The weekly performance commentary
Listen to this lesson
Nigerian voice narration
Fictional training case. Branch operations officer Dayo at Coastal Trust Bank's Port Harcourt branch sees deposits fall from a fictional ₦182,000,000 to ₦167,440,000 week-on-week — an 8% drop. The regional head wants an explanation by Friday. Work through the example, identify the evidence needed and practise the method with cleared or synthetic inputs. Any additional figures in the explanation are separate practice examples, not claimed rows in a downloadable file.
Worked example
Dayo pastes the verified weekly summary table and prompts: 'Draft a 150-word commentary: key movements, likely causes marked "to be confirmed", and 2 concrete actions this week. Do not invent figures.' The AI correctly restates the ₦14,560,000 drop (₦182,000,000 − ₦167,440,000) and flags it as 8%, which Dayo confirms as exactly 8% for readability. It suggests 'possible cause: a corporate customer's scheduled withdrawal, to be confirmed with the relationship team' — Dayo checks and confirms this is indeed true, a fictional client 'Greenfield Traders' withdrew ₦9,000,000 for a stock purchase.
The method
Always paste only verified, branch-level figures into the prompt — never guess numbers for AI to use. Marking uncertain causes as 'to be confirmed' is honest and actually strengthens the report's credibility, since it shows judgement rather than invented certainty. Once a good structure works, save it as a reusable weekly template so future commentaries take minutes.
Worked practice and common mistakes
The ₦14,560,000 decline divided by ₦182,000,000 is exactly 8%. A verified fictional withdrawal of ₦9m explains only part of the movement; other inflows and outflows need reconciliation. From ₦95m to ₦101.65m, the increase is ₦6.65m or 7%. Do not call a partial explanation the whole cause. Suggested hours or retention actions are proposals requiring appropriate review, not commitments the commentary author can make alone.
Review before using the result
Dayo confirms the ₦14,560,000 decline is 8%. The fictional ₦9m withdrawal explains part of it, not the whole movement. He labels remaining causes as unconfirmed and proposes actions for appropriate review rather than committing the branch to changed operating hours.
Your workplace practice
Use the recommended free assistant with this lesson's fictional example. Here is my branch's verified weekly performance table. Draft a 150-word commentary for the regional head: key movements, likely causes marked 'to be confirmed', and 2 concrete actions this week. Do not invent figures. Keep a copy of the input and draft. Compare the result with the verification steps above, record any correction, and retain placeholders where evidence is missing. The expected result is a checked draft for human review, not an automatically approved decision. Course examples and practice responses are fictional; amounts, dates, rules and thresholds are not official guidance or supplier quotations.
Open Microsoft Copilot (free tier) and paste this prompt there. Fits branches running Excel and Outlook; drafts commentary from figures.
Here is my branch's verified weekly performance table. Draft a 150-word commentary for the regional head: key movements, likely causes marked 'to be confirmed', and 2 concrete actions this week. Do not invent figures.
Why this tool: Fits branches running Excel and Outlook; drafts commentary from figures.
Hit a free limit? Switch to ChatGPT or Gemini and continue — the prompt works in any assistant.