Answer an office question without inventing a policy

An office reply can sound helpful while promising something the policy never allows. Practise answering a specific question from a short policy extract, including what you still need to ask the policy owner.

Practice goal: Write a reply with supported conditions, a source map and a separate follow-up for information the policy does not supply.

Use only the invented information below. Do not paste real emails, personnel records, customer details or confidential office documents. Changing a name does not establish permission to upload a real record.

• [P1] Fictional Elm Office room-booking policy, version 3, effective October 1, replaces version 2 for room requests made from October 1 onward.
• [P2] Version 3: staff submit a room request to the office desk at least two working days before the meeting. The desk checks availability. A submitted request is not a confirmed booking; written confirmation is required.
• [P3] Version 3: each room holds at most eight people. Catering is not included in a room booking.
• [P4] Version 3 does not state whether external guests are permitted or give a process for approving them. The office desk is the contact for policy questions.
• [P5] Archived version 2 allowed requests one working day ahead. That timing rule no longer applies to requests made from October 1 onward.
• [Q1] On October 12, a staff member asks: “Can I reserve a room for six people with lunch and two external guests? Please confirm it now.” The meeting date and actual room availability are not supplied.
• [Q2] The intended total attendance is six people, including the two external guests. Prepare a draft only; do not send a reply, submit a request or book anything.

You can complete this on paper or in a local document. No external account, upload or purchase is needed.

Draft your answer before reading the correction. Optional: use only this fictional prompt in a tool your organization permits. Do not connect accounts, upload other files or send messages for this task.

Use only P1–P5 and Q1–Q2 below. Draft a reply of at most 110 whitespace-separated words explaining the request/confirmation process, minimum notice, capacity and catering. State that the guest rule is not supplied and direct that question to the office desk. Do not promise a booking or decide guest eligibility. Add a source map and a separate note listing missing meeting date, availability and guest-policy information. Do not calculate a request deadline without a meeting date.

Complete fictional facts:
- [P1] Fictional Elm Office room-booking policy, version 3, effective October 1, replaces version 2 for room requests made from October 1 onward.
- [P2] Version 3: staff submit a room request to the office desk at least two working days before the meeting. The desk checks availability. A submitted request is not a confirmed booking; written confirmation is required.
- [P3] Version 3: each room holds at most eight people. Catering is not included in a room booking.
- [P4] Version 3 does not state whether external guests are permitted or give a process for approving them. The office desk is the contact for policy questions.
- [P5] Archived version 2 allowed requests one working day ahead. That timing rule no longer applies to requests made from October 1 onward.
- [Q1] On October 12, a staff member asks: “Can I reserve a room for six people with lunch and two external guests? Please confirm it now.” The meeting date and actual room availability are not supplied.
- [Q2] The intended total attendance is six people, including the two external guests. Prepare a draft only; do not send a reply, submit a request or book anything.

Authored flawed sample, not an actual provider response:

Your six-person room with lunch is confirmed. Two outside guests are always allowed. Submit the request one working day ahead; your request guarantees the booking.

1. P1 makes version 3 applicable to the October 12 request. The one-day notice in P5 is an archived rule; P2 requires at least two working days.

2. P2 distinguishes asking for a room from receiving written confirmation. Q1 supplies no availability, and the exercise grants no authority to book.

3. Six total attendees is within the capacity of eight in P3, but capacity alone does not establish guest permission or availability. Do not add the two guests again and call this eight attendees.

4. P3 says catering is not included. The sample invents included lunch; the source does not describe separate catering arrangements.

5. P4 leaves the external-guest rule unstated. Neither “allowed” nor “banned” is supported. Ask the desk and keep the missing meeting date, availability and policy information separate from confirmed facts.

One supported correction:

Please send the room request to the office desk at least two working days before the meeting. The desk checks availability; a booking requires written confirmation. Six attendees, including the two guests, is within the eight-person capacity, but that does not confirm availability or guest eligibility. Catering is not included. The supplied policy does not state the external-guest rule; please ask the office desk. No booking is confirmed here.

Source map: current rule → P1 and P5; process and notice → P2; capacity and catering → P3; guest uncertainty/contact → P4; six total attendees and draft-only scope → Q1–Q2.

Separate follow-up: What is the meeting date, is a room available, and what external-guest rule applies? The request deadline cannot be calculated from the supplied information.

Check your answer:

• The reply uses version 3 and at least two working days; no exact deadline is invented.
• A request, availability check and written confirmation remain separate.
• Six is the total attendance; eight is the capacity, not an availability promise. Catering is not included.
• The guest policy is unknown, not automatically allowed or banned; the office desk is the supplied contact.
• The reply is at most 110 words before the source map and follow-up; nothing is sent or booked.

Different wording can satisfy these checks. Recheck the facts after any rewrite.

For real office questions, first establish the approved source and which version applies. A confident answer or source label is not enough. Do not give a tool automatic access to inboxes, personnel records or internal policies for this practice. Keep an approved reusable answer tied to its policy version and recheck it when the policy changes.

Primary guidance checked on 2026-10-12. The references support source checking, privacy boundaries and clear presentation; the office facts and sample answers are invented. UK government guidance is cited for its scoped practice advice, not as a rule applying to every workplace.

• Generative Artificial Intelligence Profile
• Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government
• Use Clear and Understandable Content

Keep real work within your organization’s approved data and review process. These exercises do not establish tested accessibility, time savings, job competence or a professional qualification. No provider trial or human professional review is claimed.

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