The daily update

Your manager in another timezone reads forty messages before yours. The update that gets read answers three questions in the first three lines: what changed, what is blocked, what happens next.

The shape

Done: payment retry logic merged (#412), covered by tests.
Blocked: need staging credentials for the SMS provider - asked Ali, waiting since Tuesday.
Next: wire retries to the dashboard; demo Thursday.

Three lines. Each starts with the label, then the fact, then the person or link. Nothing about how hard it was.

What to leave out

• Apologies. "Sorry for the delay" costs the reader a line and gives them nothing.
• Process narration. "I looked into several approaches" is not information; the approach you chose is.
• Hedges. "I think it should probably work" makes the reader ask a question. "Works on staging, not yet in production" does not.

When you are stuck

Say so on the day it happens, with what you tried and what you need. Being stuck is normal. Being stuck silently for three days is the thing offshore teams get fired for.

Try it

Rewrite the last update you sent, in the three-line shape. Cut it until each line is one fact.

Knowledge check

• What three questions does a good update answer?
• Why are apologies and hedges removed?
• When should you report being blocked?