Work activities: Actor + verb + object + context + tool + input + output + decision + KPI

Mak Cik Ros has run her nasi lemak stall for twenty years. One morning she has a fever, and her nephew Amir has to open the stall. Her instruction on the phone is two words: “Jaga gerai.” Mind the stall.

Amir does his best. The rice is too wet, the sambal runs out at nine, and when a regular asks for credit until Friday, he says yes. None of it is his fault. “Mind the stall” is a job title, not an instruction.

The next week Mak Cik Ros pins a card on the wall: who cooks, what to cook, for how many, with which pot, from which ingredients, what goes out on the plate, which calls are hers (credit, price changes), and what a good morning looks like (sold out by ten, no complaints). Amir gets it right the first time.

Many job descriptions in government read like “jaga gerai”: “uruskan laporan KRT”, “pantau isu komuniti”. A work activity is the card on the wall. It has nine parts, and once you can write one, you can hand the right parts to an AI helper and keep the decisions where they belong.

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The idea in 30 seconds

Who does what

Actor, one active verb and a specific object.

Watch the 30-second explainer

The idea in 30 seconds0:00 / 0:31

1. Who does what Actor, one active verb and a specific object.
2. Where and with what Context, tool and input: when, for whom, with which system, from which material.
3. What comes out An output you could put on a desk and check.
4. Who decides The decision stays with the officer. AI drafts and flags.
5. How you know it went well A KPI you can measure. The examples here are examples only.
6. A job title says what you are. A work activity says what you do.

Key takeaways

If you remember nothing else, remember these.

• A work activity has nine parts: Actor + Verb + Object + Context + Tool + Input + Output + Decision + KPI.
• Write it in active voice, with one verb: “The PPD checks…”, not “Reports are handled”.
• The same nine parts become an AI brief. AI can help with the verb, object and output. The Decision stays with the officer.
• KPIs on this page are example targets, not real KPN KPIs. Set yours with your supervisor.

From “uruskan laporan KRT” to a real activity

Start with a line you might find in a job description or a work plan. Then tap across to see the same work written as a full activity.

Job descriptionWork activity

The district unity officer (PPD) checks monthly KRT activity reports for the 24 KRT in Daerah Contoh, before the state report is compiled, using the department's reporting system and a checklist spreadsheet, from the reports, photos and attendance lists sent by KRT secretaries, to produce a status table and follow-up messages. The PPD decides whether each report is accepted or returned. KPI (example): every report checked within 5 working days.

What you typically get back

A new officer could do this tomorrow. A supervisor can check it. And as you will see below, an AI helper can take on the checking and drafting while the officer keeps the decision.

Daerah Contoh, its 24 KRT and every target on this page are fictional.

The nine parts

Here is the full card for that activity. Each part answers one question. The small chip on each part shows who does it once AI is involved.

The first three parts are the Verb, Object, Classifier row you already know, with the actor added. The Bloom and Simpson page helps you choose the verb. The other six parts are what turn a finding into work someone can actually do.

Write it in active voice

Active voiceA sentence where the person doing the action comes first: 'The PPD checks the report.' In passive voice the doer is hidden or comes last: 'The report is checked.' puts the actor first and names the action: “The PPD checks the report.” Passive voice hides the actor: “Reports will be checked.” In a work activity, a hidden actor is a real problem, because nobody owns the task.

Three quick rules:

• One actor. If two units share the work, it is two activities, with a handover between them.
• One verb. “Check and approve” is two activities. The approval is usually a Decision, so it belongs to someone with authority.
• An object you could count. “Reports” is better than “matters”. “Monthly activity reports for 24 KRT” is better still.

Decision stays with the officer

Look at the Decision part of the card. It is the only part an AI helper should never take over. Deciding to accept a KRT report, return a grant claim or rate a community issue as high risk affects real people and needs someone who is accountable.

That does not mean AI is useless here. It means AI does the work around the decision:

• AI checks and compiles: reads each report against the checklist, lists what is missing, drafts the follow-up messages.
• AI flags with reasons: “Report 7 has no attendance list; I suggest returning it.”
• The officer decides: accepts, returns, or overrides the suggestion, and signs off.

Turn the activity into an AI brief

Once the nine parts are written, the AI brief almost writes itself. Each part maps to a line of the brief, much like the AIM method:

Here is the brief for the KRT activity, ready to copy.

