Colleague builder

The colleague builder turns a natural-language goal into a proposed role. Your task is to make that proposal specific enough to operate and narrow enough to govern.

Begin with the outcome

Describe the artifact or decision support you need, the source material, the likely reviewer and any obvious boundaries. “Prepare a weekly supplier-risk brief from these approved sources” is stronger than “watch our suppliers.”

Review the five parts

Persona

Confirm the colleague has a focused responsibility. The persona should describe how it works and what it owns, not grant authority the organisation has not delegated.

Tools

Enable only the browser, files, skills, plugins and connections required by the task. A useful default is least capability: add a tool when the outcome justifies it.

Rules

Write concrete instructions for sources, data handling, output format and escalation. Identify actions that should wait for approval.

Model

Choose an available model through the organisation’s model gateway. Model access uses scoped keys and budgets; availability depends on organisation configuration.

Schedule

For recurring work, set the intended cadence. Leave the schedule empty for work that should only start when a person asks.

Review the proposal as a whole

Before saving, ask:

1. Can a teammate explain this colleague’s job in one sentence?
2. Does it have any tool or connection the job does not require?
3. Is the expected result concrete and reviewable?
4. Are the human decision points obvious?
5. Is the model budget proportionate to the work?

Teams of colleagues

Use multiple colleagues when the outcome contains genuinely different responsibilities. Give each a clear role and preserve a human owner for the overall result.

Next step

Run a small piece of work before adding more capability or a schedule. Then review how the colleague appears in the workspace.