AI for business · Decision tool

Find your team's first AI use case

Beginner · Published 2026-10-19 · Reviewed 2026-10-05

Tools: Multi-tool
Audience: Managers and small-business operators
Topic: AI for business

A team discussing papers around a workshop table

You’ll finish with: a small use case with clear boundaries and a decision record.

Your first team trial should be useful enough to notice and small enough to undo. Pick the dull task that happens every week. The impressive-looking autonomous project can wait its turn.

Set up

Allow 20 minutes. Bring three repeat tasks, or use the made-up task list here. You need a chat app and someone who can judge whether the result is good.

Download this guide’s practice sheet ↓

Try this example

FICTIONAL PRACTICE MATERIAL
A: format internal meeting notes, 4 times weekly, 15 minutes each, reviewer Jo. B: approve customer refunds, 10 weekly, rules vary. C: rename public brochure drafts, twice monthly, 10 minutes each.

Do the task

Describe the input, output and reviewer for each task.
Ask AI to compare frequency, ease of checking and consequences of mistakes.
Choose one trial and write what would make you stop or change it.

Your reusable prompt

Compare these three possible AI trials. Recommend one for a first week. Explain the tradeoffs without inventing time savings. Record task, reviewer, sample input, success check and stopping condition.

PRACTICE INPUT
A: format internal meeting notes, 4 times weekly, 15 minutes each, reviewer Jo. B: approve customer refunds, 10 weekly, rules vary. C: rename public brochure drafts, twice monthly, 10 minutes each.

Refine your result

Assume we can spare only 30 minutes for setup. Reconsider the choice and keep money decisions with the person who currently approves them.

Check the result

Meeting-note formatting is a defensible first trial because it repeats and has a reviewer. A different choice needs an explicit reason. Refund approval must not become automatic.

Save and reuse

Save a decision record with your chosen task and review date. Use it to brief the trial owner.

Sources and notes

Writing clear prompts Checked 2026-10-05

The practice input and teaching prompt are original 5HO material. Examples are fictional; they are not screenshots or claims of a completed real-world task.
Official documentation supports the relevant product concepts. Setup availability depends on your account; where a guide offers a fallback, it does not prove the connected capability worked.