The briefing ritual that keeps agents aligned

The fastest way to lose momentum is to skip the briefing. A clear, repeatable ritual keeps your team and your AI sessions aligned as the project evolves.

The five-step briefing

1. Intent statement — One sentence that defines success.
2. Non-negotiables — What cannot change, even if the approach does.
3. Milestone list — Three to five deliverables with crisp boundaries.
4. Current focus — The single milestone you are shipping now.
5. Decision log — The choices already made so the agent does not reopen them.

Why it works

Agents are great at producing output, but they are literal. A briefing gives the output a spine: a single definition of done and a boundary for every request.

Use it every time

Put the briefing at the top of your prompt or your working doc. Repeat it for every new session. It is short enough to maintain and strong enough to keep the work consistent.