# Hand off a task to someone else: prompt chain Turn a task you do in your head into a plain hand-off for another person, with the materials listed, the steps written, nothing sensitive left in, and a fresh reader's questions answered. **Made for:** Anyone who hands work to someone else, whether a colleague, a new hire, a volunteer or a part-time helper. ## Before you start Have these ready: - **The task and how you do it** (required): Describe the task and how you usually do it, in any order. Include where things are kept and what goes wrong. Rough is fine. - **Who is taking it over** (required): Say who it is and what they already know about the work. - **Files, links or text you can include** (optional): Paste any templates, examples or lists you already have. Leave empty if there are none. Do not paste passwords. **How to use this chain** 1. Open a new chat in any AI assistant. 2. Copy the Step 1 prompt, replace every [PASTE HERE: ...] slot with your material, and send it. 3. Keep each answer: later steps ask you to paste it in. Run each step in the same chat or a new one; a new chat keeps steps from blurring together. 4. After a step that has a check, run the check before you move on. ## Step 1: Sort the pieces Split the task into pieces and sort each into hand over, keep or decide first. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an experienced office manager who is good at handing work over. Your task is to break the task below into its pieces, then sort each piece by who should do it. The task: [PASTE HERE: The task and how you do it] Who is taking it over: [PASTE HERE: Who is taking it over] Rules: - Write each piece as a short action. - Mark a piece "hand over" if the new person can do it with plain steps, "keep" if it needs your own judgment or permission, and "decide first" if you must make a choice before handing it over. - Add pieces that you do without noticing, such as checking something first or telling someone afterward. - Do not write the steps yet. Do not invent pieces that the task does not suggest. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Piece | Who | Why | The Who column must say exactly hand over, keep or decide first. ```` **You get back:** A table that sorts every piece into hand over, keep or decide first. **Check after Step 1: Each piece is hand over, keep or decide first** Check by eye: Every row of the table has one of "hand over", "keep" or "decide first" in the Who column. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: List what to have ready List everything the new person needs in hand, and write any short template that is missing. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an office manager who prepares everything a new person will need. Your task is to list the materials the new person needs for the pieces marked "hand over", and to write any short template or example that is missing. The sorted pieces: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (Sort the pieces)] The task as described: [PASTE HERE: The task and how you do it] Materials the person already has: [PASTE HERE: Files, links or text you can include] Rules: - Cover files, links, accounts to request access to, people to contact, and examples of a good result. - Write a short template (for example an email) only where the task shows one is needed, using only details from the task. - Where a detail is missing, write "ASK: (what is missing)". Do not invent a name, address or number. - Do not include passwords, account numbers or any personal details. Say where to ask for access instead. Return two parts: Materials to have ready: (a bulleted list) Templates and examples: (the short templates, or "None needed") ```` **You get back:** A list of materials to have ready and any short templates or examples. ## Step 3: Write the plain steps Write the hand-over steps in plain words that someone new can follow without asking you. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a trainer who writes instructions that a new person can follow alone. Your task is to write the hand-over instructions for the pieces marked "hand over". The sorted pieces: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (Sort the pieces)] The materials and templates: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (List what to have ready)] The task as described: [PASTE HERE: The task and how you do it] Who is taking it over: [PASTE HERE: Who is taking it over] Rules: - Number the steps in the order the person does them. One action per step. - For each step say what to do, where to find what they need, and how they will know it worked. - Include the reasons and the traps from the task, such as a deadline or a price tip, as a short "Watch for" line. - End with a short list called "Stop and ask me if" for the pieces marked "keep" or "decide first". - Use only what is in the task. Do not add steps that were not described. Return the instructions in this shape: ## What this task is ## Before you start ## Steps ## Watch for ## Stop and ask me if ```` **You get back:** A plain hand-over note with numbered steps, things to watch for and when to ask. ## Step 4: Sweep for sensitive information Find anything private or risky in the hand-over and replace it with where to ask. