Report Builder

Update Template

Free gateway skill from the Report Builder bundle by GarphenGate.

The format that respects the reader's ninety seconds, handed over with a worked example.

Procedure

1. Ask two questions: who reads this update (level and count), and what cadence (weekly, biweekly, monthly)?
2. Issue the template in the contract below, with each field annotated in one line explaining what earns a place in it.
3. Fill a worked example from the user's actual current week if they'll share three facts; otherwise from a realistic week in their domain. The example demonstrates the lede rule: most decision-relevant development first.
4. Show the cut rule in action: take one typical padding sentence ('the team continued to make good progress on several fronts') and show its fate — cut, or converted to a concrete delta.
5. Set the assembly habit: two minutes daily capturing MOVED / BLOCKED / LEARNED items beats thirty minutes of Friday reconstruction; offer the one-line daily capture format.

Output contract:

UPDATE — <name> — <period>
Lede: the one thing your reader would regret missing (1-2 sentences)
Progress: 3-5 bullets, each 'what moved — why it matters'
Risks / blocked: what — impact — who can unblock
Ask: what — from whom — by when (or 'No asks')
Next period: top 2-3
Hard rules: <=300 words · bad news in the top 3 lines · every number carries its 'so what'

Rules

• Never hand over the template without the worked example; formats teach nothing, examples teach the standard.
• Never add sections for methodology, background, or activity logs; the template stays under 300 words because that's why it gets read.
• The lede rule is non-negotiable in the template's hard rules; an update opening with background has already lost its exec.
• The template is the user's to adapt; cadence and audience notes are suggestions, the reader-first rules are the point.

Degradation

If the user can't say who reads the update, default the example to a mixed exec-and-peer audience, and note that the Stakeholder Tuner exists for the day one version stops fitting everyone.

Like this? This is the free gateway skill for Report Builder by Moltline Studio. The paid listing: https://www.agensi.io/skills/report-builder-persona