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I didn't have to study psychology to know that: Successful team leadership is only possible through healthy and regular communication.
And a common tool that managers use for this are weekly employee status reports. These provide an overview of the employee's status, their performance, certain KPIs and metrics or, optionally, their mood.
In this article, I will give an overview of weekly employee reports, provide some sample templates and files in different formats (PDF, Excel / XLSX, Word, Google Sheets, PPT) and guide you as a supervisor on how to use this communication tool.
Do staff reports still fit in with a modern management culture? Good question. Regular digital or virtual work reports can and should also be viewed critically. I will also take this perspective. But let's start with the question of what a weekly employee report actually is.
What is a weekly employee report?
To make a long story short: The basic idea of a weekly employee status report is to provide managers with a time-efficient overview of the current status of all tasks and activities in the team.
So why is the weekly status report from Direct Reports relevant? Your goal as a manager is to achieve the team goal while keeping staff motivation high. One of your tasks as a manager is to align the team towards a goal, i.e. to orchestrate the various individual activities in order to ultimately achieve constructive friction and harmony at the same time. This is exactly where the staff report can help. Depending on the industry, whether in IT or sales, different focal points are of course important here, and you should therefore use different templates and formats if possible.
The weekly employee status report is usually a one-page document sent to the employee's supervisor by email. This one-page document is usually a standardized template or sample that is completed by the employee within a few minutes each week.
As already mentioned, the focus is primarily on the activities of the direct report, on its objectives and possibly on metrics that have or have not been achieved (i.e., there is also such a thing as a weekly activity report).
They can also be a way to bypass regular, synchronous one-to-one meetings with coworkers who also have their issues – as you can see in the picture below 😄 But we'll get to that, let's go a little deeper first.
What is included in a weekly employee report?
So, as a boss, what should you include in a weekly staff status report? From a bird's eye view, it's about three things:
The past:
- What have you been working on in the last few days? Where have you primarily invested your time?
Status Quo:
- Tasks: Which planned tasks have been completed to date? Which ones have not been completed as planned?
- Possibly give me current metrics or KPIs for your activities (e.g. sales meetings held, number of tickets closed, etc.)
- Blockers: What blockers do you have at the moment?
- Mood: How satisfied are you with your last week?
- If you as an employee take a bird's eye view, for example the quarterly or annual target, what is the overall status in this respect?
The future:
- What tasks are coming up next? Are there any meetings or conferences that might take you away from your work?
- If you as an employee take a bird's eye view, for example the quarterly or annual target, how optimistic are you that this target will be achieved and why?
This should give you a good initial feel for what can be included in a weekly staff status report. It should also make it clearer to what extent a corresponding report – is important for the management of the team, be it synchronously in a meeting, asynchronously as a simple update via email or via one-to-one update software such as Echometer –.
Incidentally, Elon Musk has also asked his staff at X to send him a report every week. The idea was much discussed. You can find more information on this website here. I don't want to withhold from you what Elon Musk's status report template looks like. Here is the crucial part from the email announcing the initiative (free translation in all non-English languages):
Email from Elon Musk (Twitter) on weekly reports
Twitter team,
In order to innovate software quickly, it is important to know what everyone is working on and who is programming what.
In future, please send the following weekly update every Friday (this week on Wednesday) by e-mail to [email protected] with the following format:
-
Subject line: "Weekly Update", name, department and date (e.g. "Weekly Update, John smith, SWE, 11/20)
E-mail text:
-
Which project you are working on (e.g. Blue Verified)
-
What you are trying to achieve (e.g. reliable collection of the 8 $ payment)
-
Code examples/Phabricator links of the code written this week
This weekly update applies to:
-
All managers/engineers in SWE and ML
[...]
Twitter Engineering
Before we get straight to the templates and formats, I would like to take a meta-perspective: Are weekly employee status reports even useful? To be honest: often not.
Criticism of weekly employee status reports
Weekly digital reports undoubtedly have their purpose in many organizations, but especially in teams that perform knowledge work and operate in complex environments according to the Cynefin framework, there are some fundamental weaknesses that should be questioned.
1. Personal contact is essential
In complex and dynamic working environments, direct communication between team members and superiors is crucial. Personal one-to-one meetings or productive team meetings in which solutions are worked on together are not only more effective, but also more effective:
- More respectful towards employees: The dialog creates space for individual concerns and makes it possible to address problems or ideas directly.
