Writing Manager Updates

Why regular updates help

Managers have many direct reports, and it is easy for your contributions to get lost in the shuffle. Sending regular summaries of your wins keeps your work visible and makes review season easier for both of you. Your manager gets a clear picture of what you have accomplished, and you avoid the stress of reconstructing months of work from memory.

Setting a cadence

Weekly or biweekly updates work best for most people. Pick a day and stick with it.

• Weekly works well if your work changes rapidly or you want tight feedback loops.
• Biweekly is a good fit if your projects span longer timelines and weekly updates would feel repetitive.

When it is time to write your update, filter your wins by date range to pull just the ones from the current period. This keeps your update focused and avoids repeating old items.

Structuring your update

A good manager update is short, scannable, and organized. Here is a simple structure:

• Group wins by space or project. This gives your manager context without requiring them to ask follow-up questions.
• Lead with the most impactful items. Put the biggest wins at the top. If your manager only reads the first few lines, they should see the highlights.
• Keep it short. Three to five bullet points per period is usually enough. Save the details for your one-on-one conversations.
• Note blockers or requests. If you need help with something, include it at the end. This turns your update into a useful two-way communication tool.

Using AI to draft updates

If you want a polished update without spending time on formatting, use AI tools to generate one from your wins. See the Using AI Tools for Reviews guide for instructions on using MCP or the API to pull your wins into an AI assistant and generate a summary.

A prompt like “Summarize my wins from the past two weeks as a short status update for my manager” works well as a starting point. You can then edit the output to add context or adjust the tone before sending.