# Write a weekly project status report: prompt chain Turn your rough notes on this week's project work into a short status report that keeps what is done, what is under way, what is blocked and what you need from the reader in separate places, using only what your notes say. **Made for:** Project coordinators, site administrators, office managers, assistants and team leaders who send a regular update to someone who was not in the room. ## Before you start Have these ready: - **Your notes from the week** (required): Paste your notes, log entries or message highlights in any order, with dates where you have them. Paste only what your organization lets you put into an AI tool. **How to use this chain** 1. Open a new chat in any AI assistant. 2. Copy the Step 1 prompt, replace every [PASTE HERE: ...] slot with your material, and send it. 3. Keep each answer: later steps ask you to paste it in. Run each step in the same chat or a new one; a new chat keeps steps from blurring together. 4. After a step that has a check, run the check before you move on. ## Step 1: List each thing the notes report Pick out every separate update in the notes, quoted word for word, so the report is built on a fixed list. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a careful project coordinator who writes down what the notes say and nothing more. Your task is to list every separate update in the notes below. The notes: [PASTE HERE: Your notes from the week] Rules: - An update is one thing that was done, is under way, is waiting, is at risk, or needs a decision or an action from someone. - Quote each update from the notes word for word, as short as you can. Do not correct it and do not reword it. - One row for each update. Do not merge two updates and do not add one the notes do not have. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Update (quote) | ```` **You get back:** A numbered table of updates, each quoted from your notes. **Check after Step 1: Every update is quoted word for word from your notes** Check by eye: Each quote in the Update (quote) column appears in the your notes from the week, with shortened fragments in the same order. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: Sort each update by what the reader needs to know Mark each update as done, under way, blocked, a risk, or something that needs a decision, and say who has to act. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a project coordinator who sorts updates so a busy reader sees what matters first. Your task is to sort every update in the table below. The notes: [PASTE HERE: Your notes from the week] The updates: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 1 (List each thing the notes report)] Rules: - Quote each update from the table word for word. One row for each update. - Status must be exactly one of: done, under way, blocked, risk, needs a decision, none. - Use blocked when the notes say work cannot go on until something else happens. Use risk when the notes say something could go wrong but has not yet. Use needs a decision when someone has to choose, approve or act on something before the work can go on. - In the Who Acts column, write the role or person the notes name. If the notes name nobody, write not stated. Do not guess. - Do not decide how serious a blocked item or a risk is. Leave that to the reader. Return one markdown table and nothing else: | # | Update (quote) | Status | Who Acts | ```` **You get back:** A table that sorts each update by status and says who acts. **Check after Step 2: Each status is one of the six allowed words** Check by eye: Every row of the table has one of "done", "under way", "blocked", "risk", "needs a decision" or "none" in the Status column. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 3: Draft the status report Write the report from the sorted updates only, with the asks for the reader near the top. Copy this prompt: ````text You are an experienced project coordinator who writes short, plain status reports. Your task is to write a one-page status report from the notes and the sorted updates below. The notes: [PASTE HERE: Your notes from the week] The sorted updates: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Sort each update by what the reader needs to know)] Rules: - Use these headings in this order: Summary, What We Need From You, Done This Week, Under Way, Blocked or at Risk, Next Week, Open Questions. - Summary is two or three sentences of fact. Do not give an overall rating such as "on track" unless the notes use those words. - What We Need From You lists every update marked needs a decision, and every blocked item that someone outside the project can clear, each with who acts. - Use only the updates in the table. Do not add a task, a date, a cost, a person or a reason that the notes do not give. - Under Next Week, list only what the notes say is planned. If the notes plan nothing, write nothing is planned in the notes. - Under Open Questions, list what the notes do not say and a person should find out, such as a Who Acts marked not stated. - Use roles or names exactly as the notes give them. - End with exactly this line: Check the dates and figures against your own records before you send it. Return the report in markdown and nothing else. ```` **You get back:** A one-page status report with the asks first, then done, under way, blocked, next week and open questions. **Check after Step 3: No number appears that your notes do not have** Check by eye: Every number in the answer also appears somewhere in at least one of "your notes from the week"; this does not check what each number means. If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 4: Add the count and the reminder Add a count of the updates in each status and keep the reminder as the last line, changing nothing else. Copy this prompt: ````text You are a copy editor who adds a line and changes nothing else. Your task is to add a count line to the status report below. The report: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 3 (Draft the status report)] The sorted updates: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Sort each update by what the reader needs to know)] Rules: - Start the answer with one line that begins "Counts:" and gives the number of updates marked done, under way, blocked, risk, needs a decision and none, taken from the table. - Then give the report exactly as written. Do not change a word, number or heading. - Keep the closing line "Check the dates and figures against your own records before you send it." as the very last line. Return markdown in this form and nothing else: Counts: (the counts) (the report) Check the dates and figures against your own records before you send it. ```` **You get back:** The status report with a count line and the reminder. **Check after Step 4: The reminder to check dates and figures is in the final text** Check by eye: The answer contains the text fragment "Check the dates and figures against your own records before you send it." (including inside a longer word). If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Final checks Run these on the finished result. **Final check 1: Every update in the table is in the report** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: Every update in the table is in the report Compare the report with the table below. Is every update in the table in the report, under a heading that fits its status? Answer FAIL and quote each update that is missing or sits under the wrong heading. The sorted updates: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Sort each update by what the reader needs to know)] The work to check (the answer from Step 4 (Add the count and the reminder)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Add the count and the reminder)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 2: Nothing is in the report that the notes do not say** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: Nothing is in the report that the notes do not say Read the report against the notes. Does any task, date, cost, person, reason or rating appear that the notes do not give? Answer FAIL and quote each place where one does. The work to check (the answer from Step 4 (Add the count and the reminder)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Add the count and the reminder)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 3: Every decision and every outside block is under What We Need From You** Open a new chat (so the check is not swayed by the work) and paste this check prompt: ````text You are a careful reviewer. You do not fix or rewrite the work; you only decide whether it passes one check. The check: Every decision and every outside block is under What We Need From You Look at the rows marked needs a decision, and at the blocked rows that someone outside the project can clear. Is each one listed under What We Need From You? Answer FAIL and quote each one that is missing. The sorted updates: [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 2 (Sort each update by what the reader needs to know)] The work to check (the answer from Step 4 (Add the count and the reminder)): [PASTE HERE: the answer from Step 4 (Add the count and the reminder)] Reply with exactly PASS or FAIL on the first line. On the second line, say in one sentence why. If it fails, name the exact item or line that fails. Do not add anything else. ```` If it does not pass: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. **Final check 4: A person who knows the project reads it before it is sent** Ask yourself: Read the report as the person who receives it. Check each date, cost and name against your own records, and check that the blocked items and risks are described the way you would describe them. Only you know how serious each one is. If it does not pass: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## What you end up with - A one-page status report with the asks for the reader first. - A table that sorts each update by status and who acts. - A count of the updates in each status. ## Changing this chain - This template helps you write a clear first draft of a status report. It does not judge whether the project is on track. You decide that. - Paste only notes your organization lets you put into an AI tool. Leave out personal details about people on the project. - If you report on a set format, such as a client form, run this template on your notes first, then copy the checked text into your form. - For a long week, run the first step, trim the list yourself, then run the rest. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.