- Relationship-building: Regular personal interaction strengthens trust and loyalty within the team and between staff and supervisors. A good relationship is often crucial for success in complex situations.
Weekly digital reports, on the other hand, are no substitute for this direct contact and often have a mechanical or one-sided effect.
2. Centralization of information
The biggest criticism of weekly accomplishment reports is the centralized processing of information:
- Typically, all information ends up with a single person, usually the line manager.
- However, this person is often not able to solve all problems or process all relevant information.
- It remains unclear whether employees actually receive the support they need, as there is no discussion.
A report alone cannot replace the collective intelligence and creativity of a team, which are so important for overcoming complex challenges.
3. Alternative: face-to-face meetings and team discussions
A better approach is to hold regular personal one-to-one meetings with the direct reports (virtually or remotely if necessary) and also establish productive team meetings, such as agile retrospectives.
- In one-to-one meetings, individual challenges or concerns can be addressed directly and solutions developed together.
- Team meetings promote exchange and learning from each other, which utilizes the expertise of the entire team.
- Especially in complex environments, such meetings help to strengthen joint problem solving and distribute responsibility instead of concentrating it on one person.
Weekly reports may be helpful in some scenarios, but they can't replace your personal contact and interactive collaboration from face-to-face meetings with you as the boss.
If you're interested in a general intro to regular one-to-one meetings, take a look at our post on the subject: A guide: 6 tips for successful 1-to-1 conversations.
No time for 1-to-1 meetings?
You think you don't have time for regular one-to-one meetings or you can't imagine moderating them successfully and productively on a regular basis? Yes, it's relatively easy: with our Echometer 1-to-1 meeting software.
In our software, your employee can record notes for your joint meeting remotely and asynchronously, without you. In the joint meeting, you can then talk productively about the points and are accompanied by question templates. The mood and staff development can also be measured over time. Take a look by trying out the following template or format:
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, how is the weather in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, how is the weather in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
If you want to get a better feel for what other templates are available in our software, this blog article can help you: 5 templates for regular employee check-ins.
So, enough with the criticism. You were interested in templates... To give you an even better feel for the topic of one-to-one meetings and weekly status updates with your employees, I'll give you some templates and formats for different scenarios below.
Don't worry, I'll prepare them in the most common formats so that you can edit, print and download them: PDF, Excel / XLSX, Word, Google Sheets, PPT.
⏩ 5 free Templates for weekly Employee Reports
Below you will find templates, samples and examples of weekly employee status reports. They have different focuses and should therefore be suitable for different use cases.
Standard template: Weekly employee report
The following form is suitable as a free template for your staff employee status check-in.
📋 Status update [name]
Week: September 5, 20XX – September 12, 20XX
✅ Completed tasks
- [Example]
🎯 Current status & goals
- Task 1: Example 1
- Expected completion of the task:
- Task 2: Example 2
- Expected completion of the task:
⚠️ Challenges & blockers
- [Example]
🤝 What I need (from my manager or the team)
- [Example]
- [Idea]
⁉️ Mood check
Download template as Excel or XLSX file
Template in other formats: Excel template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as an editable Excel XLSX file, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Sheets
Template in other formats: Google Sheets
If you would like to download the above sample or template online as editable Google Sheets, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Download template as printable PDF
Template in other formats: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Word document
Preview: Status employee report Word template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs Status employee report template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
In case you haven't seen it: You can also open, edit, download and print this sample report template in other formats (such as PDF or Word) in the toggles above. By the way, the downloadable templates are in English, as you may have already seen. You can copy the text above or use the Deepl tool as a translator if you want the work progress report template in another language (e.g. Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Finnish, Italian or Swedish).
Per day: Weekly employee report
As a free template or sample for your weekly employee status check-in, in which you query each individual day, the following form is suitable both as a Word and as an Excel document.
📅 Monday
- Main task: [...]
- Biggest challenge: [...]
📅 Tuesday
- Main task: [...]
- Biggest challenge: [...]
📅 Wednesday
- Main task: [...]
- Biggest challenge: [...]
📅 Thursday
- Main task: [...]
- Biggest challenge: [...]
📅 Friday
- Main task: [...]
- Biggest challenge: [...]
