AI for everyday office work

Whatever your job title, three tasks keep coming back. Reading long reports nobody wants to read. Cleaning messy spreadsheet columns. Writing careful emails to difficult colleagues or clients. This lesson shows how to hand each one to the AI and check what comes back.

The mistake most people make

Asking the AI to 'summarise' a long document without saying who will read it or what they need to decide.

What was asked

“Summarise this 45-page government circular on CSR reporting.”

What the AI said

“This circular sets out changes to the rules on CSR reporting. Companies must ensure compliance and keep proper records...”

What went wrong: Your managing director can't use this. It says what the circular is about. It doesn't answer the three questions they have: Does this apply to us? By when? What happens if we miss it?

How it works: the assistant's one-page note

Think of a good assistant to a busy manager. A 200-page policy arrives. The assistant doesn't write a book report. They hand over one note: 'Paragraph 4 covers our two factories. The form is due on the date in paragraph 6. The late fee is in paragraph 9.' Every line points back to the document. That's the note you want from the AI.

Three office workflows

1. The three-question summary

Ask the AI for three things from the document: who it applies to, the deadlines, and what it says happens if you miss them. Ask it to say where each answer comes from.

2. Splitting messy columns

Paste messy address text, like 'Flat 402, Royal Palms, Near MG Road, Pune 411001'. Ask for five columns: Building, Street, Area, City, Pincode.

3. The polite, firm no

Write an email that turns down an unpaid weekend rush job or extra work outside the agreement. Warm in tone, clear on the limit.

Habits for everyday office use

Say who the summary is forTell the AI: 'Write this for our plant manager, who only needs the maintenance dates for each machine.'

Show two examples before a big batchGive the AI two messy rows and the clean columns you want for each. Then paste the rest.

Read every draft before you send itRead it out loud once. If a sentence sounds stiff or odd, change it.

The Decision Brief

Here is a document I need to act on:
"""
[Paste the circular, policy or report text here]
"""

Write a short brief for our leadership team.
Use only what this document says. Don't add rules, dates or penalties from anywhere else.

Use these four headings:
1. Who it applies to: one sentence, using the document's own words.
2. Deadlines: each date and what must be done by then, with the paragraph or page it comes from.
3. What changes for us: the day-to-day work that changes.
4. What happens if we miss it: the penalty exactly as the document states it, with the paragraph or page.

If the document doesn't say something, write [CHECK: not stated in the document] under that heading. Don't guess.
No introduction. Short sentences.

End with this line: "Have our compliance officer or CA confirm this against the full document before we act."

It pulls out only what leadership needs to act on, points to where each fact comes from, and sends the result to the person who checks it.

Check your understanding

Why should the brief quote the penalty from the document, with the paragraph, rather than let the AI describe it?

Show the answer

Because the AI can fill a gap with a penalty that sounds right but isn't in the document. Pointing to the paragraph lets your compliance officer or CA check it in a minute before anyone acts.