session · cadence
Weekly client update writing
20 minutes Friday, before the team's wrap. PO writes; same time, same shape, every week. Under 200 words. Three sections — what shipped, what's in progress, what's blocked. The discipline is consistency, not eloquence.
When
- Every Friday, before 4pm in the client's timezone.
- Held even on quiet weeks — "nothing shipped this week, here's why and what's next" is itself an update worth sending.
Who
- PO — sole author.
- Tech Lead — reads before send if anything technical is in the update (5-minute review).
- CS Lead — reads if anything affects support load this week.
Time-box
20 minutes — 15 to write, 5 to review and send.
Inputs
- The week's shipped PRs (changelog).
- The week's in-progress stories.
- Any blockers needing the client to act.
- Any signal readings from the past week.
- The prior week's update (so the team checks continuity).
Agenda
Not a meeting — a writing session. The PO opens the Weekly client update template and fills three sections:
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Shipped | Bullet list. Specific user-visible changes; not internal refactors. Named features, not service names. |
| In progress | Bullet list. What the team is working on now; what's expected to ship next. |
| Blocked | Specific or none. What the team needs from the client (decisions, approvals, access). |
The whole thing is under 200 words. Anything longer is the bi-weekly sync's territory, not the weekly's.
Outputs
- The update sent — email or the agreed channel.
- Copy filed in the client folder.
- Continuity check — does this week's update read coherently after last week's?
What good looks like
The client reads 10 weekly updates that all look the same and develops a model of the team. They know which day the update lands; they know its shape; they know how to scan it. That consistency is the trust.
The update is honest about absence. "Nothing shipped this week — the migration ran longer than planned in staging; expected to land Monday." That builds trust. "We made great progress!" without specifics does the opposite.
Anti-pattern
The update becomes a marketing pitch. Adjectives proliferate; specifics fade. The client learns to skim. Fix: every line names a specific thing. "Submit shortcut now skips to next exam" — not "improved grading experience."
A second anti-pattern: the update slips a day. Monday becomes Tuesday becomes "I'll send it tomorrow." The client notices; trust quietly erodes. Fix: the calendar slot is the same every week. If the writer can't make Friday, the back-up writer (named) sends it.
A third: the update becomes a place to deliver bad news. Hard conversations get bundled into the Friday email. Fix: bad news happens in real time, by phone or a same-day note. The Friday update is the steady cadence, not the emergency channel.
See also
- Canon — After We Build · Client cadence — Weekly update
- Area — Weekly Client Update
- Template — Weekly client update
- Practice — Weekly client update
- Checklist — Weekly client update
- Adjacent session — Bi-weekly client sync