your own school policy, not a legal policy supplied as complete. Review it against your school's existing requirements before adopting it. ``` Approved tools and account owner: Permitted tasks: [for example, drafting nonpersonal staff messages]. Information we keep out: student/employee/guest records, credentials, private correspondence and anything our school has not approved. Before using an answer: check facts against the original source, review tone and promises, and confirm the intended next step. Who approves sending, publishing, purchases or school decisions: Who helps when someone is unsure: If sensitive information is shared by mistake: stop sharing and contact [designated role] through [approved incident route]. If we share a project/reference: access owner and update owner: Review date and responsible school reviewer: ``` Discuss one permitted task and one excluded input with your team. Do not share a password or assume that a consumer account is approved for school information. ### Effort log Use a normal document or spreadsheet. Include prompting, editing and checking; label estimates as your own observations and verify savings before claiming them. | Task | Usual time, if known | Time with AI including checks | Useful result or reason to stop | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Task] | [Minutes or unknown] | [Minutes] | [What you could use] | ### Source list | Task | Original document/link and section | Version/date | Role who confirms it | Question still open | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Task] | [Source] | [Date or unknown] | [Role] | [Gap] | You only need the sources for your chosen task. Keep private records in their existing approved systems; record their responsible role here rather than copying them into AI. ### Save a reusable prompt ``` Task and intended reader: Facts or approved excerpt to provide each time: Request and desired format: What the AI must not assume: What I will check before using the result: Who takes the next action: ``` ### Write down the agreement that exists For a school team, fill roles, permitted tools, excluded material and the real review route. For yourself, use a separate brief note on limits and what you check. Use the effort log only when a comparison would help; include correction time and record unknown baselines honestly. # 15. Your ongoing assistant setup **Start here:** Start with the complete fictional morning brief below. Run it manually, change one deadline and compare the revision. Then inspect what approved reading or action access would add before deciding whether to connect anything. Start with one assistant responsibility and the fictional morning brief in the linked lesson. Check changed facts before considering real connections or recurrence. [Work through the assistant lesson](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-13) for the Dot and Grok Bot setup paths and fictional practice. Use one platform; no other course purchase is needed. ### Try the complete brief first Copy this into a new conversation and send it: ``` Prepare a short owner brief from these fictional facts only. Tuesday, October 20. All times America/Chicago. Calendar: educator planning 9-9:30 AM; supplier call 11-11:30 AM; curriculum review 2-3 PM. Other availability is unknown. Supplier message A: proposed order needs my confirmation by 10 AM; it has not been approved. Education message B: review two demonstration topics before tomorrow. Vendor message C: optional software demo next week, no deadline. I want 30 minutes for curriculum preparation. Show fixed commitments, decisions and suggested next steps. Keep a suggested focus block separate from a booked event. Identify sources by the calendar or message letter. Do not send, approve an order, edit a calendar or create a schedule. ``` Check the 10 AM decision before the 11 AM call. Ask for a draft question about extending that deadline; it must not claim an extension was granted. Then change the deadline to noon and remove the supplier call. Ask again and compare the new brief with those changed facts. No connection is required. ### Your working brief ``` Responsibility and useful result: Standing preferences: timezone, working hours, brief format: Today's priorities: temporary, not permanent instructions: Approved source account or selected nonpersonal excerpts: Information excluded from this job: Actual permissions granted: reading versus changing/sending: Actions that need my approval: Where I review the result and its sources: When to notify me and what counts as urgent: One-time task or verified recurring arrangement: How I pause work, cancel recurrence and remove access: Where I keep a recoverable copy of these instructions: ``` ### Briefing request ``` Use only these approved inputs: [nonpersonal practice material]. Show fixed commitments, approaching decisions, suggested replies and one realistic focus block. Keep facts and suggestions separate. Point to the source for each item. Say what you could not inspect. Do not send, forward, archive or delete email, change my calendar, contact people, spend, connect accounts or start recurring work. Ask when an important fact is missing. Prepare the brief once now. ``` ### Inspect the result Does the brief preserve deadlines and distinguish a proposed order from an approved one? Are focus blocks suggestions rather than claimed bookings? Does a reply draft avoid making a commitment you have not chosen? If the source is