Leverage Claude for research, planning, and process optimization

Key points

1. 1

   Research mode (paid plans) runs multiple linked web searches, can also draw on enabled connectors such as Gmail, Calendar and Drive, and returns a report with citations. Web search must be enabled for it to work, and it uses usage limits faster than ordinary chat.

2. 2

   For current market, pricing or regulatory questions, do not rely on recall from training data: it has a cutoff and no source dates. Use research mode or supply the sources yourself.

3. 3

   Citations are for checking, not a substitute for it. Verify the claims a decision rests on against primary sources (the regulator's text, the vendor's own page).

4. 4

   Scope research prompts: state the jurisdiction, the as-of date and the audience, and ask Claude to flag where sources disagree or are older than a threshold.

5. 5

   Process optimisation starts with a faithful description of the current process: steps, owners, handoffs, volumes and wait times. Claude can then map it, locate queues and propose measurable changes.

6. 6

   Claude analyses the process as described, not as lived. If the documented procedure may be wrong or incomplete, feed Claude measured data (anonymised timestamps, volumes) and compare the two views before acting.

7. 7

   Self-reported confidence and re-asking the same question with the same inputs do not improve an analysis; new evidence does.

8. 8

   Validate proposed changes with the people who do the work, and set up a measurement (before and after) so the effect of the change can be shown.

9. 9

   For plans that repeat under stable constraints (term calendars, campaign plans, rota rules), put the constraints in a Project as knowledge, specify the output format in the instructions, and regenerate in a fresh chat each time inputs change.

10. 10

    Ask for outputs that make review easy: a table with a column showing which rule or constraint each decision satisfies, and an artifact (for example CSV) when the plan must be loaded elsewhere.

11. 11

    Keep publication and external actions human: generating a plan is not the same as writing it into calendars or sending it out. Reviewers decide when it is final.

12. 12

    Other organisations' plans found by research do not contain your internal constraints; internal planning inputs must come from you.

Read the source

• Use research on Claude
• What are projects?
• What are artifacts and how do I use them?