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Weekly Status Update — Template

Use this every Friday by EOD. Post in the client Slack channel AND as an Asana Update on the engagement project. The Asana version goes to the EM and Bill; the Slack version is for the broader engagement audience.

This is the Updates + 4 Blockers format from Asana tutorial video 11. Don't invent a different format — consistency is the value.

The format (copy/paste this)

Status: [On Track | At Risk | Off Track]
Period: Week of <Mon date> – <Fri date>

What got done this week:
- <Outcome, not activity. "Stood up X" not "worked on X">
- <…>

What's next week:
- <Specific deliverables with owners and dates>
- <…>

4 Blockers (or "None" if truly none):
1. <Blocker> — owner: <name> — needed by: <date>
2. <Blocker> — owner: <name> — needed by: <date>
3. <…>
4. <…>

Decisions needed from <EM / Bill / client>:
- <Question that needs an answer this week>

Rules

  • BLUF. The status flag (On Track / At Risk / Off Track) is the first thing the reader sees. If it's At Risk or Off Track, the next line should say why in plain English.
  • Outcomes, not activity. "Worked on the project plan" is not a status; "project plan v1 complete, EM review pending" is.
  • A blocker has a name and a date. "Waiting on client" is not a blocker. "Waiting on Kathleen for the comp data dump, needed by Wed for the model" is.
  • Length cap: one Slack message that doesn't require expansion. If it's longer, you're either reporting too granularly or you're using the status update as your task list. Don't.

What "Status: On Track" actually means

Flag Meaning
On Track All committed deliverables this week landed. Next week's plan is realistic.
At Risk One or more deliverables slipped or are likely to slip. You see a path back.
Off Track Slippage that can't be recovered without scope, time, or resource adjustment. Requires an EM conversation, not just a status flag.

Default to At Risk over On Track when it's ambiguous. We'd rather over-flag and self-correct than discover the slip at the Steerco.

Worked example

Status: At Risk
Period: Week of Mar 3 – Mar 7

What got done this week:
- Pipeline inspection v2 delivered to Bill; minor edits incoming
- Sander onboarded to Linden engagement; access provisioned
- Steerco #3 deck shell drafted; ready for EM content fill

What's next week:
- Pipeline inspection v3 with Bill's edits by Wed
- Steerco #3 dry run with EM by Thu; live Steerco Fri
- 1099 onboarding checklist v1 draft for onboarding mentor review

4 Blockers:
1. Need Kathleen's comp data dump — owner: Kathleen (client) — needed by: Tue 3/11
2. Steerco deck content for slides 7-12 — owner: EM — needed by: Thu 3/13
3. None
4. None

Decisions needed from EM:
- Are we keeping the optional slide on territory rebalancing in Steerco #3, or pushing to Steerco #4?

After you've sent it

  • Confirm receipt with the EM (a thumbs-up reaction is enough)
  • Open Asana and mark the matching tasks as complete or update their status
  • Capture any new action items from the post-update conversation as Asana tasks before EOD Friday — don't let them spill into the weekend