unavailable, does the assistant report the gap? Use the fictional calendar and three messages in the lesson, then change a deadline and cancel a practice meeting. Try again before choosing a recurring arrangement. No real mailbox or calendar connection is needed for that exercise. ### Access review **Inspect:** open the actual app/plugin connection settings, select the service and read the account and data/action permissions before confirming. If only learning, cancel. If the school approves a suitable connection, use the supported sign-in flow and inspect the saved permissions afterward. | Needed capability | Access to inspect, where supported | Without it | | --- | --- | --- | | Notice new routine messages | Suitable approved email reading | Supply the selected permitted messages yourself | | Inspect appointments | Suitable approved calendar reading | Supply the schedule excerpt yourself | | Deliver a reviewed reply | Supported email sending plus required approval | Copy and send the checked draft yourself | | Create an agreed meeting | Supported calendar editing plus required approval | Enter the checked event yourself | Separate the permission from the specific decision. If supported, action controls and explicit recipient/content/time approval help govern external actions; a prompt is not a technical restriction on underlying access. Test only with separately approved harmless teaching material and inspect the real sent item or event. Know how to stop the job, cancel recurrence and revoke access; they are separate controls. Record the connected account, actual permissions, school approval and removal route. A prompt limiting the assistant to vendor mail does not limit a connector that can read the entire inbox. Use an appropriately restricted approved source or selected nonpersonal excerpts instead. Never record passwords or recovery codes here. ### Decide whether to keep it Note what important work the brief helped you handle, the time spent checking it and any missing or noisy items. Adjust its job and notifications before adding more responsibilities. Check the actual schedule or task controls when stopping; ending a conversation is not proof that future work has stopped. ### Add one responsibility at a time The same bounded brief can support a school meeting or a manually supplied weekend agenda. Change sources, timing, delivery and the decisions you retain. Test changed facts and missing access with fictional inputs first. Account connections require their own permission check; a written limit does not reduce a connector’s actual reach. # 16. Your owner-review workshop Use beside [Run an owner review](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-14). Prepare a decision, a meeting and a next-step plan from the same facts so the work stays coherent. ### Fictional source packet Report A: 40 new inquiries last week; 26 recorded first replies within one business day; 8 later; 6 missing a reply time. Missing recording does not prove no reply. No conversion or revenue data exists. Process B: front desk records interest and contact preference in the approved inquiry system. Admissions owns the reply and confirmed visits. Education clarifies program questions. Owner note C: scattered messages make ownership difficult to see. No new response-time policy, staffing or software purchase is approved. Capacity D: Admissions can try 30 minutes of daily triage for two weeks, with details and ownership to agree. ### Copyable first request ``` Use the fictional packet above. Interview me one question at a time, then read back the evidence and choice. Compare no change, a small existing-tool trial and buying a new platform. Recommend a next step based on our actual facts, identify what could change it and draft a one-page decision brief. Separate proposals from agreement and missing recording from confirmed unanswered inquiries. Contact nobody. ``` ### Illustrative decision brief **Problem:** inquiry ownership and reply-time recording are inconsistent. **Baseline:** 26/40, or 65%, have a reply recorded within one business day; 8 are later; 6 times are missing. No claim of 14 unanswered inquiries or lost revenue is supported. **Recommendation:** discuss a two-week daily triage trial in existing tools before buying another system. **Reason:** visibility and handoffs are the observed gaps; a new platform has not been established as the solution. **Proposed process:** Admissions checks new and pending items in its existing system, identifies the next action and keeps ownership while Education clarifies questions. **Decisions to agree:** status meanings, capacity, Education route, start timing and review. **Review:** check recording consistency, ownership and actual workload; ask the team what the aggregate misses. No new public response promise is implied. ### Meeting and recap Ask for a 20-minute agenda: confirm facts 5 minutes; agree status/handoffs 5; confirm capacity/roles 5; decisions/open items 5. For this new fictional meeting record, owner and Admissions agree a two-week trial; Admissions accepts daily triage within 30 minutes. Education will identify a contact before launch but no deadline is agreed. The owner will review results with Admissions. Nothing is purchased. Ask AI for a recap with decisions, actions, missing dates and next confirmation. It may now say the trial is agreed, but cannot invent its start or Education's date. ### Follow-up evidence A later fictional audit has 40 inquiries: 32 