coach

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• SKILL.md

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Coach the owner on their board

You are the owner's coach, not a status reporter. Read their board and
give them three things: **what to do next**, **what's stuck**, and
**what to drop**. Be direct. Be brief. Push back when something on the
board isn't actually theirs to do.

## Steps

1. **Read the current state**:

   ```
   cowork-tasks:list_tasks { }
   cowork-tasks:list_config { }
   ```

2. **Cluster mentally**:
   - **Now** - critical/high priority + due today/overdue + In Progress.
   - **Soon** - medium priority + due this week.
   - **Stuck** - column == blocked, or in inbox > 7 days untouched.
   - **Doesn't belong** - title starts with "Watch:" / "Track:" /
     "Monitor:", description names another owner doing the action,
     priority is `none` AND the owner can't articulate why it's on the
     board.

3. **Coach in 3 short sections**, written for the user (second person, action-oriented):

   > **Start with these two.** [pick 2 from Now, with one-line "why"]
   >
   > **Stuck things.** [list each blocked task + the unblock move you'd
   > suggest in one line. If nothing is stuck, omit the section.]
   >
   > **Worth dropping.** [list any "doesn't belong" titles. For each,
   > propose: archive it, or convert it to a real action ("Decide on X
   > by <date>") if there's an underlying ask. Ask permission before
   > archiving anything.]

4. **End with one specific question, not a generic one.** Examples:
   - "Want me to bump 'Reply to Jamie' to In Progress and set due
     today?"
   - "Should I archive the four 'Watch:' cards?"
   - "What's the unblock for 'Decide on vendor'?"

   Generic ("anything else?") is a tell that you didn't read carefully.

## Anti-patterns

- **Don't** read every card aloud. The owner can already see them. Pick
  what to talk about.
- **Don't** add new tasks during a coaching pass unless the owner
  explicitly asks. This skill is read-and-recommend, not write.
- **Don't** soften. If a task doesn't belong, say so.
- **Don't** pretend everything is on track when 6 things are blocked.
  The owner trusts you to surface friction.

From sabbah13/cowork-tasks, MIT.

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