Turn a hostel mess complaint into a one-page decision memo

The warden is drowning in angry messages and cannot see a decision in them. Your job is to turn the noise into one question the warden can answer, with honest options and a recommendation, on a single page.

• What decision does the warden actually control: menu, timings, vendor, hygiene checks or a feedback system?
• What are the three or four themes in the complaints, and how many residents raised each?
• What options are realistic within the hostel's budget and rules, as far as you can find out?
• What will the warden worry about most: cost, cooks' workload, or residents complaining again?

One page with the issue in two lines, two or three options laid out on the same criteria, a recommendation in the first paragraph, and a clear line saying what the warden needs to decide and by when. Every fact traces back to complaints or information you collected.

Writing an angry memo that repeats the complaints at length. A busy warden needs the decision and the trade-offs, not a longer version of the messages.

• Complaints from three or four residents, in writing or as your notes from talking to them
• What you can learn about current menu, timings and who runs the mess, from the notice board or mess staff
• Any hostel rules or committees that already handle food issues

AI must not invent costs, vendor names, hostel rules or how many students complained. If you do not know a cost, the memo says it needs checking.

1. 3.1 Sort complaints into themesCLAUDE CHAT

   Why this tool: Claude can propose a grouping fast, and you can correct it because you know what each resident meant.

   Paste the complaints with names removed and ask for themes. Check each placement against what the resident told you.

   Prompt to copy · fill in the [brackets]Copy

   Here are complaints about our hostel mess from residents, names removed:
   [paste complaints]
   Group them into three or four themes. For each theme, list which complaints belong to it and quote the words that show it. Mark any complaint that fits two themes.

2. 3.2 Save a memo checker as a SkillCLAUDE SKILLS

   Why this tool: A saved Skill applies the same one-page test to every draft, so you do not drift as you revise.

   Write a short Skill that checks a memo for: decision named in the first paragraph, options on the same criteria, recommendation stated, decision-owner and deadline named. Run it on each draft.

   Before you let it act: Read the Skill's instructions before saving and confirm it only reports problems in the draft. It should not rewrite the memo or add any facts of its own.

3. 3.3 Draft the memo yourself, recommendation firstCLAUDE PROJECTS

   Why this tool: Keeping the complaints and your notes in one Project means every draft and question works from the same evidence.

   Upload your complaint notes and mess information to a Project. Write the recommendation sentence first, then the options and trade-offs, then run your Skill.

4. 3.4 Face the strict wardenCLAUDE CHAT

   Why this tool: Playing the reader shows which questions your memo leaves open.

   Ask Claude to question the memo as the warden. Answer each question only from facts you gathered, or mark it as unknown.

   Prompt to copy · fill in the [brackets]Copy

   Act as a strict hostel warden with a small budget. Read my memo:
   [paste memo]
   List the questions you would ask before deciding, most important first. Do not suggest answers. I will answer from what I actually know.

• The count of residents behind each theme matches your notes
• Every option is judged on the same criteria, such as cost, effort and fairness
• The recommendation follows from the trade-offs, not from the loudest complaint
• One resident read the draft and said what they would still need to know
• The recommendation follows from the criteria, not the other way round
• The strongest objection is answered in the memo

AI often adds a confident cost figure or a policy such as 'the mess committee should meet weekly' that nobody mentioned. Strip anything you cannot trace to your notes.

• One page, recommendation in the first paragraph
• Two or three options with trade-offs side by side
• The decision needed from the warden and a suggested date
• Complaints anonymised and themes counted
• Feedback from one resident reflected in the final version

Short headed sections: Issue, Options, Recommendation, Decision needed. A small table for the options keeps it to one page.

Explain how you turned angry messages into a decision, and what the resident's feedback made you change. If the warden responded, say how.