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Use this template for: Weekly/monthly status updates, executive briefings, project health reports, quarterly reviews, sprint retrospectives, or any document that updates stakeholders on progress, risks, and decisions needed. Designed to be read in under 5 minutes by someone with decision-making authority.
Key features: TL;DR at the top for executives who won't read further, traffic-light health indicators, explicit "decisions needed" section that surfaces blockers, metrics table with trends, and risk register with mitigations.
Philosophy: The #1 failure mode of status reports is burying the important stuff in a wall of accomplishments. Lead with what needs attention. If the reader only has 30 seconds, the TL;DR and health summary give them what they need. If they have 5 minutes, the full report answers every follow-up question they'd ask. Never make leadership dig for the thing they need to act on.
status-2026-02-14.md or status-week-07.mdEverything below the line is the template. Copy from here:
[Reporting period: Week of Month DD, YYYY / Month YYYY / Q# YYYY] [Author] · [Date]
[3–5 bullet points. One sentence each. The most important things leadership needs to know. If they read nothing else, this is it.]
| Area | Status | Trend | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schedule | 🟢 On track | → | [Brief context] |
| Scope | 🟡 At risk | ↓ | [What's causing concern] |
| Budget | 🟢 On track | → | [Brief context] |
| Quality | 🟢 Good | ↑ | [What's improving] |
| Team | 🟡 Stretched | → | [Staffing or morale note] |
Status key: 🟢 On track · 🟡 At risk · 🔴 Off track / blocked Trend key: ↑ Improving · → Stable · ↓ Declining
This section is for items that require action from leadership or stakeholders. If nothing needs a decision, write "No decisions needed this period."
Context: [Why this decision is needed now — 2–3 sentences]
Options:
| Option | Impact | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| [Option A] | [What happens] | [Recommended / Not recommended] |
| [Option B] | [What happens] | [Recommended / Not recommended] |
Deadline: [When this decision is needed by and what happens if it's delayed]
[Same structure as above]
| Metric | Previous | Current | Target | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Metric 1 — e.g., Sprint velocity] | [Value] | [Value] | [Target] | [↑/→/↓] |
| [Metric 2 — e.g., Open bugs] | [Value] | [Value] | [Target] | [↑/→/↓] |
| [Metric 3 — e.g., Test coverage] | [Value] | [Value] | [Target] | [↑/→/↓] |
| [Metric 4 — e.g., Uptime SLA] | [Value] | [Value] | [Target] | [↑/→/↓] |
| Milestone | Planned date | Actual date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Milestone 1] | [Date] | [Date or —] | ✅ Complete |
| [Milestone 2] | [Date] | [Date or —] | 🔄 In progress |
| [Milestone 3] | [Date] | — | 📋 Upcoming |
| Work item | Owner | Started | Expected completion | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Item 1] | [Person] | [Date] | [Date] | [On track / At risk / Blocked] |
| [Item 2] | [Person] | [Date] | [Date] | [Status] |
| [Item 3] | [Person] | [Date] | [Date] | [Status] |
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Risk 1] | 🟡 Medium | 🔴 High | [What we're doing about it] | [Person] |
| [Risk 2] | [Level] | [Level] | [Mitigation] | [Person] |
| Blocker | Impact | Needed from | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Blocker 1 — or "None"] | [What's delayed] | [Who can unblock] | [Escalated / Waiting / Resolved] |
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| [Date] | [What's happening] |
| [Date] | [What's happening] |
Next report due: [Date]