Why You Should Send a Weekly Summary Email

A deceptively simple productivity and management tool

  1. Start the week off right
  2. Ensure progress on the things that matter
  3. Enable introspection
  4. Align priorities
  5. Make invisible work visible
  6. Keep a record of achievements

1. Start the week off right

The most mundane benefit of the weekly email is that it allows a much smoother start into the new week. When you write down your priorities in Friday, you can simply pick them back up on Monday and get started on making progress towards them. Without that, with the weekend in between, it can sometimes take some time to get your bearings, or the to do list on Monday can feel endless. By focusing on the 3–5 priorities for the week, though, it becomes much easier to decide where to start.

2. Ensure progress on the things that matter

The first benefit can be extended over the course of the week. Keeping the priorities for the week visible near the rest of your to do list helps make sure that despite all disruptions and distractions that are likely to occur, you make time for the most important tasks.

3. Enable introspection

At the end of each week, you can compare the things you wanted to get done with those you actually got done. This also allows introspection: considering how good you are at both the right amount of priority tasks and focusing on them, as well as how effective you are at shielding yourself from distractions and carving our time for the things that matter. Since the weekly rhythm allows this introspection frequently, you should get better at it quite quickly.

4. Align priorities

Now, let’s turn to the first benefit that’s actually related to sending the email to your manager (and also, why as a manager myself, I am asking my team to send me this kind of email). Listing the top priorities for the following week is a really quick and easy way for the manager to review that the individual product manager is spending time on what the manager considers most important as well. If something that the manager considers important is missing from the list, they can simply mention it as a possible addition, and the product manager can consider it.

5. Make invisible work visible

In addition to the forward looking alignment aspects, it also enables you to make “invisible work” visible — i.e. the kind of work that is important but your manager might not otherwise notice. In some cases, this could simply be an opportunity for your manager to recognize these achievements. In other cases, it might be an opportunity for re-alignment, if your manager doesn’t agree that these tasks should have been high priority. In those cases, the weekly email again provides an opportunity to realign and course correct.

6. Keep a record of achievements

Many companies have regular but infrequent performance reviews (e.g. annual or biannual). Keeping a record of everything you have achieved every week provides a super valuable input to your and your manager’s review.

Pitfalls

The weekly email has many benefits, but also a few pitfalls. Here are a few of them.

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Head of Product at RevenueCat; previously at 8fit, Yammer, BCG.

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