Five lines turn “I just know how to do it” into something a system, or a person, can run.
Most tasks stay on the owner’s desk for one reason: the way to do them was never written down. Before any AI or system can take a task, it needs five lines.
The five lines
- Trigger. What starts this task? A form comes in, a job closes, a date arrives.
- Inputs. What does someone need in front of them to do it? Notes, a price list, last year’s version.
- Steps. What happens, in order? Write them the way you would explain them to a new hire on day one.
- Done. What does a finished one look like? Describe it so two people would agree it is finished.
- Approval. Who looks at it before it leaves the business?
An example
Here is how the five lines might read for an estimate. This is an illustration, not a client’s process.
- Trigger: site notes are saved after a visit.
- Inputs: the notes, the measurements, the current price list.
- Steps: match each item in the notes to a price list line, add labor, add the standard terms.
- Done: a draft estimate in the usual template, with every line traceable to the notes.
- Approval: the owner reads it and sends it.
Where people get stuck
The Steps line is usually easy. The Done line is where it gets hard, because “I know it when I see it” is not something you can hand to anyone. If you cannot describe done, the task belongs in Keep for now.
The Approval line is the one that lets you sleep. A system drafts. A person approves anything that leaves the business.
What to do with it
Write the five lines for the task you circled on your map. If they fit on half a page, it is ready to hand off. If they run to three pages, split it into smaller tasks and hand off the first one.
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