This guide is about the work a Chief of Staff often does. You keep priorities in view. You help key work move. You prepare the CEO. You help teams work together. You act when something needs help.
It is also for anyone who does this work with a different job title. Start with the part that helps you most today.
The 16 plays in this guide help you answer five questions:
Strategy & Priorities: Are we working on what matters most?
Execution: Is the important work moving?
CEO Effectiveness: What really needs the CEO’s attention?
Alignment: Does everyone have the context they need?
Problem Solving: Where does the company need help?
You do not need to read the guide in order.
How each play works
Each play starts with a common problem. Then it shows one way to set it up in Humble. It shows what it may help to check and what gets easier.
These are ideas, not rules. Change them to fit how your company works.
How every play works in Humble
This guide uses a few simple ideas many times:
One clear owner:Many people can help with a task. It helps to make one person own the next step.
Dates where they matter:Add a due date when timing or order matters. Skip dates that add noise but help no one act.
Context linked to the work:Link a task to its goal, meeting, note, person or document. Then the reason for it is not lost.
A small set of tags:Use only the tags that give you useful views again and again.
Quarter tags with the year:Use tags such as #Q4-2026 and #Q1-2027, not #Q4 or #Q1 alone.
Focus on what needs help:In reviews, look at work that is blocked, late, unclear or waiting for a decision.
Chapter 02~7 min read · three plays
Strategy & Priorities
Are we working on what matters most?
This section helps turn company priorities into work that people own and move. It also gives leaders one shared view of what matters now.
The plays in this section
Turn company priorities into tasks with owners.
Keep one clear view of what matters.
Keep the quarter connected.
Play 1: Turn company priorities into tasks with owners
The situation
The company’s priorities are clear in a strategy document. But the work for them is somewhere else. Over time, people lose the link between each priority and the daily tasks.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can make a note or page for each main priority. Or you can link the original document from Google Docs or Notion.
Add why it matters, how you will know it worked and who owns it.
Add the main tasks under it. Link each one back to the priority.
Add the quarter tag and workstream tags. Then you can see the work together in different views.
Check this
A useful question each week is: Does this week’s planned work match the priorities we agreed?
You can filter by the current quarter, workstream or owner. This shows which priorities have tasks moving. It also shows which ones do not have work linked yet.
What changes: people can see how the work they do now links to the company’s goals.
Play 2: Keep one clear view of what matters
The situation
Every team has its own priorities. Soon everything seems urgent. Urgent requests hide the company’s main goals.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can make a shared space such as Company Priorities: Q4 2026.
Keep it to the three to five priorities that matter most for the whole company.
For each priority, add the goal, the reason, the owner and how you will measure success.
Link the tasks, notes and source documents that show what is happening with it.
Check this
You can use the same view in a weekly leadership conversation:
Is it going to plan?
Does it need attention?
Is a decision needed?
Sometimes the space grows into a list of all the company’s work. Then it may help to make it shorter again.
What changes: leaders share one answer to the question: what matters most right now?
My Notes
New note
Company Priorities: Q4 2026
Win 5 big customers · Priya K
Raise our Series A · Alex R
Hire 4 people · Sam L
#Q4-2026#EnterpriseLaunch#SeriesA#Hiring
One owner for each
A Company Priorities note in Humble: three outcomes, one owner each, and a tag for the quarter and each project.
Play 3: Keep the quarter connected
The situation
Plans for the quarter often become separate lists for Product, Sales, People and other teams. Then someone has to rebuild the picture for the whole company by hand.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can add the same quarter tag to important work across the company. For example, #Q4-2026.
Add a small set of workstream tags such as #GTM, #Product, #Hiring and #Fundraising.
Add a tag for an initiative only when it gives you a view you will use again.
Use the same work to answer different questions from leaders. You do not need to copy it into another report.
Check this
Useful views might include:
All strategic work for #Q4-2026.
#Q4-2026 with #GTM.
#Q4-2026 with #Hiring.
This quarter with one key initiative.
It can help to check your tags at the start of each quarter. Then keep them the same until the quarter ends.
What changes: one set of linked work can give leaders many useful views of the quarter.
