Learn how to create prompts with purpose, structure them clearly, and adapt them flexibly to your specific requirements. Using practical examples, we show how prompts can be designed based on your role and purpose – such as if you work in project management or are responsible for resource planning.
- What Is a Prompt?
- Core Components of a Prompt
- Formulating a Prompt Step by Step
- Example Prompts
- Table: Prompt Symbols and Their Meanings
What Is a Prompt?
A prompt is an input that you use to tell the AI what information or content you need. The clearer and more precise your prompt is, the better the AI can provide a relevant and appropriate response.
Core Components of a Prompt
Formulate your request using clear and unambiguous language. Use specific and detailed instructions instead of vague ones. Shorter prompts often produce more general and inconsistent answers. Longer and more precise instructions help you get results that match your expectations.
The core prompt structure has three parts:
- Instruction: What task should the AI perform?
- Context/Information: Any relevant data the AI should consider.
- Output Format: How the result should be structured.
The more clearly you define these points, the more useful the response will be.
Formulating a Prompt Step by Step
In addition to the basic components, a practical step‑by‑step approach helps when writing prompts. You do not need to explicitly name each part, but if you take these key elements into account, you will generally achieve significantly better results.
1. Define the Objective
Start with what you want to achieve. What do you need the result for? State the goal clearly (e.g. gain an overview, identify risks, prepare decisions, summarize content).
2. Provide Relevant Context
The AI can only work with the information you give it. Provide the necessary background, such as topic, timeframe, or perspective.
3. Set a Clear Focus
Without guidance, the AI will try to cover everything. Specify which aspects matter most and which should be excluded. A clear focus immediately improves precision.
4. Specify the Expected Result
Clearly state what kind of output you want (e.g. analysis, comparison, recommendations, summary). If needed, define the structure, level of detail, or number of points.
5. Define the Output Format
Tell the AI how the result should be presented, such as bullet points, tables, short paragraphs, or a management summary, so that the output is directly usable.
Weak vs. Focused Prompt
A weak prompt would be: "Explain this document."
Focused Prompt:
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Act as an experienced project manager. Your task is to summarize the following project status document for senior management. Focus only on key risks, current blockers, and next steps. Ignore background explanations and historical details. Present the result in exactly five concise bullet points, written in clear business language suitable for executives. Document: <insert document here> |
The second prompt clearly defines the objective, focus, and output format.
Example Prompts
The following examples show how you can use prompts effectively based on your objective and your role in the project. Whether you're a project manager, resource manager, portfolio lead, or administrator, each prompt demonstrates how clear instructions can help you get the most useful results from the system.
Note:
These prompts are provided as introductory examples. You can freely experiment with them, modify them, or extend them according to your own needs - especially by applying the five prompt‑writing principles outlined above.
AI-generated output may vary, and results cannot be guaranteed. Large language models can make mistakes, misunderstand context, or produce incomplete information. Always review the responses carefully and adjust your prompt as needed. You can find further information about the use and framework conditions of Meisterplan AI here.
You can find a table with explanations of the prompt symbols further below.
Status Communication for Portfolio and Steering Committees
a) Status Notes Opening Line (Portfolio/Board)
Purpose: Use this prompt when you need a single, clear opening sentence to introduce the project status in portfolio or board meetings.
Prompt:
| Provide a single opening line for the board, covering {{status}}, {{completion_pct}}, whether we are within budget ({{expected_cost}} ≤ {{approved_budget}}), and whether we are within effort ({{expected_effort}} vs {{approved_effort}}). |
What this prompt does for you:
- Ensures a clean and reliable structure by using explicit field names in the prompt
- Highlights the key comparisons that matter most: progress, cost, and effort
- Helps you frame a concise, executive‑ready opening line - even though LLMs may not always calculate values perfectly
b) Ultra‑Short Statement on Project Status
Purpose: Use this prompt when you need a very brief, high‑impact status statement for a steering committee or executive update.
Prompt:
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Write a 20‑word opening line for the board meeting that states the project status, the variance, and the single decision required. Format: "The project status" |
What this prompt does for you:
- Ensures your message stays concise and focused by enforcing a strict 20‑word limit
- Creates a consistent communication style for the opening statement
c) Status Summary Slide Text
Purpose: Use this prompt when you need a concise, well‑structured status slide for your steering committee presentation.
