If you’re setting up a process for your team to write weekly status reports each week, an important decision for you to make is what questions should be included in the report. If questions are too open-ended or too narrow, team members may not focus on the details you need to assess their progress from the status reports.
Consider the following template of questions to use, whether you are doing status reports manually through docs or using software to automate the process. While some teams will always need certain organization-specific questions, try these 4 fields for the best weekly status report template:
1. Progress this week
This field should be used to recap the top objectives during the last week. It should highlight what got done, and is an opportunity to ensure that what was worked on is aligned with the team’s goals.
2. Problems encountered
This field is an opportunity to catch problems that were encountered over the last week. You should use the weekly status report to catch these problems early, before they escalate into fires.
3. Plans for next week
This field should outline what the team member intends to work on during the upcoming week. It is an opportunity to create accountability and ensure the team delivers on what they commit to in their status reports.
4. Other information to share
This field should be used for any miscellaneous information, and is designed to be open ended. It can list the team member’s upcoming travel schedule, or other observations that don’t fit in with the top objectives highlighted in the “Progress this week” field.
