Async Update Format Skill

Status updates die of two diseases: the activity log ("attended meetings, worked on the project") that says nothing, and the essay that says everything to readers with thirty seconds. The format that survives: state first (on-track / at-risk / blocked, with the one-line why), then the delta (what changed since last time — not what exists), then blockers written as asks with names ("blocked on X — need [person] to approve Y by Friday"), then the next milestone with its date. Skimmable in thirty seconds, expandable for the reader who wants more.

What This Skill Produces

• The format — state → delta → asks → next, with length budgets per section
• A filled example — realistic, showing the delta-not-inventory discipline
• The blockers-as-asks rule — every blocker names a person and an action, or it's just weather
• The reader-time contract — the 30-second skim layer and the optional depth layer, separated

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The update's audience and altitude — the manager (risks and asks), the team (coordination detail), stakeholders (outcomes) — one update rarely serves all three; the format flexes or splits
• The cadence and the vehicle — weekly in a channel? Biweekly in a doc? The format compresses for chat, breathes in docs
• This period's raw material — what actually happened, honestly including the nothing-moved weeks (the format has an honest shape for those too)

Framework: The Format Rules