How Sarah saved her project using AI (again!)

Let me tell you about Sarah. If you’ve read my articles before, you know she’s our go-to Program Manager. She’s handled tight deadlines, juggled impossible stakeholders, and navigated projects that felt more like disaster movies than office work. But even Sarah, our returning heroine, sometimes faces projects that threaten to unravel everything.

This time? She was in deep. Conflicting priorities, vague requirements, and a dev team ready to walk out—all with the CEO breathing down her neck. But with a bit of creativity—and a tool you probably already have access to—Sarah turned things around. And you can too, using nothing more than ChatGPT. Let’s dive into Sarah’s latest adventure and see how she saved the day (again).

stuck in a mess of vague requirements

Sarah’s latest challenge came in the form of a customer portal project. She thought it would be simple. After all, she’s handled tougher ones before. But as soon as she started gathering requirements, she realized this one was different.

IT was demanding heavy backend customizations. Sales, in a panic about market timing, wanted a quick and simple solution to get the portal live yesterday. And Marketing? They handed Sarah a list of “must-have” features that read more like a wish list for a magical product that didn’t exist.

To make things worse, the feedback from each department was painfully vague. “Make it user-friendly,” they said. “Oh, and automate everything!” Sarah, usually able to cut through the fog of unclear directions, found herself frustrated. How could she lead her team when nobody seemed to know what they really wanted?

Then there was the CEO, David. Now, David wasn’t evil—not really. He was tough, sure, but he had to be. Running the company meant making sure projects didn’t derail, and Sarah knew he had a lot riding on this portal. David was intense, and sometimes his focus on results over people rubbed the team the wrong way. But underneath his icy exterior, Sarah knew David genuinely wanted the company to succeed. Still, his constant “How’s it going, Sarah? Are we on track?” texts weren’t exactly helping.

And the dev team? They were close to mutiny. “We need actual specs, Sarah, not wishful thinking,” one of them blurted during a tense stand-up meeting. Everyone was tired, confused, and on edge. Sarah felt the pressure mounting from all sides. She had to find a way out of this mess.

the turning point: using chatgpt to clarify chaos

That’s when Sarah remembered ChatGPT. She had used it before, in smaller ways, but this time she needed something bigger. Could AI help her wrangle this wild mess of half-baked ideas into something useful?

She decided to give it a shot. She took the most frustratingly vague request—“We need automation”—and fed it into ChatGPT. What came back blew her away:

• What tasks specifically need to be automated?
• Is this for internal processes or customer-facing functions?
• What’s the desired outcome of this automation?

These questions weren’t just good—they were exactly what Sarah needed to crack the code of ambiguity. At her next stakeholder meeting, she gently pushed each department to get specific.

IT, once insistent on “automation,” now clearly explained they needed backend reporting streamlined. Sales admitted they were focused on automating customer onboarding, while Marketing finally let go of their insistence on flashy features—at least for the initial launch. For the first time in weeks, the fog was lifting, and Sarah started to see a path forward.

taming the meeting notes chaos

After that breakthrough meeting, Sarah felt better—but there was still a ton of work to do. Her notes from the meeting looked like a chaotic map of thoughts, contradictions, and scattered feedback. Normally, she’d spend hours trying to make sense of it all.

But not this time. She went straight back to ChatGPT, feeding it her meeting notes. In minutes, the AI produced a clean, concise summary. It highlighted the key decisions and, crucially, flagged the remaining conflicts—like how IT still wanted custom backend features while Sales was pushing for speed over complexity.

With a clear overview, Sarah could address those remaining challenges head-on instead of getting lost in the mess of details. It was a game-changer. Her next task? Calming her increasingly anxious team.

addressing her team’s concerns

The dev team had been growing more frustrated by the day. They were fed up with unclear instructions and constant shifts in direction. Sarah knew just handing them clearer requirements wouldn’t be enough. They needed more than that—they needed to feel heard.

