# SKILL: Triage an inbox of incoming requests

> A worked Skill from Innovation Day. Spec-first output ([Way #1](../../ways-of-working.md)), a privacy rule that *flags PII without echoing it* ([Way #3](../../ways-of-working.md)), and a human re-checking the priorities the AI got wrong ([Way #2](../../ways-of-working.md)).

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## 1. Goal - what this Skill does, and when to use it

Take a list of incoming requests (the kind that pile up in a shared mailbox or a ticket export) and turn them into a sorted triage table: priority, category, suggested next step, and a flag for anything a human must look at. Use it at the start of the day, or when a backlog has built up.

It replaces reading 12 tickets one by one and trying to hold "what's actually urgent" in your head.

## 2. Inputs - what you paste in for it to work

- **Input 1:** the requests export (columns: id, received, from, request).

> **PRIVACY CHECK** ([Way #3](../../ways-of-working.md)): request text is full of personal data people typed without thinking. The Skill's job is to **flag it, not repeat it.**
>
> | In the data | What the Skill must do |
> |---|---|
> | Mobile number `07700 900142` (REQ-003) | **Do not echo it.** Flag "contains phone number - redact." |
> | A person's name (`Priya Nair`, REQ-003) | Don't carry the name into the output; refer to "new joiner." |
> | Employee ID `48817` (REQ-009) | **Do not echo it.** Flag "contains employee ID - redact." |
>
> The output is for a triage board other people see. PII must not be copied into it - that's the postcard rule in action.

## 3. Output - what "good" looks like *(write this BEFORE the prompt)*

One row per request, sorted High → Low:

| Column | Rule |
|---|---|
| **Priority + reason** | High / Med / Low, plus one short clause saying *why* |
| **Category** | IT / Facilities / HR / Finance / Admin / Sales (or similar) |
| **Suggested next step** | one concrete action |
| **Needs human review?** | Yes/No - Yes if it contains PII, money, a hard deadline, or a safety/comfort issue |

Priority test (state it in the prompt so it's not a vibe): **High** = blocks people now / hard external deadline / health & comfort; **Med** = matters this week, no hard deadline; **Low** = "whenever convenient", no impact if it waits.

## 4. Instructions / Prompt - the exact text to paste

```
You are helping me triage a list of incoming requests.

Output one row per request, sorted High priority first, with columns:
Priority + reason | Category | Suggested next step | Needs human review?

Priority rules:
- High = blocks people from working now, OR has a hard external/time deadline,
  OR is a health/comfort issue (e.g. no heating).
- Med = needs doing this week but has no hard deadline.
- Low = explicitly "no rush"/"whenever convenient" with no impact if delayed.
Judge by impact and deadline, NOT by whether the sender typed "URGENT".

Privacy rules:
- If a request contains a phone number, employee ID, or personal name,
  DO NOT copy it into the output. Replace it with a neutral reference
  (e.g. "new joiner") and set Needs human review = Yes with reason
  "contains PII - redact".

Set Needs human review = Yes for anything with PII, money, a hard deadline,
or a safety/comfort impact.

Requests:
[PASTE REQUESTS]
```

## 5. Worked Example - one real run

> **Input (a representative slice):**
>
> ```
> REQ-003 HR: New joiner starts Monday - needs laptop, accounts, desk. Name Priya Nair, mobile 07700 900142.
> REQ-006 IT: Password reset for shared mailbox, whenever convenient.
> REQ-007 Operations: Completely out of printer paper across the floor, big print run for the board pack tomorrow morning.
> REQ-009 Finance: Payroll query from employee ID 48817 - thinks overtime wasn't paid. Needs looking at before next run.
> REQ-011 Facilities: Heating off in the east wing for two days, people wearing coats at their desks.
> ```
>
> **Output it produced:**
>
> | Priority + reason | Category | Suggested next step | Needs human review? |
> |---|---|---|---|
> | **High** - board pack print run tomorrow AM, floor is out of paper (hard deadline) | Operations | Source paper today; confirm board-pack print covered | No |
> | **High** - heating off 2 days, staff comfort/welfare | Facilities | Raise with building services as priority; offer interim warm space | Yes - welfare |
> | **High** - new joiner onboarding by Monday (hard date) | HR / IT | Provision laptop, accounts, desk before Monday | **Yes - contains PII (phone number), redact** |
> | **Med** - payroll correction needed before next run | Finance | Investigate overtime calculation ahead of payroll | **Yes - contains employee ID, redact; involves pay** |
> | **Low** - explicitly "whenever convenient" | IT | Queue shared-mailbox password reset | No |
>
> Note the output says **"new joiner"** and **"employee ID, redact"** - the phone number `07700 900142`, the name `Priya Nair`, and the ID `48817` are **nowhere in the table.** Flagged, not echoed.
>
> **The catch ([Way #2](../../ways-of-working.md)):** AI triages on *surface signals*. It tends to mark a request that literally says "URGENT" as High, and to **under-rate** the two genuinely high ones here - **REQ-007** (out of paper, board pack tomorrow) and **REQ-011** (heating off two days) - because the language is calm. The prompt's "judge by impact and deadline, not by whether they typed URGENT" rule fixes that, but verify it landed: the truly low ones (REQ-002, REQ-006, REQ-010 - all "no rush") should be Low, and a calm-but-deadline-driven request should be High. Re-rank by hand if the AI got it wrong.

## 6. Guardrails - how to stay safe and sane

- **Privacy** ([Way #3](../../ways-of-working.md)): the triage table must never contain a phone number, employee ID, or personal name. The Skill flags PII; it does not reproduce it. Spot-check the output for leaks before you share the board.
- **Human check** ([Way #2](../../ways-of-working.md)): re-read the priorities. AI over-weights the word "urgent" and under-weights quietly-worded but high-impact requests (no heating, hard print deadline). You set the final order.
- **Limits:** this sorts and suggests - it doesn't act, and it doesn't know your internal SLAs or who's on leave. It's a fast first pass, not the rota.

## 7. Reuse notes - so it isn't lost

- **Owner:** *(your name)*
- **Last updated:** *(date)*
- **Lives in:** Ops/Service-desk shared space → *Skills*. Tune the priority rules to your real SLAs once and everyone inherits the same definition of "High" - [Way #5](../../ways-of-working.md).

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*Built at Innovation Day. The five ways of working: [ways-of-working.md](../../ways-of-working.md).*