What a PM can hand over: ten everyday jobs

The page to bookmark. Each job with the before and the after, the prompt to copy, what to give it, and what you still check yourself.

Page 4 of 7 · Last checked September 20, 2026

Ten jobs a project manager can hand over, each with the before and the after, what to give it, and what you still check yourself. The prompt library has the prompt for each, ready to copy. None of them replaces the judgement, the relationship or the signature.

The ten jobs

Status report from raw notes
Before
Ninety minutes on Friday afternoon rewriting notes into the board’s template.
After
Notes and last week’s report uploaded: “update the report; mark what changed; keep the RAG colours.” Fifteen minutes of editing.
Give it
Last week’s report, this week’s notes, one line on who reads it.
Check
Every number against its source. It will happily invent a percent complete.
What stays yours
Deciding what the board needs to hear this week.
Meeting minutes to actions
Before
Minutes typed up two days later; the actions lost on the way.
After
Notes pasted or a recording transcribed: “extract decisions, actions with owner and due date, open questions; as tables.”
Give it
The notes as they are; the attendee list as roles.
Check
The owners. When the notes are vague it guesses.
What stays yours
Chasing the actions.
Risk register, first draft
Before
A blank register and a brainstorming meeting nobody scheduled.
After
Charter and WBS in: ten project-specific risks with cause, effect, likelihood, impact and an owner role, to argue with in the meeting.
Give it
The charter, the WBS, the current register if there is one.
Check
The likelihood and impact numbers are opinion, not data.
What stays yours
Owning the register and the responses.
Stakeholder email in the right tone
Before
An hour choosing words for the “we are slipping two weeks” email.
After
“Sponsor, not technical, values honesty and a plan; three paragraphs; formal but warm” - three versions to choose from.
Give it
The facts in one sentence each; one earlier email of yours to them.
Check
Read it aloud. Strip the flattery it adds.
What stays yours
Sending it, and taking the call that follows.
Schedule what-ifs
Before
“What if the permit lands three weeks late?” goes unanswered until it happens.
After
Milestone list uploaded: “if milestone 4 slips three weeks, which later milestones move and what can run in parallel?”
Give it
The milestone list with predecessors; the dates that cannot move.
Check
It only knows the dependencies the list states. A reasoning aid, not a scheduler.
What stays yours
The schedule.
Reading an RFP or a statement of work
Before
Sixty pages, one evening.
After
“List every deliverable, deadline, acceptance criterion and every clause that assigns risk to the contractor; quote the clause number.”
Give it
The document - only after the confidentiality check. An open tender is often the one document that cannot go in.
Check
Open every quoted clause. The highest value job here, and the highest risk.
What stays yours
The bid decision.
Lessons-learned synthesis
Before
A retrospective that produces a list nobody reads again.
After
Three retrospectives’ notes in: “group into themes, name the recurring ones, propose one change per theme.”
Give it
The notes, with names replaced by roles.
Check
It smooths over the disagreement that was the real lesson.
What stays yours
Making the change.
Change request write-up
Before
A two-line request in an email, and a form nobody wants to fill in.
After
A structured change request: impact on scope, schedule, cost and quality, alternatives, and the questions to answer before approval.
Give it
The request as it arrived; the template; the charter.
Check
The impact lines. Make it write “to be assessed” rather than estimate.
What stays yours
The assessment and the recommendation.
Translating and levelling
Before
A technical vendor update forwarded to a sponsor who cannot use it; a Macedonian report the regional office cannot read.
After
The update levelled to three sentences a sponsor can act on; the report in English with the terminology kept consistent.
Give it
The text; the relevant entries from the chapter’s glossary.
Check
The terminology. The glossary is the reference; the assistant’s Macedonian for a PM term is not.
What stays yours
Knowing what the sponsor actually needs to hear.
Preparing for the difficult conversation
Before
The meeting with the sceptical sponsor, rehearsed in the car.
After
“Play the sponsor; push back on my plan; be tough.” Ten hard questions before the real ones.
Give it
The plan; two lines on the sponsor.
Check
It plays the role well; it does not know your sponsor. Use it to find the gaps.
What stays yours
The conversation itself. Rehearsal, not automation.

Every prompt above is in the prompt library, filterable by job. Before any of it leaves your hands: trust, but check.

Last checked September 20, 2026 by Petar Trajchevski. Product names and settings paths were walked through on that date; the concepts do not move. Report a change

The ten jobs

Status report from raw notes

Meeting minutes to actions

Risk register, first draft

Stakeholder email in the right tone

Schedule what-ifs

Reading an RFP or a statement of work

Lessons-learned synthesis

Change request write-up

Translating and levelling

Preparing for the difficult conversation