# Triage rules

Three buckets. The whole value of this skill is that the first bucket is short and correct.

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## Bucket 1 — Needs you

An item belongs here only if the owner personally has to do something. Test it against these:

| Signal | Example |
|---|---|
| A decision only the owner can make | Approve a change order, accept or decline a job |
| Money moving | An invoice over the owner's threshold, a refund request, a payment dispute |
| An unhappy customer | Complaint, escalation, a second email with sharper tone |
| A hard deadline | Permit, insurance renewal, tax notice, bid due date |
| A commitment already promised | The owner said "I'll get you a number Wednesday" and it is Wednesday |
| Anything legal or regulatory | Contract, lien notice, agency letter, subpoena |
| Payment details changed | New bank or remit-to info, urgent wire request, lookalike sender domain — needs you, never drafted, verify by phone |

**Rank by consequence, not arrival time.** What happens if this is missed for 24 hours? A license lapsing on Friday outranks a vendor question from an hour ago, even though the vendor email is newer.

Keep it to five items where possible. If eight qualify, list all eight — but if twenty qualify, the threshold is wrong and the triage needs tightening, not the owner needs a longer list.

## Bucket 2 — Drafted

A reply is written and waiting for a yes. Most mail lands here.

Typical: routine customer questions, scheduling back-and-forth, supplier confirmations, an ask the owner has answered a dozen times before.

The owner's job on this bucket is to skim and approve, not to think.

## Bucket 3 — Handled

Receipts, newsletters, shipping notices, calendar invites already accepted, platform notifications, automated reports.

**Report these as a count with categories, never as a list.** "41 handled — 22 receipts, 9 newsletters, 6 shipping, 4 platform notices." One line. The owner can ask to see any category.

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## Edge cases

**A thread with both a receipt and a question.** The question wins. Bucket by what the owner has to do, not by what the email mostly is.

**A newsletter from a real person the owner knows.** Still handled. Relationship does not make it actionable.

**Cold sales pitches.** Handled. Do not draft a reply, do not surface them. Owners get dozens and every one surfaced costs credibility.

**Something you cannot classify.** Put it in "needs you" and say plainly that you were unsure why. Under-filing is cheap; over-filing loses a customer.

**A thread where someone else at the business already replied.** Leave it alone and note it. Replying underneath a colleague looks disorganized and undercuts the person who handled it.

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## Worked example — Okonkwo Mechanical, Tuesday morning

Ray's inbox: 63 new since yesterday afternoon.

**Needs you (4)**

1. **Bexar County permit renewal — expires Friday.** Mechanical contractor license renewal, USD 340, needs Ray's signature. Missing it stops work on three active jobs.
2. **Delgado Properties — change order, USD 4,200.** Ellen Delgado wants two extra rooftop units added to the Rosewood job. Needs a yes or a no before their Thursday board meeting.
3. **Marisol Reyes — second email, unhappy.** Unit at the Alamo Heights house still cycling after last week's service. First email was Thursday, unanswered.
4. **Fitzgerald & Co — you promised a number Wednesday.** Ray wrote "I'll have a price to you Wednesday" on the 14th. It is Wednesday.

**Drafted and waiting (11)** — three scheduling replies, two supplier confirmations, four routine service questions, two referral thank-yous.

**Handled (48)** — 26 receipts, 11 newsletters, 7 shipping notices, 4 platform notifications.

**Handed off (3)** — 2 vendor bills to `ap-processor`, 1 web form inquiry to `speed-to-lead`.

Ray reads that in about a minute and knows exactly what his morning is.