Write an Honest Project Status Update with AI

A status update should help a reader decide what to do next. It needs to distinguish completed work from work that is merely underway. Give the assistant evidence, the reporting period and the decision you need, then check that the draft preserves uncertainty.

Prepare the information that matters

Collect the actual completed deliverables, current work, blockers and decisions. Avoid unsupported percentages such as 90% complete when you have not defined the whole task. If a deadline is at risk, name the dependency rather than asking the assistant to make the update sound positive.

Use a service your organization permits for this material. A pasted excerpt is the assistant's source for this workflow; the prompt does not give it access to files, mail or meetings you have not supplied.

Copy the ready-to-use prompt

Turn the progress notes below into a concise project status update. Use sections for Completed, In progress, Blocker, Decision needed and Next checkpoint.
Use only the supplied facts. Do not turn work in progress into finished work, omit a blocker or invent a completion percentage. Preserve target dates as targets. Make the requested decision and its effect on the next step clear.
If the audience or reporting period is essential but missing, ask me. Write “Not provided” for unsupported sections rather than filling them with assumptions.

PROGRESS NOTES
[Paste the reporting period, progress, blockers and decisions needed here]

Work through a concrete example

Completed: Draft form questions.
In progress: Confirmation wording.
Blocker: The build cannot begin until wording is approved.
Decision needed: Sponsor approval or changes to the wording by October 22.
Next checkpoint: Confirm build timing after the decision. October 28 remains the desired launch date.

Why these choices matter

The update describes what was finished and explains why the next step is blocked. It avoids a green status label that the source has not justified. The decision request is visible without forcing the sponsor to infer it from a long narrative.

Review and improve the first answer

Audit the update for optimistic wording that is not supported by the facts. List any implied completion, approval or committed date. Rewrite to be concise while keeping the blocker and requested decision explicit.

Ask for a specific correction when the response misses the goal. Changing the requested format can improve readability; it cannot make an unsupported fact true. Return to your source when the answer changes a number, date, responsibility or condition.

Check the result before using it

1. Match completed claims to an actual deliverable.
2. Check that the blocker and its consequence remain explicit.
3. Verify who must decide and the requested date.
4. Remove invented traffic-light ratings or progress percentages.

Fix the common failure patterns

Share the checked update through the agreed team channel. Keep the reporting period visible and follow up on the actual decision request, rather than treating the written update as a resolved blocker.

Find another task in the AI at Work prompt library, or continue with the related DeskPlain guides below.

Original DeskPlain prompts and fictional worked examples, prepared with AI assistance. Examples illustrate the intended reasoning; they are not captured model responses or a claim of testing across AI products. Read the editorial policy.