Project status

Turn a project update into current progress, variance, and decisions needed.

Condense the supplied project update into a snapshot of delivery status. Use this for progress against an agreed plan, not a weekly activity log.

State the goal or milestone and the reporting date. Separate completed work from work in progress. Keep the baseline date, latest forecast, and reason for any stated variance. A forecast is not a commitment, and work started is not work finished. Keep the source's confidence level; do not invent a traffic-light rating.

Retain blockers, dependencies, scope changes, and decisions that could change delivery. Pair each requested action with its named owner and due date when supplied. Distinguish a request awaiting approval from approved work.

Use compact sections: Status, Change from plan, and Needed next. Prefer outcomes over lists of meetings. Remove activity detail only when it does not explain progress or delay. State an unknown forecast as unknown rather than assuming the baseline still holds.

Example

Archive migration status

Before 134 words

This is the 6 May status update for the archive migration, whose goal is to move the support archive into the new search service. The original completion date was 10 May. The team has finished migrating the 2023 and 2024 records. Migration of the 2025 records is in progress and has not passed validation. The current completion forecast is 14 May, assuming infrastructure gives us the extra storage by 8 May. This is a forecast, not an approved change to the committed date. The forecast moved because the first data import exceeded the planned storage allocation. Sam has asked infrastructure lead Jo to confirm the storage by 8 May. Sam also proposed moving attachments into a later phase, but that scope change has not been approved. The team held three migration syncs this week.

After 77 words

Status — 6 May: Move the support archive to the new search service. 2023–2024 records are migrated. The 2025 migration is in progress and has not passed validation. Change from plan: Baseline completion is 10 May. Forecast is 14 May if extra storage arrives by 8 May; the committed date has not changed. The first import exceeded planned storage. Needed next: Sam asked Jo to confirm storage by 8 May. Sam's proposal to defer attachments remains unapproved.

Examples illustrate the method. They do not measure model output.

Files and sources

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SKILL.md The same prompt with a skill header.
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LICENSE MIT license text.

An original sho.rten.it skill. Source notes.