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a careful privacy reviewer who checks documents before they are shared. Your task is to find anything in the hand-over below that should not be handed to this person in writing, and replace it. The hand-over: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Write the plain steps)] Who is taking it over: [PASTE HERE: Who is taking it over] Look for passwords, logins, account or card numbers, personal phone numbers and home addresses, private details about colleagues or customers, and prices or terms that are not meant to be shared. Rules: - Replace each item with a short note on where to get it, such as "Ask me for the login in person". - Keep everything else exactly as it is. Do not rewrite the steps. - If you are unsure whether something is sensitive, treat it as sensitive and list it. Return the full hand-over with the replacements made, then: Sensitive items removed: (a list of what kind of item and where it was, without repeating the item itself, or "None") ```` **You get back:** The hand-over with sensitive items replaced, and a list of what was removed. **Check after Step 4: The list of removed items is there** Check by eye: The answer includes the words "Sensitive items removed:". If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 5: Read it as someone new Read only the hand-over, as the new person would, and list everything missing or unclear. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a person who has never done this task and knows nothing about it except what is written below. Your task is to read the hand-over below as if you had to do the work tomorrow, and list every point where you would get stuck or have to ask a question. The hand-over: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Sweep for sensitive information)] Rules: - Only use what is written in the hand-over. Do not guess what the writer meant. - List a question for each gap: a step with no detail, a word you would not know, a place you could not find, a missing person's name. - Point to the exact words where you got stuck. - Do not rewrite the hand-over. If you find no gaps, say so, but look hard first. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Where (quote) | Question I would have to ask | If you have no questions, keep the table and add one row that says "None found". ```` **You get back:** A table of questions a fresh reader would have, each pointing to the exact words. ## Step 6: Close the gaps Answer each question from what you wrote about the task, and mark the ones only you can answer. Copy this prompt: ````text You are the person who wrote the hand-over, now fixing it after a fresh reader's questions. Your task is to produce the final hand-over, with every question answered where the task description allows. The hand-over: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Sweep for sensitive information)] The fresh reader's questions: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 5 (Read it as someone new)] The task as described: [PASTE HERE: The task and how you do it] Rules: - Answer a question only with details from the task description. Do not invent an answer. - If the answer is not in the task description, add a line "ASK: (the question)" in the right place, and list all of them at the end under "Still to fill in". - Do not add any password, account number or personal detail. - Do not change the parts of the hand-over that no question touched. Return the full final hand-over in the same shape as before, then: ## Still to fill in (the ASK lines, or "None") ```` **You get back:** The final hand-over, ready to give to the person, with a short list of what you still need to fill in. ## Final checks Run these on the finished result. **Final check 1: Nothing sensitive is left in** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: Nothing sensitive is left in Look through the final hand-over. Does it contain any password, login, account or card number, personal phone number, home address, or private detail about a person? Answer FAIL and quote it if so. The work to check (the answer from Step 6 (Close the gaps)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 6 (Close the gaps)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Stop here. Fix the problem before you go on to the next step. **Final check 2: You checked it for private details** Ask yourself: Read the final hand-over yourself, line by line, as if it might be forwarded. Is there anything in it you would not want a stranger to see? If it does not pass: Stop here. Fix the problem before you go on to the next step. **Final check 3: A fresh reader could follow it** Ask yourself: Give the final hand-over to someone who does not know the task, or read it as if you did not. Could they do the first three steps without asking you anything? If it does not pass: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## What you end up with - A hand-over note the person can follow without asking you. - A list of materials to have ready and any short templates. - A short list of details you still need to fill in yourself. ## Changing this chain - If the task has a risky step (money, deleting things, messaging customers), add a line to the Write step's rules that the person must check with you before that step. - To hand off a task to a team, change "who is taking it over" to describe the team and add a step that says who does what. - After the first real run, ask the person what was unclear and add the answers to the task description, then run the template again. - Keep logins and secrets out of the hand-over file. Give them in person or through your password manager. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.