You are an assistant to a district unity officer (PPD) who checks monthly KRT activity reports.

Check the monthly KRT activity reports for the 24 KRT in Daerah Contoh. This is done before the state report is compiled.

Below are the reports, the attendance lists and a description of the photos sent by each KRT secretary. Names, MyKad numbers, addresses and phone numbers have been removed. Below that is the department's report checklist.

<reports>
(paste the anonymised reports here)
</reports>

<checklist>
(paste your department's checklist here)
</checklist>

Produce:
1. A status table with the columns KRT, Complete (Yes / No), Missing items, and Suggested action (Accept / Return).
2. For each report marked "Return", a short, polite follow-up message in Bahasa Melayu to the KRT secretary, naming the missing items.

Decision: do not accept or return any report yourself. Your "Suggested action" is a suggestion only, with a one-line reason. The officer decides.

Before you finish, check: every KRT appears once in the table; every "Return" names at least one specific missing item from the checklist; nothing in the table is invented. If a report is unreadable, write "Could not read" instead of guessing.

This is also a spec for a reusable AI helper. If your department has approved an AI tool that lets you save standing instructions as a custom assistant, the nine-part activity is exactly what goes into those instructions. Only use the AI tool your department has approved.

Build your own work activity

Your turn. Pick a task, then choose or write each of the nine parts. Start from the vague version first, and watch the sentence and the brief fill with gaps. Then make each part clear and see what changes. Try handing the Decision to the AI and see what the lab says.

Work-activity lab

Build a work activity, then brief the AI

0/9

Pick a task. Then choose or write each of the nine parts. The activity sentence and the AI brief build themselves below.

KRT activity reportsMonthly tension summary

Start from the vague versionFill a precise exampleClear

The nine parts

1Actor2Verb3Object4Context5Tool6Input7Output8Decision9KPI

1/9 · ActorWho does the work?

Someone in the officevagueThe district unity officer (PPD)The assistant district unity officer✎ Write my own

← BackNext part →

The activity, in one sentence

[Actor] [Verb] [Object] [Context], using [Tool], from [Input], to produce [Output]. Decision: [Decision]. KPI: [KPI].

The AI brief it becomes

Copy brief

You are an assistant to [Actor].
Mission: [Verb] [Object] [Context].
Input: [Input].
Work with: [Tool].
Deliver: [Output].
Decision: [Decision]
Target to check against: [KPI].
Before you start: names, MyKad numbers, addresses and phone numbers have been removed. If you find any, stop and tell me.

0 of 9 parts clear

KPIs: measurable, and yours

A KPIKey performance indicator: a measurable target that tells you whether work is going well, such as 'checked within 5 working days'. on a work activity answers “how do we know it went well?” A good one is something you can count or tick: a time limit, a completeness rate, a quality check.

Every KPI on this page is an example target, made up to show the shape. Your department, division or state office sets the real targets. When you write an activity for your own work, ask your supervisor which targets apply, or write “target: to be agreed” rather than inventing one.

KPIs also make the best final line of an AI brief. “Every returned report names a specific missing item” is a check the AI can run on its own output, and one you can verify in a minute.

Common mistakes

• Writing a duty heading instead of an activity. “KRT reporting” is a heading. “The PPD checks monthly KRT activity reports” is an activity.
• Leaving the Decision blank. If nobody owns the decision, the AI or the most junior person ends up making it.
• Letting the AI decide. “AI approves the claims” fails the accountability test, however accurate the AI seems.
• Inventing a KPI. A made-up number written into a work plan becomes someone’s target. Agree targets with your supervisor.
• Pasting raw data. The Input part is where personal data slips in. Remove names, MyKad numbers, addresses and phone numbers first, and follow your department’s own data and security rules.

Where this fits

Verb, Object, Classifier gave you clean findings. Bloom and Simpson sharpened the verbs. Work activities turn them into tasks someone can do and an AI can help with. Next, OODA shows how to run those activities when the situation keeps changing.

Check your understanding

Check yourself

Work activities in five questions

1/5

Pick an answer, then tap Check answer. You can also use the arrow keys to move between answers.

Question 1 of 5: Which line is a work activity, not a job description?

AUruskan laporan KRT.BThe PPD checks monthly KRT activity reports for 24 KRT before the state report.CResponsible for KRT matters in the district.

Check answer

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