Chapter 03~9 min read · four plays
Execution
Is the important work moving?
This section helps you see progress across teams. It shows what is in the way. It helps you focus each conversation on the work that needs help.
The plays in this section
Keep work across teams moving.
Get updates without asking again and again.
Make it clear who owns each task.
See what is blocking other work.
Play 4: Keep work across teams moving
The situation
An important initiative needs several teams. Each team can see its own work. But no one has a clear view of how all the parts fit.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can make a shared space or a note for the initiative. Add the goal, how to measure success, the target date and the owner.
Link the work from Product, GTM, Legal, Operations and any other teams.
Use one tag for the initiative that stays the same. Add it next to the quarter and workstream tags.
Link notes that explain what depends on what, the order of work or big risks. These may not be clear from the tasks alone.
Check this
You do not need to ask each team for a general update. You can look at:
Work that is blocked.
Work waiting on another team.
Work with no clear owner.
Changes that affect the goal or the date.
For urgent work, it may help to check this view once or twice a week. For slower work, once a week may be enough.
What changes: you can focus on the handovers and problems that need you. You do not need to rebuild the whole project by hand.
Play 5: Get updates without asking again and again
The situation
You spend too much time asking for updates. You copy them into documents. Then you make them into another report.
One way to set this up in Humble
In Humble, you can link the work that already exists.
Before you ask for an update, filter by the project, person or team.
This can help you see what is clear and what context is missing.
Then the conversation can focus on the risk, blocker or decision that needs help.
Check this
Before a status meeting, it may help to look for work that is late, blocked or has stopped moving.
The useful question is: What do I still need a person to explain?
What changes: you spend less time getting updates. You spend more time helping key work move.
The same work, filtered to one person. You can filter by a tag (a project or team) the same way.
Play 6: Make it clear who owns each task
The situation
People make commitments in meetings. But the next step is vague, shared by many people or has no date. Slowly, the Chief of Staff becomes the reminder system.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can turn a commitment into a clear task. For example, write Propose revised enterprise pricing, not Look into pricing.
Give the next step one owner, even when many people will help.
Link the meeting, note or conversation that explains why the task exists.
Add a date when timing matters, or when other work depends on it.
Check this
Views for Due today, Overdue, Coming next and By owner can help you see which tasks may need a follow-up.
It is often easiest to add the task during the conversation or soon after. Then you still remember the context.
What changes: you can see who owns what in the work itself. It no longer depends on you remembering whom to remind.
Play 7: See what is blocking other work
The situation
One task may look only a little late. But it may delay several teams or a much bigger initiative.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can link the task to the initiative and the related work.
Add a short note. Say what is blocked, why it matters and what would help it move.
Use the same tag each time, such as #Blocker. Add it with the initiative and quarter tags.
If it helps, note what else will be late if no one fixes the blocker.
Check this
Before you review an initiative or meet with leaders, you can filter for blockers. Then ask:
What else is affected?
Who can unblock it?
Does it need a decision, help from other teams or just more time?
What changes: you focus on the delays that affect the most other work, not just the loudest update.
Chapter 04~7 min read · three plays
CEO Effectiveness
What really needs the CEO’s attention?
This section helps you keep the CEO’s commitments in view. It brings the right context to key moments. It protects time for work that needs the CEO’s judgement, authority or relationships.
The plays in this section
Keep the CEO’s commitments in view.
Give the CEO the context they need.
Keep unnecessary work away from the CEO.
Play 8: Keep the CEO’s commitments in view
The situation
The CEO makes many small but important commitments. They happen in meetings, messages and conversations. Some get lost, because neither the CEO nor the Chief of Staff can hold them all in their head.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can add the CEO’s commitments. For example: review a deck, introduce two people, approve pricing or call a customer.
Assign them to the CEO, so it is clear who owns them.
Link the person, meeting, note or document.
Use Now, Next and Later to separate what needs attention from what can wait.
Check this
A short view each day can answer: What really needs the CEO’s attention today?
Before a one-to-one with the CEO, you can also check open commitments. Look for anything to move up or down the list, give to someone else or remove.
What changes: the CEO’s commitments no longer depend on someone remembering them at the right time.
