Open your notes for your next multi-step AI task. Circle one shape: chain, diamond, router, or cycle. Write down where the human check sits — after which step. You're done with one sentence naming the shape and the gate, in 15 words or less.
How-to · WFL · WFL.1
Name the multi-step shape before you chain AI tools
When a task needs more than one AI step, pick a simple shape—serial, parallel-then-merge, branch, or bounded loop—so you know where you stop and check the result.
Worked example
Four shapes cover most workplace multi-step AI work: chain (one step after another), diamond (two paths then merge), router (pick a path), and cycle (repeat with a hard stop). Decide how you'll use the tools you already have today — serial steps, parallel then merge, a branch, or a bounded loop. You still own the final send/merge decision.