the three p's, an introduction

· 1min · tools

weekly status

Send an email (or slack/teams message) to your manager at noon on Friday, and list out the three P’s for the week. This works at all levels - devs can tell their manager items that do not come up in a daily scrum, managers can collate information and identify pervasive issues, and senior leaders have a ready-made report for the executive leadership team.

Be concise, use bullet points, and be clear on if you are informing the reader or need them to take action.

progress

What have you accomplished this week? Two or three bullet points, written in the imperative tense. If you are running a team, add team accomplishments here with another two or three bullet points. This serves as a reflection point to see if you are on track with expectations you have set in previous weeks’ plans.

plans

What will you accomplish next week? Figure out what needs to happen next week that will bring the most value out of your (or your team’s) work, and prioritize doing that. You will be setting expectations with your manager and communicating what you are capable of accomplishing - do not sandbag, but do not overpromise here, either.

problems

This section is the most important. What is challenging for you right now? How will this challenge affect previous plans and progress? What do you need to overcome each problem? What action are you asking your manager to take? Take time here, review your most recent plans and progress to refresh your memory, and see if there are any unseen problems cropping up.