Weekly status report template: the project status report on one page.

What is a weekly status report

The status report is the report that answers, at the start or end of every week, the question the client is always thinking: "how is my project going?" It fits on one page and always has the same blocks: summary, what was delivered, what comes next, risks and blockers, pending decisions and a few metrics.

When the report goes out on the same day every time, the client stops chasing you by message. And when it goes out with the problems written down, nobody is caught off guard on the delivery date.

How to fill it in, block by block

Step by step to write the report

1. Pick the day and stick to it. Friday afternoon or Monday morning, always the same. Regularity matters more than perfection.
2. Start with the summary. Write the color and the sentence last, after you know what happened, but leave them at the top of the page.
3. Write the client's pending items with a date. "I need the photos by Wednesday" prompts action; "photos are missing" prompts a conversation.
4. Pair each risk with an action. A risk without a response plan is just worry.
5. Send it through the same channel. Email, portal or PDF, but always the same, so the client knows where to look.

Common mistakes in the status report

• A traffic light that's always green. If every report is green until the day of the delay, the client stops trusting the color.
• A report that's too long. Past one page, nobody reads it. Put the detail in an attachment.
• Hiding the pending decision. The biggest cause of delay in service projects is the client being slow to respond, and the report should make that visible, without blaming.
• Typing everything by hand. Completed tasks and hours already exist somewhere. Whoever copies them manually spends an hour a week and still makes mistakes.

When the template isn't enough

The status report tells what happened, it doesn't predict what's coming. To see the effect of a delay on the following stages, use a project schedule, or the Gantt chart, which links one task to another. And when the client needs to record that they approved a deliverable, the report doesn't replace a delivery acceptance form.

How to use the status report in Tasskee

1. Keep the project up to date: tasks with an assignee, due date and status. That's where the "delivered" and "next week" lists come from.
2. Filter the tasks completed this week and those due next week, and copy the titles into the report.
3. Use reports and dashboards (Pro plan) for task and hours metrics, instead of counting by hand.
4. Record pending decisions as tasks assigned to the client, with a due date, and let them follow along through the guest portal, where they comment and approve.
5. If you want the client to receive the report without you writing it, the portal already shows the project's progress at all times, and the weekly report becomes a summary, not the only source.

Want the template for bringing a client on board? See the onboarding checklist. For other templates, open the free templates hub.