My Tasks
Now 2
Call the lead investorCEOToday
Approve the Q4 budgetCEOFri
Next 1
Review the hiring planCEOOct 14
Later 2
Call the lead investorCEO
Plan the board dinnerCEO
Move it to Now
The CEO's commitments in Now, Next and Later. Drag a task to move it.
Play 9: Give the CEO the context they need
The situation
An important meeting is soon. But the useful context is scattered. It is in the calendar, messages, documents, old notes and people’s memories.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can start with the meeting. Link the person, organisation or initiative it is about.
Add old notes, open tasks, useful files and past decisions.
For the most important meetings, you can write a short brief. It can cover: who they are, why now, what happened last time, what was promised and what result is needed.
After the meeting, decisions can become notes. Next steps can become tasks with owners and the context attached.
Check this
It may help to prepare only for the meetings where it could really change the result.
For each one, ask: What does the CEO need to know, decide or do?
What changes: to prepare for a meeting, you find the linked context. You do not have to rebuild it from nothing.
Play 10: Keep unnecessary work away from the CEO
The situation
The CEO becomes the owner of any unclear work. Decisions that others could make wait for the CEO.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can gather all the work now assigned to the CEO.
To review it, you can ask if each item needs:
A CEO decision.
A CEO relationship.
A CEO review.
Someone else to own it.
Work that does not need the CEO can go to the right person.
Then you can sort the real CEO work into Now, Next and Later.
Check this
A weekly Do, delegate, defer or remove review can help protect the CEO’s attention. You do not need to change priorities all the time.
What changes: the CEO spends more time on work that really needs their judgement, authority or relationships.
Chapter 05~7 min read · three plays
Alignment
Does everyone have the context they need?
This section helps leaders use shared context to make decisions. It helps them keep the reasons for each decision. It also helps teams work together.
The plays in this section
Use leadership meetings to decide and unblock.
Record what was decided and why.
Keep teams working from the same context.
Play 11: Use leadership meetings to decide and unblock
The situation
Leadership meetings become a list of updates from each team. Decisions get only the last few minutes. Afterwards, the tasks are hard to find.
One way to set this up in Humble
Before you write the agenda, you can check a few things. Look at the company priorities, big changes and blockers. Look at work that depends on other teams.
Use these to plan the meeting around decisions and teamwork, not routine reports.
During the meeting, big decisions can become notes. The notes can include the reasons.
Next steps can become tasks with one owner, a date if useful and the meeting context attached.
Check this
A focused agenda for leaders might include:
Priorities needing attention.
Big changes.
Blockers.
Decisions needed.
Work that depends on other teams.
What changes: leaders use their time to move work forward, not to read updates aloud.
Play 12: Record what was decided and why
The situation
Teams discuss an old decision again. The reasons are lost, or people remember it in different ways.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can write a short decision note with the decision, the date and the reason.
For bigger decisions, add the other options you looked at. Add what would make you review the decision again.
Link the meeting, evidence, people and documents behind it.
Add the tasks that come from the decision. Use #Decision if it gives you a useful view.
Check this
The decision note can make it easy to answer:
What did we decide?
Why did we decide it?
What happened next?
Has enough changed to review it again?
What changes: the company can learn from past decisions. No one has to rebuild them again and again.
My Notes
New note
Decision: team pricing, 3 Oct
Question: do we add a team price?
Options: keep, raise 10%, add a team tier
Decision: add a team tier in Q1
Related items
TASKS
Update the pricing pageTell the sales team
The actions that follow
A decision note: the question, the options, the decision and the tasks that follow from it.
Play 13: Keep teams working from the same context
The situation
Each team can see its own work. But a shared initiative needs one view across Product, Sales, Marketing, Legal and other teams.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can group the shared context by client, project or initiative.
Team tags such as #Product, #Sales, #Marketing and #Legal can keep each team’s point of view.
Link the work where it already lives. Each team does not need to move to the same way of working.
Use the initiative view to see how the work fits across teams.
Check this
In a review with several teams, it may help to ask:
Where do teams depend on each other?
Does each team have the context it needs?
What has changed elsewhere that affects this work?
Where do teams need to work together?
