1. Guide the Assistant to the right sources
Understand the sources used
What makes the Zive Assistant special is that it uses your internal knowledge. Therefore it's even more important to make him use the right context by clearly defining what you are looking for.
Based on your prompt the Zive Assistant identifies the 10 most relevant sources, which are then used to answer your question or solve the task. Additionally, the company description is always considered as well.
The Zive Assistant always provides you feedback on the used sources in the first response and you can expand them by clicking on "Show". Checking the sources can help you understand how the Assistant interpreted your prompt and if required re-adjust the direction.
Adjust the sources used
When using the general Assistant, you have the possibility to manually select or deselect sources to be used by clicking on "Pick sources" and regenerate the answer based on your selection. This can be helpful if you know exactly which documents you want to have considered for your prompt.
Another way to define the sources the Assistant uses is by choosing a different entry point than the pure Assistant view.
Assistant on file level: If you have one specific file in mind, out of which you want to get information, it might be the best way to search for this file open it, and use the Assistant on file level, which then only considers this specific file as a source.
Assistant on collection level: You can also activate the Assistant for knowledge collections which provides an Assistant inside of the collection. The potential sources are limited to the content within the collection.
Tips & Takeaways
Check the sources used by the Assistant
Experiment with how the order and wording of your prompt affect the sources
Fill out your company description with meaningful information
Use the different entry points for the Assistant to define or limit the potential sources
2. Optimize the wording and structure of your prompts
There are a few generic tips to get better results using AI, which also apply to the Zive Assistant. Additionally, there are also some smart solutions we provide to make it even easier for you to optimize the wording of your prompts in Zive.
Find the right balance
Generally, the goal of wording your prompt correctly is always to avoid leaving room for misinterpretation. In order to achieve this you should try to be precise and detailed while writing your prompt, meaning to include relevant context, information or specifications.
At the same time try to keep your prompt short and concise to ensure clarity, which is often hard to balance out. Avoid adding irrelevant information that distract from the main point or topic. While the Assistant is able to handle multiple tasks within a prompt (e.g. summarizing and then drafting something), you should make sure that the your instructions are not ambiguous or contradicting.
Here is an extreme example to make the point clear:
Scenario: You want to gather information about the development of your core Sales KPIs in the US market for each quarter of this year.
Prompt | Detailed and precise? | Short and concise? |
How did we do in Sales in the US? | Lacks important specifications (e.g. core Sales KPIs, timeframe) | Yes
|
I'm trying to gather some insights into the development of our Sales team. Because the US is the most important market for us I would like to start with only the US market first. My boss told me that some of my previous evaluations were too detailed, so maybe this time I should focus only on the core KPIs. Could you please evaluate everything on a quarterly basis, because this is the internal standard. Also it might be interesting for my colleagues to see if there are any specific patterns or trends compared to other markets. | Yes | Unnecessarily long and complex (e.g. irrelevant context and background information)
Ambiguous instructions (e.g. US market vs. comparison between markets)
|
Create an overview of the development of our core Sales KPIs in the US market for each quarter of this year. | Contains all specifications
| Keeps it simple and easy to understand |
Specific terms and abbreviations
On top of that, you often have very specific terms that might not be universally valid and understood but are hard to describe in different words. We got you covered with our Glossary, which you can use to define the meaning of company-specific terms and abbreviations to be considered in Assistant conversations.
Tips & Takeaways
Be precise and detailed for important requirements and specifications
Avoid unnecessary additions and aim for a short and clear structure
Make sure to add specific terms and abbreviations to the Glossary in order to use them in Assistant conversations
3. Identify and define the required output
Identify objective and audience
It always helps if you make up your mind about what exactly you want and need. If you have a clear picture in mind it becomes easier for you to translate this into a good prompt. Especially when it goes beyond a simple question you will get better results and more value by defining your objective and audience.
Objective: Research, Drafting, Analyzing, Decision-making, ...
Audience: Me, Colleagues, Executives, Customers, ...
Define format and add context
With an objective and audience in mind, the picture of the expected output often becomes clearer. This enables you to define the desired output format and include it in your prompt:
"Draft an email to a customer ..."
"Create a meeting agenda for our HR team meeting ..."
"Analyze the quarterly development of our Sales KPIs in a table ..."
You then might want to add more context to be considered for the output, like specifications, constraints, or background information.
"Draft a German email in a polite tone to customer ..."
"Create a meeting agenda for our HR team meeting and consider the format and tasks from last week's meeting"
"Analyze the quarterly development of our Sales KPIs in a table and highlight significant changes since the new competitor entered the market in Q3."
Sounds like a lot to be considered. The good news, not all of this has to be defined in your initial prompt. You can always use the conversation with the Assistant to follow up with specifications.
Tips & Takeaways
Define the objective and audience for the output of your prompt
Add relevant specifications and context
Don't be afraid to use a conversation to follow-up and finalize your result