# Interview My Team — AI Context-Building Prompt I want you to interview our team and help us build a clear working identity for a small communications company. We are a team of approximately 4–5 college students in an Essentials of Digital Media course. We are sitting together around one computer and will answer your questions as a group. Our company may focus on one or more areas such as: - social media, - sports media, - video production, - public relations, - journalism, - applications, - web or digital media, - or another communications-related service. Your job is to help us think through what our company is, who it serves, how it works, what each member contributes, and what we are trying to accomplish. At the end of the interview, create a document titled: # Our Team Profile The final document should also include a section titled: # Our Team Context This final section will be used as a reusable context document that we can give to an AI in future conversations. --- # How to Interview Our Team Ask us questions **one at a time**. Keep the interview focused enough that it can usually be completed in approximately **10–15 minutes**. Ask approximately **10–12 main questions**, but use brief follow-up questions when our answers are vague, incomplete, inconsistent, or too broad to be useful. Challenge us to be specific. Do not challenge us aggressively. Treat questions as a problem-solving exercise. For example, if we say: > "We want to make videos." You might ask: > "What kind of videos, for what audience, and what would make your team especially useful at producing them?" If we say: > "Our audience is everyone." You might ask: > "If you had to choose one primary audience first, who would benefit most from your work?" If we say: > "We want to be successful." Ask us what success would actually look like. If two of our answers seem inconsistent, point that out respectfully and ask us to resolve or explain the difference. Do not simply agree with every idea. Help us improve the idea. Remember that this is a student company. We may not yet know exactly what our company should become. Uncertainty is acceptable. Answers such as these are valid: - We don't know yet. - We are considering several possibilities. - We want to test that idea. - We need more information. - We disagree. - We want to come back to that. - Pass. Treat uncertainty as useful information rather than a failure. --- # Areas You Should Explore Use these areas to guide the interview. You do not need to ask every question exactly as written. ## 1. The Team's Starting Point Begin by asking us what kind of communications company we currently think we want to create. Explore: - what type of work interests us, - why that work interests us, - what problems we might solve, - what kinds of projects we could imagine doing, - and what we are still uncertain about. If our idea is too broad, help us narrow it. If our idea is too narrow, help us consider whether it gives the team enough useful work to do. --- ## 2. Team Name Ask whether we already have a team or company name. If we do, ask: - why we chose it, - what it communicates, - whether it fits the work we want to do, - and whether our intended audience would understand it. If we do not have a name yet, do not force us to create one immediately. You may help us brainstorm one after you understand the team's identity, audience, mission, and services. --- ## 3. What We Do Help us define what the company actually does. Explore possible services such as: - social media strategy or content, - photography, - video production, - live production, - sports media, - journalism, - podcasting, - public relations, - writing, - design, - websites, - digital applications, - event coverage, - marketing communications, - or other communications work. Push us to distinguish between: **What interests us** and **What we are actually offering as a team.** Ask us to identify approximately **2–4 primary services or capabilities** rather than claiming that we do everything. --- ## 4. Our Audience Ask who we want our work to serve. Possible audiences could include: - college students, - campus organizations, - athletic teams, - local businesses, - nonprofits, - community organizations, - entertainment groups, - campus departments, - prospective students, - young adults, - specific fan communities, - or another clearly defined group. Challenge vague answers such as: > "Anyone who needs media." Help us identify a **primary audience** and, if useful, a **secondary audience**. Ask: - What does this audience need? - What problems do they have? - What kind of communication might help them? - What would make them choose our team? --- ## 5. The Problem We Solve Ask us what problem, need, or opportunity our company addresses. Examples might include: - an organization needs better social media, - a team needs stronger video coverage, - a local business needs promotional content, - students need better information, - a campus organization needs publicity, - a community needs clearer journalism, - or an audience needs a better digital tool. If we focus only on what we want to make, redirect us toward what the audience actually needs. --- ## 6. Mission Help us develop a simple mission. A mission should explain: - who we serve, - what we help them do, - and what kind of value we want to provide. Do not write a polished mission statement immediately. First ask enough questions to determine what the mission should actually mean. Then help us create a concise mission statement of approximately **1–3 sentences**. --- ## 7. Goals Ask what we want the team to accomplish. Separate goals into two categories when useful: ### Company Goals What do we want the company or project to accomplish? ### Learning Goals What do we want to become better at by working together? Push us toward concrete goals. For example: Instead of: > "Get better at media." Encourage something more specific, such as: > "Become capable of planning, producing, editing, and delivering a short promotional video for a real client." --- ## 8. Team Members Ask us to list the names of the team members. Then give us the option: > "Would you like me to briefly profile each team member so the final context document can include individual interests, strengths, preferred responsibilities, and skills they want to develop?" If we say **no**, continue without individual profiles. If we say **yes**, interview each team member briefly. For each person, explore only what is useful to the team. Possible questions include: - What kinds of work interest you most? - What do you think you are already good at? - What responsibility would you most like to have? - What is one skill you would like to improve? - Is there a role you would prefer not to have? - Is there something you would like the opportunity to try? Do not force every student into a permanent role. Treat roles as starting points that may change as the team gains experience. --- ## 9. Team Roles and Responsibilities Based on what we tell you, help us determine how the team might divide responsibilities. Possible areas include: - project management, - writing, - research, - social media, - camera, - editing, - audio, - graphics, - web development, - design, - interviewing, - client communication, - production management, - technical troubleshooting, - presenting, - or quality control. Ask whether we want clearly assigned roles, shared responsibilities, rotating roles, or some combination. Point out important responsibilities that our proposed structure may be missing. --- ## 10. How We Will Work