What changes: teams keep the ways of working that suit them. Leaders still see the shared picture of the initiative.
Chapter 06~7 min read · three plays
Problem Solving
Where does the company need help?
This section helps turn unclear worries into clear work. It helps move key decisions forward. It helps you find problems while there is still time to act.
The plays in this section
Make a messy problem easier to solve.
Move an important decision forward.
Find problems before they become urgent.
Play 14: Make a messy problem easier to solve
The situation
Something feels wrong, but the problem is still vague. People suggest fixes too soon. They have not yet separated the facts, the unknowns and the decision.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can write a problem note. Describe the issue without taking sides. Say why it matters.
Separate what you know from what you guess or do not know.
Turn key unknowns into research tasks. Give each one a clear owner.
Keep ideas you have not tested apart from evidence. Say what decision will need to be made.
Check this
A useful question for reviews is: What do we still need to learn before we can act with confidence?
Continue to research until what is unknown is small enough for the person who decides. You do not need to answer every question.
What changes: a vague worry becomes a clear problem. People can study it and solve it together.
Play 15: Move an important decision forward
The situation
An important decision keeps getting delayed. The question, evidence, owner and timing are not in one place.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can write a decision note. Add the question, why it matters now, the options, who decides and when they plan to decide.
Add research tasks for the information that is still missing.
Link the evidence, meetings, notes and people involved.
When the decision is made, record it and the reasons. Then link the tasks that follow.
Check this
Before a leadership or CEO meeting, you can look at decisions that are open or due soon. Ask:
Is the question clear?
Is the right person making the decision?
What evidence is still missing?
Are we deciding now, or deciding to wait?
What changes: the question, evidence, decision and tasks stay linked.
Play 16: Find problems before they become urgent
The situation
Important issues stay inside small team conversations. Leaders only hear about them once they are urgent.
One way to set this up in Humble
You can choose one tag to use each time, such as #Blocker or #NeedsAttention.
Link the issue to its initiative or task. Say in a few words what it affects.
Add the owner and the help or decision needed. Say what may happen if nothing changes.
Simple issues can stay with the people closest to the work. Issues that need authority or several teams can go to leaders.
Check this
Before you meet with leaders or review a key initiative, it may help to look for:
New blockers.
Blockers that affect several teams.
Issues waiting for a decision.
Problems with no clear owner.
What changes: leaders can act while there are still useful options.
TasksSearch tasks…Filter
TAG#Q4-202612#Blocker3#Blocker3#Decision2
Now 2Today
ARLegal sign-off on termsDue 9 Oct#Blocker
SLFix SSO for Acme#Blocker
Next 1This week
PKHire budget approval#Blocker
Every blocker together
Filter by the #Blocker tag to see every blocked task together, with its owner.
Chapter 07~3 min read
The Chief of Staff operating rhythm
The 16 plays work best as part of a simple rhythm you repeat. The example below is a place to start, not a fixed plan.
Daily: see what needs attention
You can begin with a short view of:
What really needs attention today.
Which key meetings you need to prepare for.
Which tasks or decisions need the CEO.
Whether any big blockers have appeared.
During the day, you can save useful context where it appears:
A decision becomes a decision note.
An action becomes a task with an owner.
A useful source is linked to the work.
A new commitment gets a date where timing matters.
You do not need to organise every conversation. The goal is that no one has to remember to save key context later.
Monday: set direction
You might review:
The company priorities for this quarter.
Whether this week’s work matches those priorities.
What needs the CEO’s attention.
Likely blockers, or work that depends on other work.
Your own work across Now, Next and Later.
Midweek: check progress
This can be a good time to look at:
Progress on key initiatives.
Blockers and items that need attention.
Owners and dates where delivery matters.
The gaps that really need a conversation.
Leadership meeting: decide and unblock
The shared view can help leaders focus their time on:
Priorities needing attention.
Big changes.
Blockers.
Decisions needed.
Work that depends on other teams.
During the meeting:
Decision → note.
Action → task.
Responsibility → owner.
Timing → due date if useful.
Context → linked source, person or relationship.
Friday: review the week
A short review at the end of the week might ask:
What moved?
What did not?
What is overdue?
