A weekly status report has one job: tell the people who aren't in the project every day where it stands, what changed and what needs their attention. If a reader has to ask a follow-up question to understand the week, the report missed something.
By AutoPMO team ·
The sections that earn their place
- Overall status. One line and a color. On track, at risk or off track, and why in a sentence.
- Accomplishments. What was finished this week, written as outcomes ("Design approved by the client"), not activity ("Worked on design").
- Next week. The few things the team will finish next. This is what next week's accomplishments get checked against.
- Risks and issues. Anything that could move a date or the budget, each with an owner and the next step.
- Milestones. The dates that matter, with any change from last week called out.
- Budget. Spent to date against the plan, and whether the forecast has moved.
- Decisions needed. What you need from the reader, by when.
Write it for someone reading it in two minutes
Put the overall status and the decisions you need at the top. Keep each item to a line or two. Use the same sections in the same order every week, so readers know where to look and can compare one week with the last.
Report the change, not just the state
"Testing is 60% complete" tells a reader little on its own. "Testing moved from 40% to 60%; we expect to finish by the 14th" tells them the trend and what to expect. Where something slipped, say so plainly and say what you're doing about it. Readers trust a report that delivers bad news early.
Keep notes during the week
The hardest part of the report is remembering what happened on Monday by Friday. A short note at the end of each day, even one line, makes the weekly report quick to write and much more accurate.
A faster way to the first draft
Our free weekly status report template lays out each section with guidance. In AutoPMO, you can draft each weekly status report from live project data instead of copying it in by hand, review and edit it, and export it to Word or PDF.