For consultants reporting to a client every week
Weekly Status Report Template and Email
A one-page weekly status report for clients: a written rule for red, amber and green, decisions with dates, the email version and a worked example.
The colors, defined
What red, amber and green mean in a weekly status report
Agree the color rule with the client at kickoff, so they read each color the way you meant it. In a 2016 report, the US Government Accountability Office compared its own risk assessments of 95 federal IT investments with the agencies' ratings. Its assessments showed more risk 60 times and less risk 13 times4, partly because 40 ratings hadn't been updated in the month it reviewed. So rate by the rule every week, not by how the week felt.
| Color | UK government definition | The template's rule | What the sponsor does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green | "Successful delivery of the project on time, budget and quality appears highly likely and there are no major outstanding issues that at this stage appear to threaten delivery significantly." | On track for the agreed dates, scope and budget. Any problems are being handled inside the team. | Nothing. Read it when convenient. |
| Amber | "Successful delivery appears feasible but significant issues already exist, requiring management attention. These appear resolvable at this stage and, if addressed promptly, should not present a cost/schedule overrun." | At risk, with a recovery plan that works if actions and decisions happen on time. Give it a recovery date, and if that date passes, it turns red. | Watch it, and make each decision by its date. |
| Red | "Successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable." The project "may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed." | A milestone, the budget or the scope will be missed unless the client decides or acts. The team can't recover it alone. | Act now: make the decision or give the help the report asks for. |
The UK definitions are quoted from Annex A of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority's Annual Report 2023-243, checked October 29, 2026. Its successor, the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, uses the same three ratings: in its 2025-26 report5, 109 of 189 major projects were amber. A client project can't wait for "unachievable," so this template's red starts where the team can't recover alone.
How it works
What goes in a weekly status report?
A weekly status report tells the client, on one page and in a minute's reading, where the project stands and what you need from them. Open with one overall color and two sentences: what drives it, and what happens next. Then cover done and next for each workstream, the next few milestones, the risks and issues that matter this week, and the decisions you need, each with a date. The same facts also go out as a short email.
Under "Done this week," list finished work ("212 pilot customers listed"), never activity ("worked on the pilot"). When a forecast date moves, show both dates and why. Report only the issues (happening now) and risks (might happen) that matter this week, and keep the rest in your RAID log. For decisions, the UK government's project delivery guidance says to "make requests for advice, direction and decisions explicit1." Ask each as a one-line question, with who decides, the date and what slips if it's late.
Write the email for a sponsor reading on a phone. In Harvard Business Review, Navy veteran Kabir Sehgal says a subject line should state what you want the reader to do2, so put the color and the ask there. Lead with the bottom line, keep the body under 150 words, and call the sponsor before a new red goes out in writing. To draft from your tracker and last week's report, use the status report generator.
How it works
From your notes to this week's update
Download it or open it in River
Download both Word documents free, or click Edit with AI to open them in River. Paste this week's notes above first, if you have them.
River fills both versions
If you pasted notes, River fills the report, then the email from the same facts, and brackets anything your notes don't say.
Check the color and brackets
River picks the color by the written rule and explains it in two sentences. Agree or change it, then fill each bracket.
Send it, then start next week's
Send the email with the report attached. River can draft the request for each decision and start next week's report from this one.
| Workstream | Status | Done this week | Next week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order handoff redesign | Amber | Second design session; new handoff on one page | Third session Tue 8 Dec; sign-off Thu 10 Dec |
| Pilot preparation | Amber | 212 Northfield customers listed; briefing drafted | Brief the Northfield team Fri 11 Dec |
| On-time tracker | Green | Tracker built; October baseline 81.4% | First weekly reading Mon 7 Dec |
Decision needed from Dana Whitlock by Wed 9 Dec: approve the 12 p.m. cut-off, or the pilot starts on 4 January instead.
What you'll get
A one-page client update with color rules, decisions and the email version
- A one-page report with a rule for each color
- Decisions needed from the client, each with a date
- The email version, and a filled-in example of both
Before and after
Your week's notes in. A report and an email out.
Wk 5 Larkfield. Design session 2 done Tue, Northfield and Eastgate leads there, Riverside lead missed it. New handoff drafted on one page. Tracker built, Oct baseline 81.4%. Pilot at Northfield on 14 Dec only works if Dana approves the 12pm cut-off by Wed 9th. Two big customers order after 1pm, Luis to call them.
Subject: Larkfield status, week 5: Amber, cut-off decision needed by Wed 9 Dec Overall: Amber. The redesign is on track, but the Northfield pilot can start on 14 December only if the 12 p.m. cut-off is approved by Wednesday. Needed from you: approve the 12 p.m. cut-off for Northfield customers by Wed 9 Dec. If it comes later: [what moves, and by how much]. Done this week Second design session with the Northfield and Eastgate leads On-time tracker built; October baseline 81.4%
The color follows the written rule. Anything your notes don't say becomes a bracket, not a guess.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the status report template
- Weekly Status Report Template
The one-page report: overall status, workstreams, key dates, risks and issues, and decisions needed from the client. - A rule for each color
What green, amber and red mean, and what the sponsor should do about each one. - Decisions with dates
Each decision with options, your recommendation, who decides, the date needed and what slips if it's late. - The email version
A subject line that carries the color and the ask, then the update in under 150 words. - A check before sending
Six checks, including the color following its rule and a call to the sponsor before any red. - Example Status Report and Email
Week 5 of a 10-week project for an invented food distributor, with notes on why each part works.
Questions consultants ask
Common questions
What should a weekly status report include?
A weekly status report should include an overall color with its reason, progress on each workstream and the next milestones. Add this week's main risks and issues, and each decision the client must make, with an owner and a date. Keep it to one page, so the sponsor finds the color and the ask in a minute.
What do red, amber and green mean in a status report?
Red, amber and green mean off track, at risk and on track, but no single rule defines them, so agree yours at kickoff. In this template, amber means the team can recover if decisions come on time, and red means it can't without the client. Scales differ: the UK government rated its major projects on five levels until 20213, then cut to three.
When should a project status turn red?
A project should turn red as soon as the team can't hit an agreed date, budget or scope without the client acting. Don't wait for the date to pass. The US Government Accountability Office warns that ratings that leave out active risks are more likely to overstate a project's chance of success4. Call the sponsor before a red goes out in writing.
How do I write a weekly status update email to a client?
Put the project, the week, the color and the main ask in the subject line, such as "Larkfield status, week 5: Amber, cut-off decision needed by Wed 9 Dec". Open with the color and one sentence on why, then what you need and by when. Follow with short lists of done, next and watching. If you need nothing, say so: "Nothing this week."
How often should you send a project status report?
Weekly suits most client projects, because a week is short enough to catch a slip while there's time to recover. UK government guidance says "the faster moving or riskier the work, the higher the frequency of reporting1." Reports further up can come less often: the government's major projects update their rating each quarter5. Set the day, and who gets it, in your communication plan.
Is this weekly status report template free?
Yes. Download both Word documents, the template and the worked example, with no signup. Edit with AI opens the same files in a free River workspace, where River can fill the report and the email from this week's notes. Paid plans add more AI use and access to the most advanced models.
What does Edit with AI do?
Edit with AI opens both documents in a free River workspace. If you pasted this week's notes, River fills the report and email from them alone, sets the color by the rule, brackets anything missing and lists what to confirm. With no notes, it leaves both as they are and offers to fill in the report with you.
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