Sarah called for a team huddle. “Look, I know the last few weeks have been rough,” she started, her voice calm but empathetic. “The requirements have been all over the place, and that’s on me. But we’ve made progress. Moving forward, I’m going to make sure we have clarity before you start coding.”

She showed them the refined user stories she’d generated using ChatGPT. When she read out, “As a customer, I want an intuitive onboarding process so that I can start using the portal without assistance,” the mood began to shift. This was specific. This was something they could work with.

Sarah also promised to keep them in the loop moving forward and made sure each team member had ownership of a specific part of the project that played to their strengths. The devs were still cautious, but the sense of frustration started to ease. They knew what to do next, and for the first time in weeks, they had direction.

when ai isn’t a magic bullet

Even with AI helping Sarah clarify requirements and summarize notes, she knew ChatGPT wasn’t going to solve everything. There were still creative decisions to be made, especially when it came to the features Marketing wanted to include. The AI couldn’t brainstorm those “wow factor” ideas—they needed the team’s human creativity for that.

Sarah understood ChatGPT was a tool, not a miracle cure. It handled the heavy lifting of organizing and clarifying, but it was up to her and her team to inject the creativity and nuance the project needed. The balance between AI efficiency and human insight was critical to making the project successful.

preparing for tough stakeholder meetings

Then came the next challenge: facing David and the stakeholders in the big meeting. Normally, these meetings were high-pressure environments where departments fought to get their priorities heard. Sarah knew she needed to be prepared.

Using ChatGPT, she simulated potential objections from each department. “What concerns might IT have about using a standardized customer portal?” she asked. ChatGPT quickly spit out a list of likely objections—scalability, flexibility, and customization issues.

Sarah prepped her responses for every one. By the time the meeting rolled around, she wasn’t nervous. She walked in, ready for the tough questions. And when David, ever the results-driven CEO, asked, “But what about scalability?” she smiled. “We’ve already addressed that with IT. Here’s the plan…”

The meeting, which could have been a battlefield, turned into a productive discussion. Sarah, armed with solutions, kept the conversation focused. For once, everyone left satisfied—and progress continued.

outcomes: a project back on track

The impact of Sarah’s hard work and strategic use of ChatGPT was undeniable:

• Productivity skyrocketed. With clear tasks, her dev team hit milestones ahead of schedule.
• Stakeholder alignment improved. No more vague feedback. Every department knew what to expect and when.
• Team morale bounced back. The devs, who were on the verge of burnout, felt re-engaged and empowered by their newfound clarity.

And David? Even he lightened up, sending Sarah a rare, “Nice work on this,” message. High praise from someone who wasn’t known for handing out compliments. The looming deadlines no longer felt impossible. Sarah had turned a potential disaster into a project that was not just back on track but thriving.

the takeaway: ai can be your secret weapon

Sarah’s story proves that AI can be a powerful tool in project management—especially when things feel chaotic. And the best part? You don’t need fancy software or specialized tools. ChatGPT is all you need to start organizing your projects, clarifying requirements, and keeping your team on track.

Here’s what you can learn from Sarah’s experience:

1. Clarify vague requirements: Use ChatGPT to ask specific follow-up questions that turn abstract ideas into actionable tasks.
2. Summarize faster: Let ChatGPT sift through your meeting notes and highlight key points and conflicts.
3. Address team concerns directly: Be open with your team, involve them in the process, and use AI to bring clarity to their roles.
4. Prepare for meetings strategically: Use ChatGPT to simulate stakeholder objections and walk into meetings with solutions ready.
5. Understand AI’s limits: AI can organize and streamline, but your team’s creativity and judgment are irreplaceable.

call to action: share your experience

Have you ever used AI to manage a project? How did it help (or fall short) in clarifying requirements, preparing for meetings, or improving team productivity? Share your experiences in the comments—let’s talk about how AI is changing the way we manage our projects!