What remains blocked?
What did the CEO commit to?
What needs to move to next week?
Chapter 08~4 min read
How to organise this in Humble
There is no one right setup. The structure below is a useful place to start. It keeps the system simple and easy to search.
What goes where
When you have…
A useful place for it
Something somebody needs to do
Task
The person who owns the next step
Assignee
Timing that matters
Deadline
A decision about what needs attention first
Now / Next / Later
Something worth remembering
Note
Longer written context
Page or existing source document
A strategy, deck or piece of research
Keep it where it is and link it
A company quarter
Tag with the year, such as #Q4-2026
A workstream
Tag such as #GTM, #Product or #Fundraising
A larger initiative
Initiative tag, shared space or both
A decision
Decision note and the tasks that follow
A problem to investigate
Problem note or page and research tasks
Context several people need
Shared space
Shared spaces
Shared spaces help most when several people really need the same context. In your company, that might include:
Company Priorities: Q4 2026
Leadership
Fundraising
Enterprise Launch
Major Client X
You do not need a space for every topic. A few useful spaces are often easier to manage.
Tags
Time
#Q4-2026#Q1-2027#Q2-2027#Q3-2027
Workstream
#GTM#Product#People#Finance#Fundraising
Initiative
#EnterpriseLaunch#SeriesA#WebsiteRelaunch
Type, only where useful
#Decision#Blocker
Include the year each time. If not, old and new work will mix when the same quarter returns next year.
A tag is useful when it helps you find or review something again and again. If a tag does not give you a view you will use again, you may not need it.
Naming conventions
Quarter tags: #Q[number]-[year], such as #Q4-2026.
Quarter spaces or pages: Company Priorities: Q4 2026.
Tasks: start with a verb and make the result clear.
Decision notes: Decision: [topic], [date].
Problem notes: Problem: [neutral description].
Initiatives: use the same name for the space, the tag and the source documents, where you can.
Chapter 09~2 min read · 60 min to do
The 60-minute Chief of Staff setup
You can use this checklist to build a useful first version in one hour. It does not need to hold everything to be useful.
0–10 minutesMake the priorities space for this quarter. Add the three to five priorities that really matter.You’ll have: One shared view of what matters now.
10–20 minutesMake or link the priority notes. Add the goal, the reason, the owner and how you will measure success.You’ll have: The context behind each priority.
20–35 minutesAdd the most important tasks under the priorities. Give each one a clear owner.You’ll have: Priorities linked to the work.
35–45 minutesMake the smallest set of tags you need: this quarter, your main workstreams and any key initiative.You’ll have: One way to see related work together.
45–55 minutesMake the views you will use: this quarter, CEO tasks, blockers and key initiatives.You’ll have: A few useful views.
55–60 minutesPut the weekly rhythm in your calendar. Add Monday priorities, a midweek check, the leadership meeting and a Friday review.You’ll have: A rhythm that keeps the system useful.
The end state
Then you can answer:
Are we working on what matters most?
Is the important work moving?
What really needs the CEO’s attention?
Does everyone have the context they need?
Where does the company need help?
You do not have to hold the whole company in your head. You bring judgement and relationships. You set priorities and act when needed. Humble keeps the work and its context linked.
TasksSearch tasks…Filter
Now 2Today
PKPropose new pricingDue 14 Oct#EnterpriseLaunch
CEOCall the lead investor#SeriesA
Next 2This week
ARBook 10 investor callsDue 31 Oct#SeriesA
PKChoose top candidates#Hiring
Later 1After that
SLPlan the Q1 offsite#Q1-2027
A tag for each project
The finished setup: each priority has owned tasks, a project tag and a place in Now, Next or Later.
See how it works in Humble
The plays in this guide use features available in Humble today.
See how Humble keeps your tasks, notes, people and their context linked.
This guide comes from Humble’s Chief of Staff Playbook. The Humble team wrote it. It is based on how Chiefs of Staff use the product in their daily work.
It shows one practical way of working. It is not an independent or complete guide to the Chief of Staff role. Each company and each Chief of Staff works in a different way. Use the parts that help, and change them to fit your work.
The guide describes Humble in September 2026. Some product details may change.
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