When dealing with frustrating emails, use an AI agent to first summarize the message into objective bullet points, separating substance from tone. Then, have the AI draft a polite, empathetic response. This preserves your emotional energy for more important work.
Integrate AI agents directly into core workflows like Slack and institutionalize them as the "first line of response." By tagging the agent on every new bug, crash, or request, it provides an initial analysis or pull request that humans can then review, edit, or build upon.
AI models are trained to be agreeable, often providing uselessly positive feedback. To get real insights, you must explicitly prompt them to be rigorous and critical. Use phrases like "my standards of excellence are very high and you won't hurt my feelings" to bypass their people-pleasing nature.
The best filter for automation vs. human support is the customer's emotional state. High-stress scenarios, even if procedurally simple, demand human empathy to maintain brand loyalty. Reserve automation for low-sensitivity, routine queries.
Leverage AI in email marketing not to replace your voice, but to augment it. Use tools like ChatGPT as a brainstorming partner to generate angles and outlines. This frees up your creative energy to focus on infusing the content with personal stories and genuine connection that only a human can provide.
Instead of spending hours agonizing over how to deliver constructive criticism, Lindsay Carter used AI. She inputted her concerns for a new assistant and prompted the AI to act as an expert. It generated a clear, structured, and helpful email in five minutes, demonstrating AI's power for improving leadership efficiency and communication.
Instead of asking an LLM to generate a full email, create a workflow where it produces individual sections, each with its own specific strategy and prompt. A human editor then reviews the assembled piece for tone and adds "spontaneity elements" like GIFs or timely references to retain a human feel.
When someone is upset, directly ask if they want to be "heard" (emotional support), "helped" (practical solutions), or "hugged" (social connection). This simple heuristic clarifies their needs and prevents the conversational mismatch of offering solutions when empathy is desired.
Rehearse difficult conversations by having an AI adopt the persona of your boss, partner, or employee. This allows you to practice your approach, refine your messaging, and anticipate reactions in a safe environment, increasing your confidence and effectiveness for the real discussion.
Prioritize using AI to support human agents internally. A co-pilot model equips agents with instant, accurate information, enabling them to resolve complex issues faster and provide a more natural, less-scripted customer experience.
To slow down a heated or fast-paced conversation, avoid telling the other person to calm down. Instead, validate their emotional state by acknowledging it directly, e.g., 'I hear you have a lot of passion here.' This meta-commentary creates space and can de-escalate the intensity without being confrontational.