Build your first AI workflow: lesson 2 of 10

Steps, One Job Each

A step is one small job for the AI, with one clear prompt. Split a job until each step does one thing you could check on its own, then put the steps in the order the work happens.

YournotesPull outdecisionsList theactionsTheresult
Start
Start with your material. Here, a page of meeting notes.

How to Split a Job Into Steps

  1. 1Name each step as a jobPull out decisions. List the actions. If the name needs an "and", it is probably two steps.
  2. 2One result per stepEach step hands back one thing, such as a list or a table, and the next step reads it.
  3. 3The order follows the workA step can only use what came before it. Map the parts before you summarize them, and summarize before you merge.
  4. 4Few steps, not manyMost jobs need three to five steps. Every extra step is one more prompt to keep up to date.

Put the Steps in Order

These are the four steps of a workflow that summarizes a long document. Move them into the order they must run, then check.

  1. 1Merge into one summary
  2. 2Tighten the summary
  3. 3Map the document into parts
  4. 4Summarize each part

Finish the exercise and this lesson is marked done in this browser.

Go Deeper

Steps, the part guideWhat makes a good step, with a real example from a template.Write a summary of a long documentThe template behind this exercise, with its steps and checks.Break a task into stepsThe prompt optimizer’s breakdown turns a job of your own into steps.