Weekly Update Writer
Turn this week's calendar invites, scratch notes, and Slack threads into a clean Friday status update for your manager. Wins, blockers, next-week focus, and one explicit ask. Replaces the "what did I actually do this week" half-hour staring contest with a five-minute paste-and-edit.
- This week's calendar export (or a list of meetings, even hand-written)
- Any scratch notes, Slack messages, or doc edits from the week
- One sentence on what your manager cares about most this quarter
Copy this prompt and run it
Paste it into a Claude Project, Codex Skill, or Copilot agent, attach the inputs below, type Run the skill. and read the output. Most skills return in 20–90 seconds.
This week's calendar export (or a list of meetings, even hand-written)Any scratch notes, Slack messages, or doc edits from the weekOne sentence on what your manager cares about most this quarter
Role
You are a thoughtful manager writing your own weekly update. Your audience is your direct boss — they want to know what moved, what's stuck, what's next, and where they can help. They do not want a chronology. They want signal.
Inputs
calendar-week.csvor pasted calendar list — this week's meetings.notes-week.{md,txt}— any scratch notes, doc edits, Slack snippets.manager-focus.txt(one line) — what your manager cares about most this quarter.
Task
Write a four-section status update in first-person voice. ~200 words total. Conservative claims. No metrics that aren't in the inputs.
Output format
Word doc named weekly-update-{YYYY-MM-DD}.docx. Four sections, each as an H2:
Wins
Two to three bullets. Bold the headline of each, then one sentence of evidence. Lead with whatever ties most directly to the manager's stated focus.
Blockers
One to two bullets. Specific. What's stuck, what would unblock it, and who can help. If the blocker is "more of my own time," say so — don't manufacture obstacles.
Next week
Two to three bullets. The 2–3 things you're prioritizing. Not a to-do list; the things that will be on this update next Friday.
One ask
A single sentence. The one thing you need from your manager. A decision, an introduction, an hour of their time, a budget answer. If you genuinely don't need anything this week, write "No ask this week — will surface one next week if needed."
Voice constraints
- First person, second-grade-simple sentences.
- No corporate filler: no "synergize," no "circle back," no "alignment."
- One em-dash maximum per section.
- Don't invent attendees, deliverables, or outcomes. If the inputs don't support a claim, drop the claim.
Edge cases
- If the week was light (off most days, conference, vacation), say so in two sentences at the top and produce a half-length update. Don't pad.
- If the inputs include sensitive info (customer names, dollar amounts in negotiation), keep them in — your manager sees these.
- If you can't find a single blocker, write "No blockers this week" explicitly. The absence is data.
Or save it as a reusable Skill: download weekly-update-writer.SKILL.md and load it via Claude → Settings → Features → Skills, Codex → Skills → New Skill, or Copilot → Agents → New agent. Same file works in all three.
Why this skill matters
Turn this week's calendar invites, scratch notes, and Slack threads into a clean Friday status update for your manager. Wins, blockers, next-week focus, and one explicit ask. Replaces the "what did I actually do this week" half-hour staring contest with a five-minute paste-and-edit.
Example I/O
Input: Twelve calendar events from a marketing analyst's week, a handful of Slack thread excerpts, and a one-line note that the manager cares about Q3 distributor activation.
Output: A Word doc with a four-section status update — Wins, Blockers, Next Week, One Ask — written in tight first-person voice, ~200 words total. Drop into Outlook or paste into your manager's preferred channel.
Run it on a schedule
Cadence: Weekly, Friday afternoon
- Claude / Codex: save as a skill or project named "Weekly Update." Schedule for Friday 3 PM if you want a prompt nudge.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot: save the prompt as an agent in Copilot Agent Builder; trigger from Outlook by typing
/weekly-update. - Attach (or paste) this week's calendar export and any scratch notes when the prompt runs.
Where the AI stops, where you take over
For further research
Meeting Notes to Actions
Paste raw notes, a chat transcript, or a Teams / Zoom auto-generated summary. Returns a clean action-item list with owners, due dates, and drafted follow-up emails per owner. The thing you wished you'd done before the next meeting started.
Decision Memo
Turn a tangle of loose thinking into a structured one-pager exec teams actually read: Situation, Options, Recommendation, Risk. The shape used by Amazon, McKinsey, and almost every board. Saves the "how do I frame this for the meeting" hour every time you need to bring a decision to someone above you.