Medium

90–140 words

15 min

How to write instructions a junior can follow without asking you

You are on leave tomorrow, and someone in their first week has to run a recurring task alone. Instructions for a reader who cannot ask a follow-up question must order the steps, state every deadline and check, and say exactly what to do when something goes wrong. That is the whole skill, in 90–140 words.

The task

The brief

You are going on leave tomorrow. A first-week intern must run the weekly report in your absence: pull last week's numbers from the dashboard every Monday before 11am, check that the total matches the finance sheet, paste the chart into the template, and send it to the team list. If the totals disagree by more than 2%, they must message you rather than send it. Write ONE paragraph of instructions.

Points to cover

Give the steps in the order they must be done
Include the timing constraint
State the verification step explicitly
Say exactly when to stop and escalate

Length

90–140 words

Suggested time

15 minutes

Level

Medium

Planning tip: Write for someone who cannot ask a follow-up question. Order the steps, name the exact condition for stopping, and say what to do when it happens.

What a strong answer does

The steps are in the order they must be done, with nothing assumed: where the data lives, what ‘check’ means, which file, which recipients.
The timing is unmissable: the day and the deadline, stated once and clearly.
The verification step is explicit: what to compare with what, and what counts as a match.
The stopping rule is precise: the exact condition, what not to do, and what to do instead.
It uses imperatives (open, compare, attach, send), which are clear and polite in instructions, not rude.
It is written for a beginner, with no internal shorthand and no ‘the usual way’.
It reads as one paragraph, but each step is its own short sentence, so it can be followed line by line.

How to structure it

1
Purpose and timing
15–25 words
What the task is, when it has to be done, and the deadline.
2
The steps, in order
35–50 words
Each action as a short imperative sentence, in sequence.
3
The check
15–25 words
What to verify, and how, before the final step.
4
The stopping rule
20–30 words
The exact condition for stopping, what not to do, and whom to contact.

Useful phrases

Frames, not finished sentences: put your own details where the [brackets] are, and use only the ones that fit what you are saying.

Timing

Every [day], before [time], you need to [task].
This has to be done by [time] on [day].

Steps

First, open [tool] and [action].
Next, [action].
Then [action].
Finally, send [item] to [recipients].

The check

Before you send anything, compare [A] with [B].
They should match exactly, or differ by no more than [tolerance].

Stopping and escalating

If [condition], stop: do not [action].
Instead, message me on [channel] with [information].
If you cannot reach me, [fallback person or action].

Common mistakes, and how to fix them

Assuming knowledge the reader does not have.

‘Pull the numbers as usual’ means nothing to someone in their first week.

Fix: Name the dashboard, the filter, the file. Write as if they have never seen any of it.

Steps out of order.

If the check appears after ‘send it to everyone’, the mistake has already gone out.

Fix: Write the steps in the exact sequence, then read them once as if you were following them.

A vague stopping rule: ‘If something looks wrong, let me know.’

‘Looks wrong’ depends on experience the reader does not have yet.

Fix: Give the threshold and the action: ‘If the difference is more than [threshold], stop and message me before doing anything else.’

Over-softened steps: ‘Maybe you could try to check the totals if possible.’

Hedging is polite in requests, but in instructions it makes a required step sound optional. Writers from cultures that value indirectness, and polite learners generally, often over-hedge here.

Fix: Use plain imperatives for the steps, and keep ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ for the opening and the close.

Burying the deadline.

The timing is the constraint that matters most, and in the middle of the paragraph it gets missed.

Fix: Put the day and the deadline in the first sentence.

Ambiguous pronouns: ‘Check it against the sheet and paste it into it.’

Three uses of ‘it’ for three different things force the reader to guess.

Fix: Name the things: ‘Compare the invoice total with the bank statement, then attach the statement to the email.’

Before you submit: a self-check

Does the first sentence say what the task is and when it must be done?
Are the steps in the exact order they must be done?
Have you named every tool, file and recipient?
Is the check explicit: what to compare, and what counts as a match?
Is the stopping condition precise, with what to do instead?
Could someone in their first week follow it without asking you anything?

Questions people ask

How do you write clear instructions?

Start with the goal and the deadline, then give each step as a short imperative sentence in order, name every tool and file, include any check before the final step, and end with what to do if something goes wrong. Then read it as if you knew nothing.

Is it rude to use imperatives like ‘open’ and ‘send’?

No. Imperatives are the standard, clearest form for instructions in English. Politeness comes from a friendly opening and close, such as thanking them for covering, not from turning every step into a question.

How detailed should instructions for a new colleague be?

Detailed enough that they never have to guess: which dashboard, which filter, which file, which mailing list. Leave out background they do not need in order to do the task.

Should instructions be a paragraph or a numbered list?

At work, a numbered list is often better. This task asks for a paragraph, which trains the harder skill of making the order clear through sequencing words alone, and the same thinking produces a better list.