Below are five requests the way they are usually sent, what went wrong, and the rewrite that fixed it. Every rewrite uses the same five parts: result, who it is for, must include, must not, due and approver.
1. The "quick" email
Before:
"Can you send the clients a quick note about the holiday hours?"
What went wrong: The note went to all clients, including two whose contracts had ended. It gave the hours in the wrong time zone. It did not say when normal hours resume.
After:
Result: One short email about our holiday hours.
For: Active clients only (use the "current" list in the CRM).
Must include: We are closed Dec 24 to Jan 1. Emergency line number. Normal hours resume Jan 2, 9am Eastern.
Must not: Go to past clients. Mention the January price update.
Due: Draft to me by Thursday. I approve. Send Friday.
2. The report
Before:
"Write up the survey results for leadership."
What went wrong: Twelve pages. Every question charted. No summary. Leadership needed to make one decision and could not find it.
After:
Result: A one-page summary for the leadership meeting on the 14th.
For: Leadership. They need to decide whether to extend the pilot.
Must include: The three findings that bear on that decision, each with its number. The two follow-up interviews, attached. A clear recommendation at the top.
Must not: Chart every question. Go past one page.
Due: Draft Monday. Dana approves. Final Wednesday.
3. The design
Before:
"We need a banner for the sale."
What went wrong: A beautiful banner, wrong size for the website, with last year's discount.
After:
Result: A website banner for the spring sale.
For: Visitors to the home page. Desktop and phone sizes (specs attached).
Must include: "20% off through April 30." The Shop Now button linking to the sale page. Brand colors.
Must not: Reuse last year's "25% off" artwork. Use stock photos.
Due: Draft Tuesday to Priya. Priya approves. Live Thursday.
4. The ticket
Before:
"Fix the billing page, users are complaining."
What went wrong: The developer fixed a layout bug. The complaints were about not finding invoices. Two days, wrong fix.
After:
Result: Customers on the Team plan can download their last 12 invoices from the billing page.
For: Team plan customers.
Must include: An Invoices section listing the last 12, each with a PDF download. Loads in under 2 seconds.
Must not: Change the invoice design. Touch the payment form.
Needs first: The invoice API from BIL-212. Figma file attached.
Due: In this sprint. Sam reviews.
5. The task you give a new hire
Before:
"Update the help center for the new feature."
What went wrong: The new hire did not know which articles, what the feature did, or who to ask. Three days of quiet, then a draft that missed the point.
After:
Result: Two updated help articles and one new one for the verification feature.
For: Customers who search the help center when they get stuck.
Must include: The three articles are listed here (links). The new one covers "what to do the first time you log in." Screenshots from the staging site. Use the article template.
Must not: Mention the pricing change. Publish without review.
Why: The feature goes live June 3 and support wants fewer tickets.
Who to ask: Priya for product questions, Sam for the template.
Due: Drafts Thursday. Priya approves. Publish June 2.
What all five have in common
Every "before" is one line. Every "after" is five to eight lines. The difference is two minutes of typing and, in each case, days of rework avoided.
Notice what the rewrites add most often: the audience, the facts, and the limits. Those are the parts we skip because they feel obvious to us. They are not obvious to the person doing the work.
Write yours
Answer five questions in the task brief builder and copy the result. Or paste a request you already wrote into the task brief checker and see what the reader would have to ask.
Where M-Tracker fits
In M-Tracker, every task is a brief like the "after" examples, with files and links attached. When the work is marked done, M-Tracker checks it against the brief and tells the person what is missing before you see it. Good brief in, right work out, first time more often.
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