How To Structure A Weekly Project Status Report

How I Make My Weekly Status Reports Actually Useful as a Program Manager at Amazon Let’s be honest… Most status reports are either ignored, unread, or unclear. I’ve learned that if it doesn’t help your team or your leadership…it’s just noise. Here’s how I make mine cut through the noise: 1/ I use a consistent structure ↳ 3 sections: What happened…What’s next…What’s blocked ↳ Same order, every week ↳ Familiarity saves everyone time 2/ I lead with the headline ↳ “Model ingestion is 92% complete, on track for EOW” ↳ No burying the lede ↳ If they only read one line—they get the point 3/ I highlight risks early ↳ One section called “Risks + Mitigations” ↳ I name the risk, owner, and our plan ↳ It builds trust and prevents surprises 4/ I make it scannable ↳ Bullets over paragraphs ↳ Bold key decisions ↳ One glance = full picture 5/ I tailor it for the audience ↳ My team gets detail ↳ My leadership gets clarity ↳ I write for the reader…not to check a box A good status report doesn’t just report status. It drives alignment. It earns trust. And it keeps your project moving without extra meetings. What’s one section you always include in your updates?

Customers need a parent, not a fun uncle. This is a root concept of Customer Success. I learned a long time ago, that the customer experience is about advocacy, boundaries, reliability, proactivity, and transparency. Similar to the oversight and conducting a parent will do over a child. It is NOT about feelings, like having fun or good report on calls, celebratory high fives, and wining and dining., which is the role of the fun uncle. Show up occasionally, give the kids a bunch of sugar, let them break all the rules, then get to go home at the end with no care in the world. Customers want a parent, not a fun uncle. A customer wants to hear if something is going wrong. Not that everything is all right, but in reality, it's ALL WRONG. A customer wants to understand the steps to completing a task and their respective delivery timelines, not that there are "no updates this week to report." A customer wants to know if they need to escalate something sooner, rather than later, which compromises bandwidth, attitude, success, and trust. For my career, I got into the habit of delivering an End of Week recap to each customer, designed to be a candid overview of the engagement, accountability model, and summary for anyone uninvolved in the day-to-day. This weekly notice goes to the entire client-side team inclusive of POCs, Stakeholders, Signators, and procurement reps as well as the entire team internally that is assigned to this account, from leadership, down. Here is the template that my team at Cause of a Kind uses for our customers. I hope you find it useful. ______________________________________________________ End of Week Summary Report From: [Your Name], CSM/PM To: Client Stakeholders & Internal Team Members Date: [Insert Date] Project: [Project Name] Overview of the Week Progress continues on [Project Name], with steady advancement in key areas. Despite a few challenges, we remain on track with our project timeline. Completed Tasks [Task 1] [Task 2] [Task 3] Blockers [Blocker 1] [Blocker 2] Action Items in Progress [Action Item 1] [Action Item 2] [Action Item 3] Concerns [Concern 1] [Concern 2] Wins [Win 1] [Win 2] Next Steps [Next Step 1] [Next Step 2] Please reach out if you have any questions or need further clarification. Let's keep up the momentum as we head into next week. Best Regards, [Your Name] CSM/PM __________________________________________________________ Follow Justin Abrams for more client-facing tips and tricks.

The Project Status Report That Saves Time (And Your Sanity) Ever spent more time writing a project status report than actually managing the project? Yeah, me too. Until I found the 15/5 Rule—a simple approach that changed how I communicate project updates. ✅ 15 Minutes to Write ✅ 5 Minutes to Read That’s it. No fluff, no endless paragraphs—just clear, actionable updates that stakeholders actually read. Here’s How It Works: 1️⃣ Start with the Big Picture → What’s the project’s current status? (On track, at risk, or off track?) 2️⃣ Highlight Key Updates → What changed since the last update? What’s completed, in progress, or delayed? 3️⃣ Call Out the Risks → What’s keeping you up at night? What needs attention before it becomes a bigger issue? 4️⃣ List Next Steps → What’s happening next, and who needs to take action? Why It Works: 🔹 Respects everyone’s time—concise, to the point, and actionable. 🔹 Builds trust—stakeholders don’t feel lost in unnecessary details. 🔹 Keeps YOU focused—no more over-explaining, just leading. A well-structured status report shouldn’t feel like another project in itself. Try the 15/5 approach. Your future self (and your stakeholders) will thank you. Do you have a go-to structure for project reporting? Drop it in the comments! 👇 🔔 Follow Craig for an exploration of project management and more. ♻️ Repost to help others.