⁉️ Mood check
Download template as Excel or XLSX file
Template in other formats: Excel template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as an editable Excel XLSX file, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Sheets
Template in other formats: Google Sheets
If you would like to download the above sample or template online as editable Google Sheets, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Download template as printable PDF
Template in other formats: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Word document
Preview: Status employee report Word template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs Status employee report template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
In case you haven't seen it: You can also open, edit, download and print this sample report template in other formats (such as PDF or Word) in the toggles above. By the way, the downloadable templates are in English, as you may have already seen. You can copy the text above or use the Deepl tool as a translator if you want the work progress report template in another language (e.g. Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Finnish, Italian or Swedish).
Creative template: Weekly employee report
The following form is suitable as a free sample template for your weekly employee status check-in, which should not be too boring.
🌟 My highlight of the week
This week...
💔 Biggest failure of the week
This week...
🤔 Small or big "aha" moment
This week...
🎁 Wishes and suggestions
I would...
⁉️ Mood check
Download template as printable PDF
Template in other formats: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Word document
Preview: Status employee report Word template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs Status employee report template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
In case you haven't seen it: You can also open, edit, download and print this sample report template in other formats (such as PDF or Word) in the toggles above. By the way, the downloadable templates are in English, as you may have already seen. You can copy the text above or use the Deepl tool as a translator if you want the work progress report template in another language (e.g. Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Finnish, Italian or Swedish).
KPIs & metrics: Weekly employee report
As a free template for your weekly staff status check-in, in which you would like feedback on certain metrics and KPIs, the following form is suitable as both a Word and Excel document.
📊 KPIs
- Contacted sales leads: Y
- Generated sales calls: X
- Customer contracts concluded: A
- Initial turnover: ZZ.Z$
🎯 Target status
- Goal 1:
Description of the target
Description of the status
65 % achieved - Goal 2:
Description of the target
Description of the status
32 % achieved
⚠️ Challenges
- Example 1
🛠️ Planned measures
- Example 1
- Idea 1
⁉️ Mood check
Download template as Excel or XLSX file
Template in other formats: Excel template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as an editable Excel XLSX file, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Sheets
Template in other formats: Google Sheets
If you would like to download the above sample or template online as editable Google Sheets, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
Download template as printable PDF
Template in other formats: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Word document
Preview: Status employee report Word template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs Status employee report template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
In case you haven't seen it: You can also open, edit, download and print this sample report template in other formats (such as PDF or Word) in the toggles above. By the way, the downloadable templates are in English, as you may have already seen. You can copy the text above or use the Deepl tool as a translator if you want the work progress report template in another language (e.g. Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Finnish, Italian or Swedish).
Reflection template: Weekly employee report
The following form is suitable as a free template for your weekly staff status check-in, in which you would like your employees to reflect.
🌟 What went well this week?
This week...
🌧️ What could have gone better?
This week...
⚙️ Challenges and how I overcame them
This week...
💡 Ideas and suggestions
This week...
🎯 Next week's focus
Next week...
⁉️ Mood check
Download template as printable PDF
Template in other formats: PDF template
If you would like to download the above sample or template as a printable PDF, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Word document
Preview: Status Employee Report Word Template
If you would like to download the above sample template as a Word document, simply click on the image below. You can then edit or print the template as you wish.
Download template as Google Docs
Preview: Google Docs Status employee report template
If you want to edit the above sample template as Google Docs, simply click on the image below. You can then edit the template flexibly by copying it.
🚸 Attention: You must be logged in to Google to be able to copy (and thus edit) the template in the menu at the top left.
In case you haven't seen it: You can also open, edit, download and print this sample report template in other formats (such as PDF or Word) in the toggles above. By the way, the downloadable templates are in English, as you may have already seen. You can copy the text above or use the Deepl tool as a translator if you want the work progress report template in another language (e.g. Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, Finnish, Italian or Swedish).
Example sample: A weekly status report
Now that you have seen some examples of weekly accomplishment reports, you may be wondering how to fill them out optimally. That's why I'd like to give you a sample of what a completed sample weekly report for a software developer looks like. As I said, I'll come to the question of whether weekly reports are an adequate tool for software teams and in general.
Completed example: Weekly status report
Creator: Julia Schmidt
Team: Software development
Period: 27.11. – 03.12.2025
Summary:
-
This week, the user login module was successfully extended to include two-factor authentication (2FA) and the code review process for the new reporting dashboard was completed. The integration of the new API remains a challenge, as unexpected errors occur.