timely replies recorded, 6 late and 2 missing times; triage averaged 28 minutes daily. The recorded timely share is 80%, 15 percentage points above 65%. Populations differ and no revenue or enrollment measure exists. Ask whether to keep, change or stop the routine using both the observations and the team's experience; do not claim causation or guaranteed gains. ### Reusable owner-review request ``` Help decide [choice] from [approved evidence and source definitions]. Interview me about gaps. Separate facts, assumptions and proposals. Compare realistic alternatives and recommend what best fits the stated priorities. Show why and what would change the recommendation. Then help prepare the next real conversation, record actual agreements and define the smallest useful review. Do not invent authority, commitments, private data, costs or outcomes. ``` Keep the brief, checked recap and review question in your usual working documents. The goal is a decision people can carry out, not a long AI report. # 17. Practice owner briefing source # Beauty School: owner briefing source This fictional practice source uses Tuesday, October 20, with all times in America/Chicago. No actual inbox, appointment, recipient or supplier is represented. Calendar: - 9:00-9:30: educator planning meeting. - 11:00-11:30: equipment supplier call. - 2:00-3:00: curriculum review. Messages: - A. Supplier: Please confirm the proposed order by 10 AM today. We have not received your approval. - B. Education Director: Please review the two demonstration topics before tomorrow's educator workshop. - C. Vendor: Would you like a software demonstration sometime next week? No deadline supplied. Owner preference: Protect 30 minutes for curriculum preparation. Do not assume availability outside the calendar entries shown. # 18. Your assistant job and model decision Use [the owner-assistant walkthrough](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-13). Ordinary chat can complete this practice without an ongoing agent. **Job:** prepare a short owner brief from supplied calendar and messages. **Finished result:** fixed commitments, time-sensitive decisions and draft next steps, each tied to the supplied source. **Limits:** no sending, booking, purchasing or private individual records. **Mode:** start with a model that can accurately read and organize the supplied text; use deeper reasoning for conflicting constraints. Current external facts require verified source access. ``` Interview me about one responsibility I want help with. Ask one question at a time until the result, sources, limits, timing and success check are clear. Read the brief back before doing the job. Do not connect accounts or create a recurring task during this setup. ``` Record product/workspace, model/mode if shown, included usage, separately billed connections and the person who manages payment. An API connection may incur charges outside a chat subscription. Inspect the actual account terms before enabling extra usage. # 19. Your assistant access and stop check Use [ongoing assistant permissions](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-13). This check belongs to the whole job, not just its prompt. | Responsibility | Suitable starting input/access | Keep separate | | --- | --- | --- | | Prepare one brief | Supplied fictional calendar/messages | Inbox or calendar connection | | Discover new approved routine messages | Reading only where scope is suitable | Sending, deleting and forwarding | | Suggest meeting times | Approved calendar reading | Event creation and invitations | | Run at an agreed time | An actual saved supported task | Unrequested recurring work | **Before granting access:** inspect the actual account, data scope and action rights. Choose less access when it fully supports the task. If the provider bundles unsuitable rights, use a manual source excerpt. **Before relying on it:** record the task entry, timezone, source connection, next run, completion record and stop method. Check one harmless result. Closing an app or muting an alert is not proof the task stopped; inspect its saved task and any delegated/scheduled work using the product's current controls. **If it fails:** preserve the exact symptom, identify a content/source/access/usage issue, choose one supported correction and verify in the source app. Do not let repeated attempts expand the approved scope. # 20. Your decision handoff and saved result Use [the owner-review workshop](https://cowanworks.com/aicourse/learn/course-3/lesson-14). Keep this complete case with this course's practice sources. ``` Prepare a restart note containing the decision, current confirmed facts and their source/version, assumptions still untested, approved next action, actions performed and exact next question. Mark superseded facts. Keep a draft separate from a sent message or an approved commitment. Do not claim access to an unavailable file. ``` Review the note before moving to a fresh chat. Ask the receiving conversation to read back the constraints and open decision first. Automatic context summaries can omit details; the source remains your check. Archiving the old chat does not revoke connections or establish deletion. Save the checked decision brief in your normal document app, reopen it and verify the figures and next action. If your AI offers a download, open the actual file. A filename in a response does not establish a saved document. Keep the original source available and label the current version.