Someone asks you for the same thing every week. A number or a status, sent again, and you know they will ask next week too.
I had one of those. I got asked for the same HR data several times a day, and every request broke my momentum. What fixed it was a question. I stopped asking what they wanted me to send and started asking what they were trying to decide. Then I built one dashboard for it, and a lot of the questions stopped reaching me, because the people asking opened it and found the answer themselves.
HR gave me the question behind the request. AI made the answer cheap to build. You need both. Here is how to do it on your own repeat request.
Pick the request you answered most this month.
Write one sentence that starts with "the person asking is trying to decide whether". Say the request is for open roles. Your sentence might read, "the person asking is trying to decide whether they can make an offer this month." Now you know which numbers matter and which are noise.
Write down the few numbers that would let them decide without you. If you cannot name them, ask the person what they would do differently if one of those numbers went up.
Ask the AI tool your company has approved to help you build the page or sheet. Here is a starting prompt: "I get asked for the same report every week. The person asking is trying to decide whether they can make an offer this month. My sheet has these columns, listed below. Help me build one page that answers that, and tell me what you are assuming." Then paste your column names. Use made-up sample rows, not real names, pay or performance data.
When a formula breaks, paste the formula and the error message, not the rows. That is how I got unstuck when something broke on mine. Then check the first result against a number you already trust. AI can hand you a formula that runs and is still wrong.
Show it to the person who keeps asking and ask what they would decide from it. Whatever follow-up they raise, add that number. Next time they ask, send them there.
Steps 1 to 3 take about ten minutes and need no tool at all. Steps 4 to 6 are where AI helps, and they take longer. If your company has no approved tool, stop after step 3. You will still know what to build.
You know it worked when the question stops arriving.
Three things before you go
If you run a team, forward this to the person who answers the same request every week.
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What do you get asked for over and over at work? Reply and tell me. I read every one and it shapes what ships next.
Boubacar
I help companies put AI to work without the confusion.
[email protected] · signal.catalystworks.consulting