status-update

name	status-update
category	kumite-task
description	Produce an audience-tuned status update — exec, team, or stakeholder. Use for weekly, monthly, or steerco cadences. Triggers: "weekly status", "monthly update", "send a status", steerco prep, sponsor update.

Status Update

Same project, three audiences, three updates. Don't send the team's update to the exec.

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Quick Reference (pick the audience first)

Audience	Length	Skeleton
Exec	≤100 words	RAG · headline progress · top risk · ask
Team	≤300 words	Wins · in-flight · blockers · next-week
Stakeholder	≤200 words	What changed for them · what they need to do · what's coming

When to Use

• Weekly / monthly cadence.
• Steerco pre-read.
• Sponsor update.
• Customer-facing program update.

How to Use

Pick the audience, then the template:

Exec (≤100 words): RAG status · headline progress · top risk · ask Team (≤300 words): wins · in-flight · blockers · next-week Stakeholder (≤200 words): what changed for them · what they need to do · what's coming

Pull last week's status and the latest data. Diff the two — only the diff is news.

Examples

Don't: Status failure	Do: Status success
Same update for all audiences	Three drafts; same source; different lens per audience
"Everything is on track."	"Green. Q3 milestone hit (+1 day). Top risk: vendor SLA. Ask: re-scope review by Wed."
No ask	Always include the ask, even if it's "no action needed"
Status full of activity, no outcome	Outcome-led: what's done, not what's busy

Critical Rules

• Audience-tuned. Three audiences, three updates.
• The diff is the news. Compare to last week; only the change matters.
• Always an ask (even if "no action").
• Outcome > activity. What changed in the world, not what was busy.
• RAG status grounded in evidence, not vibes.

Common Pitfalls

• Same update for all three audiences.
• "Everything is on track" with no evidence.
• Updates without an ask.
• Activity-led status (lots of verbs, no outcomes).
• RAG status that doesn't change ever — broken signal.

Anti-Patterns

• Same update for all three audiences.
• "Everything is on track" with no evidence.
• Updates without an ask. If you don't need anything, why are you sending it?
• Status that's longer than the audience will read.

Verify Before Sending

• Audience picked; template matches.
• Length within budget.
• Diff vs. last week is the lead.
• RAG color matches evidence.
• Ask present and specific.
• Numbers / dates verified against source.

Related

• meeting-recap, decision-memo
• planner-connector, jira-connector
• outlook-connector, teams-connector
• verify-before-send