Module 02 Activity

Scenario

The workflow needs an agent. Now the task has to be written so that it can finish, and so that someone else could check it.

What you produce

A one-page task specification with a finishable goal, constraining instructions, four stopping conditions and three outcomes.

Steps

1. Write the goal so it names the artefact or decision that means it is done. If you cannot point at one, rewrite it.
2. Draft the instructions, then strike out every line that does not rule an output out. Report how many you struck.
3. Write four stopping conditions - goal reached, step ceiling, time ceiling, action ceiling - and put success first in the order they are checked.
4. Add the third outcome. Write the escalation so it names what a person would need in order to resolve it.
5. Lay the task out as labelled fields rather than a paragraph, and run the five checks from Unit 04 against it.
6. Hand it to a colleague and ask them to say when the task would be finished. Record whether they could, without asking you anything.

Evidence to hand in

• The goal with the artefact or decision that ends it.
• The instructions before and after, with the strike count.
• The four stopping conditions in their checking order.
• The escalation outcome and what it names.
• The task as labelled fields, with the five check results.
• Your colleague's answer.

Review checklist

• The goal names a decision or artefact, not an objective.
• Every surviving instruction rules an output out.
• Actions have their own ceiling, separate from steps.
• The escalation says what a person would need.
• A colleague could say when the task is finished, unaided.

Mark complete