Achievements:
-
Two-factor authentication (2FA) implemented and successfully tested. -
Bug fixes from the last sprint fully completed. -
Code review for the reporting dashboard completed. -
Improved test coverage in the backend from 75 % to 85 %.
Challenges:
-
API integration: Error in data transfer between backend and external API; coordination with the API provider planned (meeting on 06.12.). -
Deployment bottleneck: Delay due to conflicts in the CI/CD pipeline script; further analysis required.
Plans for next week:
-
Completion of the API integration (deadline: 08.12.2025). -
Start of development for the user notification function. -
Optimization of the CI/CD pipeline to reduce deployment times. -
Preparation of the documentation for the release of the reporting dashboard.
Other:
-
Request to product management to clarify the prioritization of feature requirements for Q1 2026. -
Suggestion: Schedule a team workshop for pair programming to promote cooperation.
5-step guide: How to prepare and write a weekly report
If you would like more specific instructions on how to prepare and complete a weekly report, the following tips may be of interest to you. It is more or less a tutorial on how weekly accomplishment reports should ideally look.
If you follow the instructions, you will not make the typical mistakes that are often found in weekly reports.
1. Preparation
1.1 Collecting information
- Review daily logs: Check out your daily notes or tools like Jira, Trello, Asana or GitHub to capture all the important events and progress of the week.
- Coordination with the team: If your report concerns a team project, get updates from your teammates.
- Check project or sprint goals: Compare your progress with the planned goals for the week.
1.2 Prioritize
- Determine relevance: Focus on results and topics that are important to your team or stakeholders.
- Identify highlights: Select the most important achievements, challenges and plans. Not every little thing needs to be mentioned.
1.3 Consider target group
- Think about who will read the report. Technical details are relevant for your development team, for example, but less so for management, who are more interested in results and KPIs.
2. Define structure
Use a clear structure to present the information clearly. A tried and tested format is the following (you can find more templates above):
- Summary: The highlights of the week in a nutshell.
- Achievements: What has been achieved?
- Challenges: What were the problems?
- Plans for next week: concrete steps to ensure progress.
- Other (optional): Open questions, suggestions, feedback.
By the way: If you are a manager of software developers, the following article might be of interest to you: 6 Examples of feedback to software developers.
3. Write the report
3.1 Formulate clearly and concisely
- Short sentences: Keep the information compact.
- Use bullet points: They make the report clearer.
- Use technical terms sparingly: Only if the target group is familiar with them.
3.2 Emphasize results instead of processes
- Don't just write "I worked on XYZ", but e.g. "XYZ was implemented and tested, which improved the security around X%".
- The focus should be on the results.
3.3 Balancing positives and negatives
- Emphasize your achievements, but don't hide challenges.
- If possible, mention solutions or approaches to the problems.
4. Review
- Spelling and grammar: Check everything carefully so that the report looks professional.
- Clarity: Read the report aloud or have a colleague look over it.
- Completeness: Make sure that nothing important is missing.
5. Example of a step-by-step procedure
- Monday to Friday: Make a daily note of your progress and challenges.
- Thursday/Friday: Collect all the notes and filter out the most important points.
- Friday noon: Write the report based on the above sections.
- Friday evening: Share the report with your team or stakeholders.
All right, you've done it. Now you know about employee status and weekly reports 🙂
Conclusion - Templates for weekly employee reports
The article should have explained well what weekly staff status reports are, what their aim and purpose is and what they typically include. I've also given you some templates and samples that should help you with weekly reports.
At the same time, it should be noted that such reports have their limitations in complex and dynamic working environments as described by the Cynefin framework.
Personal one-to-one meetings and productive team meetings, such as agile retrospectives, are not only more effective, but also more appreciative of employees. They promote dialog, strengthen interpersonal relationships and make use of the team's collective knowledge.
The true strength of a team lies in joint discussion and active collaboration, which is significantly strengthened by personal contact and regular meetings. This is why companies in complex environments should focus more on direct communication and use weekly reports as a supplementary tool rather than the primary means of communication.
If you would like help introducing effective one-to-one meetings and agile retrospectives, our Echometer tool will help you. Take a look by clicking on the template below:
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, how is the weather in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
1:1 Meeting Tool Template: Mood as weather
- If you had to describe your emotional state as the weather, how is the weather in your project or your tasks at the moment?
How is the weather in relation to your employer, your personal life and your private life?
