How to share project updates that don't suck
Project managers aren't historians, capturing information about the project moving forward around them. They're actors in the project, driving the work forward: Digging into the work that's happening, understanding where work is stuck, recognizing challenges arising, and jumping on work that doesn't have an obvious owner.
Let's talk about one key way to put yourself in the project driver's seat: project syncs (AKA project updates, status updates, update meetings, status reports, etc. etc. etc.). Generally folks hate these. They're meandering meetings or documents with a lot of corporate speak and possibly passive aggressive jibes at folks who might be holding up the team at large.
You need to do project syncs better. Here's how.
How to structure project updates
Throughout the project implementation phases, hold recurring project syncs. These can be live or asynchronous in a tool like Slack or Microsoft Teams. Functional leads, PMs, and stakeholders should be engaged. Here's what makes an effective project update:
Bring together updates from functional leads for each team represented in the project
Provide brief, skimmable updates on progress in the current work period, what's next, and any areas concern
Indicate if they're on track, behind schedule, or completely stuck
Preserve info as updates move forward in future weeks (i.e. don't use a format where folks are overwriting previous weeks' work).
Collect updates by a recurring deadline on
Here's a Notion format you can use (and a video on how to do it).
Collecting the project updates is just the first step. You need a defined time for reviewing and discussing. If possible, I prefer doing these updates live—folks can talk through issues in real time and stakeholders can make decisions on how to tweak requirements or resources if needed. If that's not realistic, you'll need to be the quarterback who ensures that unresolved issues get addressed by stakeholders promptly.
Update meetings or async discussions should accomplish key goals:
ensure stakeholders know about any blockers and have provided feedback on how to address them.
surfaced any areas where folks are in conflict with other teams and talked through issues or made space to address ASAP
Identifying areas where we need to tweak resources or requirements (see this post) to achieve key goals
Here's where I've gone wrong on project updates in the past: allowing async updates to go on too long when things weren't going well. If you're running behind schedule, if teams are blocked by a key work product that's behind schedule, or folks aren't providing enough detail in their updates, it's essential to move those updates into a live meeting format. You need to be able to hold folks fully accountable for answering questions, sharing why they haven't been able to meet deadlines, and being specific about what they need to be successful. Get those discussions live, in a meeting with all the functional leads and stakeholders, so you can create an accountability framework that ensures clear answers and next steps.
How PMs use project updates to drive projects forward
Your role as a PM is not just as a consumer of this information. You should be:
Reviewing the overall list of goals and needed work to ensure that folks aren't leaving pieces behind
Digging into project updates and asking tough questions to ensure that work is meeting requirements
Pushing folks to share concerns openly
This is your opportunity to take ownership of the project work and resolve concerns quickly. The more you do this, the easier it gets—folks will trust you and you'll encounter less and less resistance in starting tough conversations the next time around. When you're in these project update discussions (whether live or async), make sure to capture notes and reflect them back, restating decisions made clearly so there's no opportunity for folks to misunderstand how you're moving forward.
How to get started with better project updates
If you're in the middle of a project right now, you may not be able to make huge changes in how you're communicating straight away. You can get started with small moves. Maybe introduce a set format for updates that ensures everyone's updates are structured in the same way. Start asking questions about the updates you're already collecting, reflecting a deeper curiosity about how the project is going and areas of concern. Share back summaries of discussions and decisions that help folks stay aligned when you're tweaking project resources and requirements. Tiny steps add up to proactivity, ownership, and effective project management.