Prompt:
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Generate a slide text (≤100 words) for the steering committee. Include: Format requirements: |
What this prompt does for you:
- Ensures a clean structure by explicitly referencing field names directly in the prompt
- Keeps the output focused and readable through a 100‑word limit
- Helps you produce a single, compact paragraph followed by clear bullet points — ideal for executive‑level slides
Preparing a Project and Analyzing Changes
a) Helper / Preparation
Purpose: Use this prompt to understand which project data fields are available, so you can craft accurate and reliable follow‑up prompts.
Prompt:
| Create a list of all project data fields – only the names – using the format {{field name}}. |
What this prompt does for you:
- Shows you all project field names in one place
- Prevents incorrect field references in later, more complex prompts
- Helps you prepare cleaner and more precise instructions
b) Changes Made by the Project Manager
Purpose: Use this prompt when you want a quick, clear summary of all changes the project manager has made to this project.
Prompt:
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Summarize the "Change Log of Project" data for this project. Identify which changes were made by the project manager. |
What this prompt does for you:
- You get a focused view on the project manager’s edits
- The prompt explicitly refers to the project’s change log, ensuring accurate results
- You can add a time period if you only want changes from a specific date range
c) Milestone Changes Overview
Purpose: Use this prompt when you want to understand how milestones have shifted and how those changes affect the overall project timeline.
Prompt:
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Generate a concise summary of all milestone changes {{milestones}} within the selected project. The summary should: Appendix columns: |
What this prompt does for you:
- Gives you a clear overview of all milestone movements within the selected project
- Helps you identify critical shifts and understand their impact on the schedule
- Provides both a quick summary and a detailed appendix for deeper analysis
d) Change Log Export
Purpose: Use this prompt when you need a clean, exportable version of the change log in a compact table format.
Prompt:
| Generate a tabular output of the change log using Markdown formatting. |
What this prompt does for you:
- Produces a structured Markdown table you can easily reuse in reports or documentation
- Clearly defines the output format, ensuring consistent results
Resource & Allocation Overview
Purpose: Use this prompt when you want to quickly identify interesting or critical allocation patterns across your resources.
Prompt:
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Create a 3–5 bullet point snapshot of allocations. For each entry in {{allocations}}, state the resource name along with past PD and future PD. Highlight cases where past PD is 0 but future PD > 40 as "upcoming load". |
What this prompt does for you:
- Limits the response to 3–5 focused statements and directs the model to work specifically with allocation data ({{allocations}})
- Frames the desired output clearly by defining the highlight rule: resources with past PD = 0 and future PD > 40 are marked as “upcoming load.”
Meta Analysis
Purpose: Use this prompt when you need a quick, high‑level understanding of the sentiment expressed in free‑text comments.
Prompt:
| Analyze the sentiment of {{comments}} and provide a one‑sentence statement. |
What this prompt does for you:
- Gives you a fast overview of the general tone in user or project comments
- Reduces unstructured text to a single, easy‑to‑share statement
- Helps you spot potential issues or positive trends without reading every comment manually
Text Preparation/Quality Improvement
Purpose: Use this prompt when you want to improve existing project text without changing its meaning - especially for polished American business English.
Prompt:
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Act as a helper for proper American business English. Take ONLY the <text> from the project field "Status Notes" and improve it by correcting spelling and language. Keep it short. Return only the improved suggestion. If {{status_notes}} is empty, return "Notes are empty". Format: *{{today date YYYY-MM-DD}} – {{project_manager}}, {{status}}:* |
What this prompt does for you:
- Ensures the model focuses strictly on one specific text field (Status Notes), preventing unwanted rewrites of other content
- Produces a clean, consistent format by using a predefined response template
- Helps you get short, improved text suggestions - or a clear message when no notes are provided
To experience the prompts in practice, try them out using Meisterplan AI. You can find all the details in the article AI Summaries (Beta).
Table: Prompt Symbols and Their Meanings
| Symbol / Structure | Name | What It Means | How It Is Used in Prompts | Example |
| {{variable}} | Variable / Placeholder | Replaced with real content at runtime | Use double curly brackets for dynamic values | Generate a report on {{project_name}}. |
|
<instruction> </instruction> |
Instruction tag | Defines the main task | Wrap the primary instruction | <instruction>Summarize the text.</instruction> |
|
<context> </context> |
Context tag | Provides background or constraints | Add audience, tone, rules | <context>Audience is non-technical.</context> |
| ( ) | Parentheses | Additional clarification | Optional notes | (use a formal tone) |
| " " | Quotation marks | Exact wording | Preserve text literally | "Project Status Report" |
| * | Asterisk | Marker for emphasis, bullets, or wildcards | Visual emphasis and readability, optional formatting hint |
*Status:* On track |