What should a weekly status report include?

An overall status (often Green, Amber or Red), a one-line summary, what was completed this week, what is planned next week, risks and blockers with what you need from the reader, decisions needed with a deadline, and the next key dates.

How long should a weekly status report be?

Short enough to read in a minute or two, usually one screen. If the reader has to scroll for the important part, move the summary, the Red items and the decisions needed to the top.

What do Green, Amber and Red mean in a status report?

Green means on track. Amber means at risk, with a recovery plan the team can carry out itself. Red means off track and needing a decision, help or a change to scope, budget or dates from someone outside the team.

Who should receive the weekly status report?

Anyone who needs to follow the project without being in it: the sponsor, the client contact, managers of the people working on it, and teams that depend on its output. Keep the list deliberate; a report sent to everyone is read by no one.

What is the difference between a status report and a progress report?

The terms are often used interchangeably. Where teams distinguish them, a status report describes where the project stands now against the plan, while a progress report focuses on what was accomplished over a period.

Can a weekly status report be automated?

The facts can: what was completed, what is overdue and what is due next can be pulled from the task list. The judgment cannot be fully automated, so a person should still check the overall status, the risks and the decisions before it goes out.

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Weekly status report template

A weekly status report is a short, regular update that tells stakeholders where a project stands: an overall status, what was completed this week, what is planned for next week, the risks and blockers, and any decisions the reader needs to make. It should take a minute to read and leave nobody surprised later.

Use it for any project with people outside the team who need to know how it is going: a sponsor, a client, leadership or another department. Send it on the same day every week, even when the week was quiet; the regularity is what makes people trust it.

The CSV is the “Workstream status” table; it opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.

#When to use it

When to use a weekly status report template

A sponsor, client or manager needs to follow a project without attending its meetings.
Status meetings run long because everyone is catching up on facts.
Problems tend to surface late, when they are already expensive.
You lead several projects and want one consistent format across them.

#The template

The weekly status report template

Fill in the blanks and replace the example rows with your own. Everything below is what the copy and download buttons give you.

Summary

Project:
Week ending:
Overall status (Green / Amber / Red):
One-sentence summary:

Workstream status

Green: on track. Amber: at risk, recovery plan in place. Red: off track, needs a decision or help.

Workstream	Status	Done this week	Next week	Owner
Design	Green	Final screens approved	Hand designs to engineering	Designer
Engineering	Amber	Sign-up flow built; password reset half done	Finish password reset; start onboarding	Engineering lead
Content	Green	Help articles drafted	Review drafts with support	Content lead
Launch	Red	Launch date proposed	Decision needed on date (see below)	Project lead

Completed this week

Deliverable or task finished — owner
Deliverable or task finished — owner

Planned for next week

Task — owner — due date
Task — owner — due date

Risks and blockers

Say what you are doing about each one and what you need from the reader.

Risk or blocker — impact — what we are doing — help needed

Decisions needed

Decision — options — recommendation — needed by (date)

Key dates

Next milestone and date:
Deadline, and whether it is still achievable:

#How to fill it in

How to fill it in

01
Write the overall status and summary last
Fill in the detail first, then choose Green, Amber or Red and write one sentence a busy reader could stop after. Be honest; an Amber called early is cheaper than a Red discovered late.
02
List what was completed
Finished work only, each with its owner. "In progress" is not an achievement; it belongs in next week.
03
List what is next
The tasks planned for next week, with owners and dates, so the reader can check next week's report against this one.
04
Call out risks and blockers with an ask
For each, say the impact, what the team is doing, and what you need from the reader. A blocker with no ask is just a complaint.
05
Put decisions in their own section
Name the decision, the options, your recommendation and the date you need it by. This is the section most readers act on.
06
Send it on the same day every week
Consistency matters more than length. A two-line report on time beats a perfect one a day late.

Common mistakes

Reporting activity instead of outcomes: "held three meetings" tells the reader nothing.
Staying Green until the week the project is suddenly Red.
Burying the decision the reader needs to make at the bottom of a long report.
Writing it from memory instead of from the task list, so it drifts from reality.

#In Kavanah

Let the board write the first draft

Most of a status report is facts the task board already holds. Kavanah's AI agent can draft it from those facts and send it, so the lead's time goes on the judgment calls.

One call, every channel

Ask the agent for a progress report and it composes one from the week's task activity, or from your own notes, and delivers it to named teammates as an in-app message, to any email address, or both.

Learn more

Have the agent run it on a schedule

A scheduled run is a recurring prompt the AI agent carries out on its own, such as a Friday summary of what moved on a project, with every run and its cost listed on the Scheduled Runs page.

Learn more

Weekly check-ins for each person

Each member's Friday check-in is drafted for them on Reports → Check-ins, showing hours logged against hours committed with tasks done and still open; the numbers come from the time ledger and cannot be edited.

Learn more

Approval before it leaves

Messages and email the agent sends fall under a "Send messages & email" policy the workspace can set to wait for a person's approval, so a draft report does not reach a client unseen.

Learn more

#Questions