Claude AI Working Group

Week 3: Set Up Claude Cowork Like a Pro

Sat 4 July · hands-on session. Everything below is what we built in the room.

• Claude Cowork: what it is, and the folder setup that makes it work (ABOUT ME / OUTPUTS / TEMPLATES)
• Your about-me file: Claude interviews you, then writes it
• Your anti-AI writing style file (Week 1's skill, now doing real work)
• Your my-company file and global instructions: the glue that ties it together
• Templates: save your best work once, reuse the structure forever
• How to stop burning your credits: 5 habits that save most of your budget

Claude Cowork/              ← point Cowork at this folder
├─ ABOUT ME/                ← Claude reads all of it, every session. Keep it small.
│    ├─ about-me.md
│    ├─ anti-ai-writing-style.md
│    └─ my-company.md
├─ OUTPUTS/                 ← deliverables land here; never read uninvited
│    └─ one subfolder per project
└─ TEMPLATES/               ← skeletons of your best work, used on demand
     └─ report, post, proposal…

On the free plan? You can still build everything today. Same files, same prompts, using browser Claude with a Project and custom instructions. We'll show both side by side.

Three things to remember: Claude reads your ABOUT ME folder every session · small files beat big ones · restart the conversation instead of saying "no, I meant…".

You built it on Saturday: now use it

The three questions everyone asked at the end of the session, answered. Want the full walkthrough for every file? Open the step-by-step guide →

Nothing, and that's the point. With Prompt 1 pasted into your global instructions (Settings → Cowork), Claude reads everything in ABOUT ME/ before every task, automatically. You never attach the file or mention it. Start any task in Cowork and Claude arrives already briefed on who you are and how you work. (Free plan: the same file sits in your Project's instructions and works the same way.) Didn't finish the interview in the room? The Week 3 skill below runs it end to end.

Run the same task twice and compare:

• A (before): open plain browser Claude at claude.ai, no Project, and run Prompt 5 below. That's Claude off the shelf.
• B (after): spin off a new task in Cowork and run the identical prompt. That's your Claude.

Read the two side by side: A is generic filler about nothing in particular; B knows your work, your clients and your tone. The order matters: the "before" must run outside Cowork, because inside it Claude reads your files and there is no before.

Set up: run Part 2 of the Week 3 skill (say "run the about-me interview, Part 2"). It's 6–8 questions, goals and decisions only: this year's targets with numbers, where your energy goes this quarter, what you're saying no to. Claude writes my-company.md (under 1,000 tokens) into ABOUT ME/.

Then what? Same as about-me: nothing. Claude reads it before every task, so every plan, draft and recommendation gets steered by your actual goals, and Claude stops suggesting things you're saying no to. Revisit it quarterly, not weekly: it's your north star, not your Tuesday deadline.

Week 3's prompts

Everything we type in the session, ready to copy. The full interview prompt is in this week's free skill below.

I usually start my Cowork session by pointing you to my Cowork folder.

Before any and every single task, you must read every file in ABOUT ME/:

- about-me: it's me, who I am, what I love and hate
- anti-ai-writing-style: I hate how Claude writes, unless you write and then audit it against my anti-ai-writing-style file.
- my-company: where I work, my role.

Never read the folders OUTPUTS/ or TEMPLATES/ unless I specifically point you to a file.

Save all deliverables in OUTPUTS/ under a subfolder named after the project.

If the brief is unclear, use AskUserQuestion. Don't fill gaps with filler. Don't over-explain. Deliver the work.

This is my about-me file and I need to save tokens.
Ask me questions on how to trim effectively until we have the perfect document.

Save this as a template in TEMPLATES/. Strip the content, keep the skeleton: sections, order, format, length.

Summarize everything we've done and decided in this session in a compact brief I can paste into a new session. Include the current state of the work, open questions, and next steps.

Draft a short LinkedIn post about what I'm working on right now and why it matters.

Week 1: Your First Hour with Claude

Sat 20 June · watch, discuss, and try together.

• What Claude is, and how it differs from ChatGPT
• How to prompt: just tell Claude to ask you questions first
• What Claude Skills are, and why they save you time
• Browser vs Desktop (Cowork) vs Claude Code, and which to use when
• Connecting Claude to your apps

Three things to remember: let Claude interview you before it answers · Skills save repeat work · pick the right Claude for the job.

Quick comparisons

The two things people always ask in week 1.

They've largely converged: on most everyday tasks the top models are close. The difference now is fit and workflow, not raw power.

Plenty of people use both. This group focuses on getting great at Claude.