Clear instructions and scoping a task

90% of poor results come from unclear instructions. The good news: asking well is a simple skill — you learn it in a few minutes and sharpen it with practice.

The formula for a good request

A clear instruction usually has four parts:

Part	The question it answers	Example
Context	What is this about?	"I have 3 offers from suppliers for laptops."
Task	What do you want it to do?	"Compare them and recommend one."
Criteria	On what basis?	"Take into account price, warranty, and delivery time."
Format	How do you want the result?	"Give me a table and a concluding paragraph."

The 4-block template (copy it and fill it in)

So you do not start from scratch every time, keep this skeleton handy. Fill in the four lines and you always have a solid request:

Context: [what you have and what it is about — e.g. "I have 3 PDFs with offers in the current folder"]
Task: [what you want it to do, one clear result]
Criteria: [on what basis / what to watch out for]
Format: [what the result looks like — table, list, length, tone]

It works for anything — from "compare offers" to "write an email" to "organize the folder." Once you get used to it, the blocks become second nature and you no longer need the skeleton.

The first delegated task lifecycle

Your first real handoff should feel like managing a careful colleague, not firing a prompt into the dark. Use this rhythm:

Name the deliverable. Say what should exist at the end: a table, a draft email, a Word brief, a cleaned folder.
Name the inputs. Point to the files, folder, template, or pasted notes it should use — and what it should ignore.
Answer clarifying questions. If Claude asks which file, format, or audience you mean, treat that as good process, not friction.
Steer mid-task. If the plan drifts, stop it early: "Pause. Use only the three approved PDFs and keep the output to one page."
Review before using. Check facts, figures, sources, and any action that would be sent, published, paid, or deleted.

Before / After

❌ Vague

"Look over these offers and tell me what you think."

✅ Clear

"I have 3 PDFs with laptop offers in the current folder. Compare them by price, warranty, and delivery time. Make me a table with the 3 in columns and end with a one-paragraph recommendation, justified."

Scoping the task: say where it stops

Just as important as what it should do is how much it should do. A well-scoped task has a clear start and a clear end.

Poorly scoped: "Help me with the report." (How much? Which part? When is it done?)
Well scoped: "Write only the introduction section of the report, at most 200 words, based on the note in brief.txt. Do not touch the rest of the document."

The "one single result" trick: when you are not sure how to scope it, ask yourself, "what is ONE concrete thing I want to have at the end?" That is the task. Ask for the rest separately.

How to choose a good starter task

On your first few tries especially, success depends on what you choose to give it. A good starter task ticks all three boxes:

☑️ Clear input — a concrete file sitting in your working folder (lesson 1.3): a specific PDF, CSV, or Excel, not "somewhere on the computer."
☑️ Defined output — you know exactly what you want at the end (a one-page summary, a table, a draft email).
☑️ ~20 minutes by hand — big enough to be worth it, small enough to check the result easily.

Avoid at the start: vague tasks ("help me with the project"), ones with no starting file, or high-stakes, irreversible ones. Save those for after you have a few wins under your belt.

It is okay to be conversational

You do not have to write like a robot — say things in your own words. What matters is that you cover the four parts. And if you forget something, the assistant usually asks rather than charging ahead blindly. If it does guess wrong, just say so and correct it — or tell it up front, "ask me before you assume anything."

When to be very specific vs. when to leave room

Be specific when you have a clear expectation (format, length, tone, what NOT to do).
Leave room when you want ideas or are not sure exactly what you want — say "give me 3 options and we will choose together."

Key takeaway: the 4-block template — Context → Task → Criteria → Format. And always say where the task stops.

Exercise (5 minutes)

Take the task you wrote down in lesson 1.2 (the "read document X and pull out information Y" job) and rewrite it using the four parts — Context, Task, Criteria, Format. Then give it to Claude Cowork and compare the result with what you would have gotten "off the cuff."