Status Reporting Skill

Generate clear, audience-appropriate project status updates. Transform technical progress into stakeholder-friendly communication.

Core Philosophy

"Stakeholders don't need to know HOW you did it — they need to know WHAT it means for them."

Status reports serve different audiences with different needs:

• Executives: Impact, risk, timeline
• Managers: Progress, blockers, resources
• Teams: Details, dependencies, next steps
• Customers: Value delivered, what's coming

Report Templates

Executive Summary (30 seconds)

## Project Status: [Project Name]
**Date**: [Date] | **Status**: 🟢 On Track / 🟡 At Risk / 🔴 Blocked

### One-Line Summary
[Single sentence: what happened and what it means]

### Key Metrics
| Metric | Current | Target | Trend |
|--------|---------|--------|-------|
| [Metric 1] | [Value] | [Goal] | ↑/↓/→ |
| [Metric 2] | [Value] | [Goal] | ↑/↓/→ |

### Decisions Needed
- [ ] [Decision 1 with deadline]

### Timeline Impact
[On schedule / X days ahead / X days behind — why]

Weekly Team Update

## Week of [Date Range]

### Completed ✅
- [Achievement 1] — [impact]
- [Achievement 2] — [impact]

### In Progress 🔄
- [Task 1] — [% complete, ETA]
- [Task 2] — [% complete, ETA]

### Blocked 🚫
- [Blocker] — need [resolution] from [who] by [when]

### Next Week Focus
1. [Priority 1]
2. [Priority 2]
3. [Priority 3]

### Metrics
- Velocity: [X] story points
- Bugs: [X] open, [Y] closed
- Coverage: [X]%

### Risks & Mitigations
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|------|------------|--------|------------|
| [Risk] | H/M/L | H/M/L | [Action] |

Stakeholder Email

Subject: [Project] Status — [Date] — [Status Emoji]

Hi [Name],

**Quick Summary**: [One sentence on where we are]

**This Week's Wins**:
• [Win 1 — business impact]
• [Win 2 — business impact]

**Coming Up**:
• [Next milestone] — [Date]
• [Key deliverable] — [Date]

**Need Your Input On**:
• [Decision needed] — [Context, options, recommendation]

Happy to jump on a call if you have questions.

[Sign-off]

Sprint Retrospective Summary

## Sprint [N] Retrospective

### What Went Well 🎉
- [Positive 1]
- [Positive 2]

### What Could Improve 🔧
- [Improvement 1]
- [Improvement 2]

### Action Items
| Action | Owner | Due |
|--------|-------|-----|
| [Action] | [Who] | [When] |

### Sprint Metrics
- Planned: [X] points | Completed: [Y] points
- Carry-over: [Z] items
- Team satisfaction: [Score]/5

Audience Adaptation

Language Translation

Detail Levels

Status Indicators

Traffic Light System

Trend Indicators

Automation Triggers

When to Generate Status

Data Sources

Pull information from:

• Git commits and PR descriptions
• Issue tracker (completed, in-progress, blocked)
• Calendar (milestones, deadlines)
• Session history (what we worked on)
• Metrics dashboards (if available)

Best Practices

DO ✅

• Lead with the most important information
• Use consistent formatting across reports
• Include specific dates and numbers
• Highlight decisions needed
• Acknowledge blockers honestly
• Show progress, not just activity

DON'T ❌

• Bury bad news
• Use jargon with non-technical audiences
• Include unnecessary detail
• Report activity without outcomes
• Over-promise on timelines
• Skip risk assessment

Session Protocol

Generating a Status Report

1. Clarify audience: Who will read this?
2. Determine scope: What period? What project?
3. Gather data: Commits, issues, conversations
4. Identify highlights: What matters most?
5. Draft report: Use appropriate template
6. Adapt language: Match audience level
7. Review for clarity: Can a newcomer understand?

Quick Status Commands

/status              → Generate session status
/status weekly       → Weekly team update
/status exec         → Executive summary
/status email [name] → Stakeholder email draft

Integration Points

Triggers for This Skill

• "status update", "status report"
• "what did we accomplish", "summarize progress"
• "stakeholder update", "email to [stakeholder]"
• "sprint report", "weekly summary"
• End of day/week (proactive)

Metrics

• Clarity score: Can reader understand in 30 seconds?
• Completeness: All sections filled appropriately
• Accuracy: Numbers and dates verified
• Audience fit: Language matches recipient

Would Revise If

Revisit this skill by 2026-08-26 (90 days) or sooner if any of the following fires:

• Stakeholder feedback reports the templates as unclear, jargon-heavy, or missing decisions-needed sections ≥3 times within a quarter
• The audience-adaptation table produces tone mismatches when applied verbatim ≥2 times in observed reports
• Reports generated via these templates consistently bury bad news or miss escalation triggers that surface later as preventable surprises

Good status reports build trust. Great ones prevent surprise.