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Client SuccessApr 16, 20264 min readDan Winslow

Project Updates Clients Can Read in Two Minutes

A short weekly note can carry a project if it separates completed work, upcoming decisions, and anything that could change the plan.

Project Updates Clients Can Read in Two Minutes

A project update should save everyone a meeting, not create homework. The reader needs to understand whether the work is healthy, what changed, and whether they owe the team a decision. Everything else can live in the project tracker.

Report outcomes, not activity

'Worked on mobile styles' is technically true but difficult to evaluate. 'Finished the mobile navigation and tested it at the agreed breakpoints' tells the reader what is now settled.

Links to the relevant preview or document let interested stakeholders inspect the work without making the update longer for everyone else.

Put decisions where they cannot be missed

A needed approval should include the question, the available options, a recommendation, and the date after which the schedule is affected. Burying it in a paragraph almost guarantees another round of messages.

Send the update on the same day even when there is little drama to report. Silence makes people invent their own version of project status.

In Short

  • Describe completed outcomes rather than hours or activity.
  • Give every requested decision an owner and deadline.
  • Use the same short format on a regular schedule.
CommunicationStakeholdersDelivery

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