Everyday work · Practical guide

Turn a long document into a decision brief

Beginner · Published 2026-10-22 · Reviewed 2026-10-05

Tools: Multi-tool
Audience: People getting started with AI
Topic: Everyday work

A magnifying glass beside a business report and pencils

You’ll finish with: a compact decision brief that preserves options, evidence, uncertainty and document references.

A long document and a short decision are different jobs. Ask AI to extract what matters to the decision, including what the document does not tell you. A confident summary of the wrong question is still the wrong summary.

Set up

Allow 20–30 minutes. Use a file-reading AI app, or paste the small example below. Upload limits, scanned-page reading and file access vary by account.

Download this guide’s practice sheet ↓

Try this example

FICTIONAL PRACTICE MATERIAL
Fictional proposal: Section 1, Option A costs AUD 2,000 and takes two weeks. Section 2, Option B costs AUD 1,400 and takes four weeks. Section 3, required launch is in three weeks. Support costs and approval owner are not stated.

Do the task

State the decision before attaching the document.
Ask for options, evidence locations and unanswered questions.
Open the cited sections yourself and check the important claims.

Your reusable prompt

Prepare a one-page decision brief from this proposal. Compare cost and timing, cite the section for each fact and list missing information. Separate your recommendation from what the source states.

PRACTICE INPUT
Fictional proposal: Section 1, Option A costs AUD 2,000 and takes two weeks. Section 2, Option B costs AUD 1,400 and takes four weeks. Section 3, required launch is in three weeks. Support costs and approval owner are not stated.

Refine your result

Explain whether the cheaper option meets the stated launch timing. Do not invent support costs to make the comparison look complete.

Check the result

B is cheaper on stated upfront cost but takes longer than the three-week window. A’s timing fits that window; final approval still needs the missing support and ownership information.

Save and reuse

Save the brief with the document version and checked section references. Ask the owner about the gaps before deciding.

Sources and notes

Projects and reusable context 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.