Play of the Month: Stay up to date with your team!

[Lauren McGoodwin]

Keeping updated on everything your teammates are working on can be a real challenge, especially for distributed teams.

With the Weekly Team Updates Play, you can save time, share information, and boost your team’s performance—without scheduling another meeting.

The Weekly Team Update Play is a quick, asynchronous recap of achievements, projects, and roadblocks shared at the start or end of each week. It's a low-effort practice with a big impact no matter where your team logs in.

I’ve been using Loom to share my weekly team update each Friday, and it’s been essential in helping me stay aligned with my goals and gather input early on when a project gets stalled. Plus, I will often watch the videos from my teammates during a time that works best for my individual schedule so I never have to worry about missing their updates and celebrating their wins.

How does your team stay updated on each other's work? Would you consider using the Weekly Updates method? What appeals to you about it?

We’d love to hear from you, so please comment below and let us know your thoughts! 🚀

(PS: By adding a comment, you’ll make progress towards earning the Play as a Team kudos badge!)

[Laurie Sciutti]

I'm all for efficiency, especially when it eliminates another useless meeting.  Thank you, @Lauren McGoodwin !

[Lauren McGoodwin]

Ditto @Laurie Sciutti!! 

[Amanda Barber]

Love this use of Loom! It seems like an especially great idea for teams working across time zones. 

[Lauren McGoodwin]

Absolutely @Amanda Barber 

[Tomislav Tobijas _Koios_]

This just gave me an 💡 idea to record this week's update via Loom and send it to the team as I won't be able to attend next week's meeting. Cheers for sharing! 🙌

[Lauren McGoodwin]

Look at you already using the Play in action @Tomislav Tobijas _Koios_ !!

[John Funk]

Yes, the use of Loom would be great for this!

[Sandra Franchetto]

When I have a team will definitely be using Loom cause it's a great, easy to use product. Love the concept of weekly team update so everyone is kept in the know. 👍

[Stephen_Lugton]

Although the use of Loom would be great for this we are hesitant to use it due to the licensing cost being per seat, if it were per use we would adopt it for this kind of update

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

I struggle with this use of loom. I do really want to embrace it, but I am having a hard time.

While I like many of the other use cases, I see this one as burdensome, recording a video and expecting my team to watch it, vs using Confluence or Trello to state my goals and expectations to the team.

[Lauren McGoodwin]

@Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM We also give an example of sending weekly updates via Slack (or your preferred communication tool) in the Play! Agree that video isn't for every team but maybe quick bullet lists shared as text would be easier!

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

Yes, I use a Confluence page, it's worked well for years. 

[Shivam Sharma]

We primarily use Google Meet for weekly and daily updates, which makes scheduling and rescheduling easy, with the added benefit of Google Workspace’s chat and cloud recording features. I love your use of Loom for flexibility, but for us, Google Meet has been effective in keeping everyone aligned.

[Lauren McGoodwin]

@Shivam Sharma, I think the beauty of the Playbook and Plays is that you can use lots of different technology to accomplish the same goal. For example, maybe people share their weekly update via a Google Doc shared ahead of the Google Meet. The goal is to use your Google Meet time for discussions, collaborations, brainstorms, etc. and leave status updates to things people can read on their own timeline. However, with all that said, always do what works best for your team!

[Shivam Sharma]

Thank you, @Lauren McGoodwin  I see the potential benefits of using a shared Google Doc for status updates and will consider trying it out. However, given the nature of our projects, we still find that real-time discussions and reviews during meetings are essential to ensure alignment. That said, we’re always open to adjusting our process to improve efficiency.

I appreciate your suggestion and will bring it to the team for further discussion!

[Asad]

Loved it!! Thank you!

[Dick]

If I'm completely honest with myself, I would rather have an open interaction with my team than constructing a list for them to read through.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for making a list though, but I would use it during my team meeting as to not forget subjects I want to share with them.

Imagine a team of 10 (and you're one of them) and ask yourself these honest questions:

• Would you read all their individual lists, every week ?
• Would you expect the team to read your list every week ? 
• Would you be disappointed when someone wouldn't read your list ?

[Lauren McGoodwin]

@Dick, good points, and team size can definitely influence things! I would say that no matter how big your team is, it's valuable for people to share what they're working on regularly not just to track their own progress but to give insight to others if/when they need it. And maybe the best expectation to set is that your manager will always review your update. Or maybe it's just the manager who sends a video update at the end of each week. This can be edited however it best works for a team. 

[Dan Breyen]

Team updates are essential to the success of any project, but having an in person status meeting limits your flexibility and productivity when it comes to status updates.  

I like the flexibility of dynamic updates, as it keeps the continuity of the project intact, without having a forced pause in a status meeting.  

Plus, there are times when status meetings can turn into "group think" sessions, which can also sidetrack the project.

[Lauren McGoodwin]

@Dan Breyen good point about team updates turning into group think sessions!  Another benefit of sharing async updates!

[Dani Werner]

My team has way too many meetings that feel like they overlap in purpose. I love this idea for keeping in the loop while also freeing up time.

[Lauren McGoodwin]

@Dani Werner definitely sounds like replacing some meetings with async updates would really benefit you/your team!

[Dani Werner]

FWIW, I shared the playbook and adapted it using the Confluence Blog functionality in my own space. I will make Week Ahead blog posts and use checkboxes so people can check in on my progress throughout the week.

I also added a couple of sections.

• Other things on my mind
• Something I've learned
• Weekend highlights (with photos for that personal touch)

When I shared my first post with my manager, she loved it, and she wants to try it across the team!

[Sara Beyer]

This is a great use case for Loom - especially for teams in different time zones. In our weekly meetings, we each go through what we're working on and any wins and/or blockers. It makes sure we're all aligned, and I can set priorities for all when they change.

[Andy Gladstone]

I record at least one Loom every two days or so. Almost all of them are micro-updates for the teams that report to me, but the odd one is a macro update that is applicable to the broader group and organization. 

I have not yet started this play, but I am looking forward to implementing it for my direct reports so we can better stay in sync, async. 

I envision a Confluence Space where each manager will post their Loom videos on a weekly basis. We'd use comments for feedback and tie in an Action Items list for any follow-ups that may be needed.

[Lauren McGoodwin]

@Andy Gladstone exactly! And now you can add Looms to Confluences pages which makes it all even better!

[Dan Breyen]

The Visual learners will appreciate Loom for getting their updates.

[Salih Tuç]

Great idea @Lauren McGoodwin , worth to try!

[Tehmina Aslam]

I completely agree!

Keeping track of what everyone is working on can be challenging, especially with a distributed team as I have teams in Jordan, KSA, Pakistan (2 Different cities).

The Weekly Team Updates Play sounds like a fantastic solution to bridge that gap without adding unnecessary meetings to our schedules. It's great that it's asynchronous, which ensures that no matter where or when teammates are working, everyone stays in the loop. This quick, consistent recap of achievements, projects, and challenges helps us share key information efficiently and stay aligned, driving performance and productivity across the team. It’s a simple practice with a meaningful impact!