Preparing a client status update
Client updates get written twice. Once by the people doing the work, in their heads. Then again by whoever turns that into a paragraph on Thursday night.
A client expects a weekly note. Progress, what is next, anything blocking, anything decided.
Writing it means collecting four things from four places, usually by interrupting people who are mid-task.
Three of those four already exist. Milestones and board progress on the project, action items on the imported meeting, and hours showing where the week went.
The check most people skip takes a minute. Compare the hours logged against the project with the progress you are about to describe. A confident update on a week with almost no logged time is the one that gets remembered later. Then send it through the channel the client already reads.
Why one record instead of two
The update is written from delivery records and checked against people records. Milestones and board counts say what was claimed; logged hours say whether the week supports the claim.
What is switched on
- Projects
- Milestones as done out of total, with status and priority, gives the progress paragraph.
- Project boards
- Board task and progress counts say what moved this week.
- Meetings
- Imported meetings carry structured notes and action items from the last call.
- Clients
- The client record holds the contacts and their local time, which decides when to send it.
- Daily recap and timesheets
- Hours on the project confirm the week matched what you are about to claim.
- Todos
- Shared lists hold the follow-ups that are not board tasks.
What the week looks like
Wednesday
Open the project. Milestones and board counts give the progress lines without asking anyone.
Wednesday
Open the last meeting. Action items and detailed notes are already structured.
Thursday
Check hours logged against the project so the note matches the week that happened.
Thursday
Write the update. Collection is done, so the time goes on judgement.
Before sending
Check the client's local time on their record. A Friday evening send in their timezone reads as an afterthought.
After
Open questions become shared todos, not a note in a document nobody reopens.
Questions people ask
When should the update go out?
Check the client's local time on their record first. Every client card shows the timezone and the time there now, so the note lands in their working day.
Where do action items come from?
Imported meetings carry an action items section alongside an overview, detailed notes, participants and the transcript. That import needs Fireflies connected.
Should the AI meeting signals go in the update?
No. Signals are explicitly admin-only risk assessment, and there is a guard in the settings to stop that kind of content reaching a client channel.