Elena and Meridian Case Files: Requests, RFP and Capacity Note

# Section 3 Prepared Practice Files: Attention Queue, Meridian RFP Comparison, and Decision Record

**Purpose**: Authored fictional teaching materials for Section 3 (*Choose what matters when everything feels urgent (AI Decision Support)*). Use these files to inspect the examples in Lectures `3.1` through `3.5` or test the prompts in `../prompts/section-03-prompts.md`.

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## 1. Department Manager Incoming Stream & Project Context (`3.1`–`3.2` — Elena)

### Active Department Commitments (`department-commitments.md`)
- **Friday Committed Client Release**: Scheduled for Friday, October 9. **Dev (Senior Engineer)** is the lead engineer responsible for final integration and release sign-off; removing Dev for 3 days delays Friday's committed client release.

### Four Incoming Items on Elena's Desk (`incoming-requests.md`)
1. **Peer Director Staffing Request**: "Can I borrow senior engineer Dev for 3 days this week (Tuesday through Thursday) to help troubleshoot our internal reporting migration?"
2. **Internal Operations Formatting Request (Stamped `URGENT — Due Noon`)**: "Please switch the department's monthly report to the new template by 12:00 p.m. today." The request changes the department's report template, so it needs Elena's approval. (No external client or delivery impact if decided tomorrow.) There is no urgent customer email in this stream.
3. **Prepared Client Progress Update Draft**: Draft status email for the Horizon account prepared from yesterday's meeting notes, ready for Elena's scheduled afternoon review.
4. **Supplier Pricing Thread**: Waiting on the cloud vendor's finance team to confirm Q4 tier pricing; vendor promised a reply by Wednesday afternoon.

### Resulting Attention Queue (`attention-queue.md`)
- **Group 1: Decisions needing Elena (Ordered by consequence of delay, not timestamp)**:
  1. **Respond to request to borrow Dev (Top Priority)**: *Consequence*: Lending Dev for 3 days puts Friday's committed client release at risk. *Owner*: Elena.
  2. **Internal formatting request (`Due Noon` stamp)**: *Consequence*: Needs Elena's approval because it changes the department's report template; zero delivery or client impact if moved to tomorrow. *Owner*: Elena / Operations Coordinator.
- **Group 2: Prepared drafts ready to inspect**:
  - **Horizon client progress update draft**: Held for Elena's scheduled 3:00 p.m. review block.
- **Group 3: Work waiting on another person**:
  - **Cloud vendor Q4 tier pricing**: Waiting on vendor finance reply (expected Wednesday); return immediately only if vendor change threatens a committed delivery date.

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## 2. Opportunity & Capacity Comparison (`3.3` — Maya / Meridian Manufacturing RFP)

### Meridian Manufacturing RFP Summary (`meridian-rfp-scope.md`)
- **Document type**: Request for Proposal (`RFP`) — a document from a prospective customer describing the work they want suppliers to bid on.
- **Scope requested**: Full migration of legacy manufacturing records into the core platform, plus custom two-way ERP integration, completed within **6 weeks**.
- **Bid submission deadline**: Friday, October 9, at 5:00 p.m.

### Team Capacity & Unrecorded Commitment Note (`team-capacity-note.md`)
- **General engineering headcount**: 6 engineers show open calendar blocks across the 6-week window.
- **Scarce specialist constraint**: Custom ERP integration requires a **senior integration specialist**, and general headcount is not interchangeable with specialist hours. Maya's only 2 senior integration specialists are both committed to another client's launch, which is planned to run into **weeks 3 and 4**. That launch involves a third-party vendor whose testing schedule is unconfirmed. About **20 hours of specialist availability** are tentatively open in **week 5**.

### Three-Option Comparison & Pivotal Assumption (`meridian-option-comparison.md`)

| Option | Delivery & Capacity Fit | Strategic & Commercial Impact | Pivotal Assumption / Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Option 1: Bid on Full 6-Week Scope** | Needs both senior integration specialists free for Meridian in weeks 3 and 4. | Highest initial contract value. | **Pivotal assumption**: The full bid is viable only if the other client's launch finishes early, by **day 10 (end of week 2)**, with zero spillover. Any delay breaks both commitments. |
| **Option 2: Propose Narrower Phased Scope (Confirmed Choice)** | Starts core data setup in weeks 1–4 using available general engineers and moves custom ERP integration to **week 5** (requiring 20 specialist hours). | Protects existing client launch commitment while winning the core Meridian relationship at a smaller initial bid value. | **Open uncertainty to verify**: Confirm with the engineering lead before contract signature that at least **20 hours of senior specialist time** are free in week 5. |
| **Option 3: Decline to Bid** | Zero capacity strain. | Forfeits strategic manufacturing account entirely. | Only warranted if week-5 specialist hours are also unavailable. |

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## 3. Saved Decision Record (`3.4`–`3.5` — `Meridian Proposal` Project)

- **How it was checked**: Maya checks the agent's first draft for 2 common mistakes: the phased scope must be named as the final choice, and week-5 specialist availability must stay a condition to verify. The draft passes both first time, so she approves it without corrections.
- **Record title**: `decision-record-meridian-rfp.md`
- **Confirmed choice**: Propose the **narrower phased scope** to Meridian Manufacturing (core data setup in weeks 1–4; custom integration scheduled for week 5).
- **Reasons & tradeoff accepted**: Protects the active client launch commitment, accepting a smaller initial contract value rather than gambling on day-10 specialist availability.
- **Alternatives considered**: Full 6-week scope (rejected because it depends on the other launch finishing by day 10 without spillover) and declining to bid (rejected because phased setup fits current capacity).
- **Fact still to confirm**: Whether 20 hours of senior integration specialist capacity in week 5 are fully clear of internal obligations; must be verified before contract signature.
- **Condition that reopens full scope**: If written confirmation arrives, before the bid is due on Friday, October 9, at 5 p.m., that the active client launch has passed final testing early enough to free both specialists by day 10, reopen the full 6-week scope option.