Ask how we want the team to function. Explore: - how decisions will be made, - how work will be divided, - how deadlines will be handled, - how team members will communicate, - how disagreements will be resolved, - how we will make sure everyone contributes, - and how we will review work before it is considered finished. Keep this practical. Do not turn the interview into a corporate management exercise. --- ## 11. Strengths and Gaps Ask what the team already appears capable of doing. Then ask what important capabilities may still be missing. Possible gaps might include: - writing, - interviewing, - camera operation, - editing, - audio, - graphic design, - web development, - project management, - social media strategy, - research, - organization, - client communication, - presentation skills, - technical troubleshooting, - or using AI effectively. Do not invent strengths. Base conclusions on what the team actually tells you. Treat gaps as development opportunities rather than weaknesses. --- ## 12. What Success Looks Like Ask: > "At the end of this project, what would make your team say: 'This company worked'?" Push us beyond answers such as: - getting a good grade, - finishing the assignment, - or making something that looks good. Those things can matter, but also explore: - whether we produced useful work, - whether we solved a real communications problem, - whether we worked effectively together, - whether we developed new skills, - whether we created something worth showing in a portfolio, - and whether the team's concept became more focused and believable. --- # Optional Final Challenge Near the end of the interview, you may ask one or two questions that test our assumptions. Label them: ## OPTIONAL Possible questions include: - If another student team offered exactly the same services, why would someone choose your team? - What are you currently claiming your team can do that you have not yet demonstrated? - What part of your company idea is still too vague? - What service are you including because it sounds impressive rather than because the team really wants to do it? - If you could only offer one service extremely well, what would it be? - What would make your current company idea fail? Treat these as problem-solving questions, not criticism. --- # Creating Our Team Profile When the interview is complete, synthesize what you learned into a document titled: # Our Team Profile Do not merely repeat our answers. Analyze them. Look for: - patterns, - agreement, - disagreement, - complementary skills, - unclear assumptions, - opportunities, - gaps, - and important decisions the team still needs to make. Include the following sections. --- ## 1. Team Name State the current team or company name. If the name is not final, clearly say that it is provisional. --- ## 2. What We Are Describe the company in approximately 2–4 sentences. Explain what kind of communications team we are trying to become. --- ## 3. Who We Serve Identify: **Primary Audience** and, if appropriate: **Secondary Audience** Explain the most important communication needs of those audiences. --- ## 4. The Problem We Solve Explain what problem, need, or opportunity the company is intended to address. --- ## 5. Our Mission Write a concise mission statement based on the interview. Keep it specific enough that it could actually guide decisions. --- ## 6. Our Goals List approximately **3–5 meaningful goals**. When useful, separate: ### Company Goals from ### Learning Goals --- ## 7. Our Services Identify approximately **2–4 primary services or capabilities** the team intends to offer. Do not add services the team never discussed. If an idea is still experimental, label it accordingly. --- ## 8. Team Members List the members of the team. If the team chose individual profiling, summarize for each member: - interests, - current strengths, - preferred responsibilities, - skills to develop, - and roles they may want to explore. Do not permanently assign a student to a role unless the team clearly decided to do so. --- ## 9. Roles and Responsibilities Summarize how work is currently expected to be divided. Identify any responsibilities that still need an owner. --- ## 10. How We Will Work Summarize the team's intended working process. Include useful agreements involving: - communication, - decisions, - deadlines, - contribution, - review, - and conflict resolution. Only include items that emerged from the conversation. --- ## 11. Strengths We Can Build On Identify demonstrated or reasonably supported team strengths. Explain what evidence from the interview supports each one. Do not invent positive traits simply to encourage us. --- ## 12. Capabilities We Need to Develop Identify approximately **3–6 skills, systems, or capabilities** that would improve the team's ability to accomplish its goals. Explain why each matters. --- ## 13. Assumptions We Should Test Identify important assumptions in the team's current plan. Examples might involve: - audience demand, - team capability, - workload, - technical skills, - available time, - role clarity, - or whether the proposed service actually solves a useful problem. Frame these as things to test, not as failures. --- ## 14. Questions We Still Need to Answer List the most important unresolved questions. Do not treat uncertainty as a deficiency. Turn uncertainty into questions the team can investigate. --- ## 15. Our Next Five Moves Give us five specific actions the team could realistically begin soon. Make them concrete. Whenever possible, include actions that help the team: **Define** — make the company clearer. **Test** — see whether assumptions are correct. **Develop** — improve a needed capability. **Create** — produce evidence of what the team can do. **Organize** — improve how the team functions. --- # Our Team Context End the document with a section titled exactly: # Our Team Context Write approximately **400–600 words**. This section is intended to be saved as a Markdown file and supplied to AI systems in future conversations. Write it as useful **context**, not as a narrative about the interview. Include the most useful information another AI should know before helping the team with: - ideas, - communications strategy, - social media, - writing, - journalism, - public relations, - video, - sports media, - websites, - applications, - branding, - project planning, - research, - audience analysis, - or other work related to the company. Include, when known: - company name, - type of company, - mission, - primary audience, - secondary audience, - audience needs, - services, - team goals, - team members, - individual strengths or interests if profiling was selected, - team roles, - working style, - current capabilities, - capabilities still being developed, - important constraints, - unresolved questions, - and assumptions that should not be treated as facts. Clearly distinguish between: - things the team has decided, - things the team is considering, - and things that are still unknown. Do not invent missing information. Do not include unnecessary personal information. Do not make the company sound more experienced or capable than the students have demonstrated. The purpose of **Our Team Context** is to help a future AI understand the team well enough that the students do not have to explain their company again every time they begin a new AI conversation. End **Our Team Context** with this reminder: > This context represents our team's current thinking. Our goals, roles, services, audience, and capabilities may change as we learn, test ideas, and gain experience.