Summarize before you forward (L1)
Nobody reads the 40 page vendor PDF, the board pack, or the long thread. The rule is simple: anything long you forward gets a five bullet summary and a stated ask on top. One prompt, every team, no tooling.
The steps
- 01
Publish the summary format
Tool: ChatGPT
Five bullets, the decision being asked for, and open questions. Same format everywhere so readers learn to scan it in ten seconds. Owner: chief of staff or ops lead. DoD: format posted in the company handbook.
- 02
Set the forwarding rule
Tool: Slack
Long document with no summary gets sent back. This is a norm, not a tool rollout, and it only holds if leadership follows it first. Pitfall: leaders exempting themselves. DoD: leadership posts summaries for two weeks straight.
- 03
Keep the source attached
Tool: Manual
The summary always links the original. Summaries are an entry point, never a replacement, especially for contracts and security documents. Owner: everyone. DoD: no summary posted without a source link.
- 04
Spot check accuracy monthly
Tool: Claude
Pick three summaries a month and check them against the source. Publish any miss so people calibrate how much to trust a summary. Owner: ops lead. DoD: monthly accuracy note posted.
Tools in this playbook
Building the team behind this workflow?
Next playbooks
Unfamiliar terms are defined in the AI and Revenue Dictionary. Related frameworks live in the framework library.