weekly-review-skill

Weekly Review Skill

Gather open work, assess progress, surface blockers, and produce a clear plan for the week ahead — all in one structured pass. Data comes from you, a connected MCP source, or companyRAG collections.

Where the Data Comes From

Source	What It Adds
Task manager via MCP (e.g. Jira, Linear, Asana, Todoist, Monday.com, Notion)	Open tasks, due dates, status, assignee
Calendar via MCP (e.g. Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar)	Upcoming meetings, time blocks, deadlines
Email & chat via MCP (e.g. Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Microsoft Teams)	Action items from correspondence, commitments made in conversations, mentions
companyM365 (if enabled)	Outlook calendar and mail, Teams messages, Microsoft To Do and Planner tasks from your Microsoft 365 account
companyRAG / file upload	Review templates, project briefs, meeting notes with action items

No connected source? Provide the data in chat or upload the relevant files — the skill works the same way.

Review Workflow

Run these steps in order. The review is most effective when done at a consistent time — either Friday afternoon (close the week) or Monday morning (open the week).

Step 1: Gather Open Items

Collect everything that is in-flight, overdue, or upcoming:

From task managers (if connected):

• All tasks assigned to the user with status ≠ Done/Closed
• Tasks completed this week (for the retrospective)
• Tasks due in the next 7 days
• Tasks overdue

From calendar (if connected):

• Meetings and events for the coming week
• Deadlines or milestones appearing as calendar events
• Recurring commitments (standups, 1:1s, reviews)

From email and chat (if connected):

• Action items from the past week's correspondence
• Outstanding replies or commitments
• Mentions requiring follow-up

From user input:

• Any tasks, projects, or commitments not captured in tools
• Personal goals or development items
• Items remembered during the review process

Step 2: Categorise and Assess

Organise gathered items into these categories:

Category	Definition	Action
Completed this week	Tasks finished since last review	Acknowledge and archive. Note any that took significantly longer or shorter than expected.
In progress	Started but not finished	Assess: on track, at risk, or blocked? Estimate remaining effort.
Carry-over	Planned for this week but not started	Why didn't it happen? Re-prioritise for next week or deliberately defer.
Overdue	Past due date and not complete	Escalate, renegotiate deadline, or reprioritise. Overdue items need a decision, not just a note.
Upcoming (next 7 days)	Due or scheduled for the coming week	Estimate effort and assign to specific days if possible.
Waiting on others	Blocked by someone else's action	Note who, what, and when you last followed up. Plan a follow-up if stale.
Someday / backlog	Items with no deadline but still relevant	Review quarterly. If an item has been on this list for 4+ weeks without progress, decide: schedule it or drop it.

Step 3: Identify Patterns and Blockers

Look across the categorised items for systemic issues:

• Recurring carry-over : The same task appearing as carry-over for 2+ weeks signals either over-commitment, unclear requirements, or avoidance. Name it.
• Time allocation mismatch : If the calendar is full of meetings but the task list expects 20 hours of focused work, there is a math problem. Flag it.
• Blocker concentration : Multiple items blocked by the same person, team, or dependency? That is a single blocker to escalate, not many separate ones.
• Priority drift : Are urgent-but-unimportant tasks crowding out important-but-not-urgent work? Note the drift.

Step 4: Plan the Coming Week

Translate the assessment into a concrete plan:

1. Select 3-5 priorities : Not a full task list — the 3-5 most important outcomes for the coming week. These are the items that, if completed, make the week a success.
2. Time-block estimates : For each priority, estimate the focused time needed. Compare against available focused time (calendar minus meetings, minus buffer for reactive work).
3. Day assignment (optional but recommended): Assign priorities to specific days based on deadlines, energy, and meeting patterns. Front-load the most important work.
4. Follow-up list : Items where you need to chase someone, send an update, or check on status.
5. Deliberate deferrals : Items explicitly pushed to a future week — not forgotten, but consciously deprioritised. Note the reason.

Step 5: Generate the Review Document

Produce the structured output using the template below.

Output Template: Weekly Review

# Weekly Review — [Week of DATE]

## Last Week: What Got Done
  ✓ [Completed item 1]
  ✓ [Completed item 2]
  ✓ [Completed item 3]
  ...

  Highlights: [1-2 sentences on what went well or notable achievements]

## Carried Over (Not Completed)
  → [Item 1] — Reason: [why it didn't happen] — Decision: [do next week / defer / drop]
  → [Item 2] — Reason: [...] — Decision: [...]

## Currently In Progress
  ⟳ [Item 1] — Status: [on track / at risk / blocked] — ETA: [estimate]
  ⟳ [Item 2] — Status: [...] — ETA: [...]

## Overdue
  ⚠ [Item 1] — Due: [date] — Action: [renegotiate / escalate / complete by X]

## Waiting On Others
  ⏳ [Item 1] — Waiting on: [person] — Since: [date] — Follow-up: [plan]

## This Week: Priorities
  1. [Priority 1] — Estimated time: [hours] — Due: [date or "no hard deadline"]
  2. [Priority 2] — Estimated time: [hours] — Due: [date]
  3. [Priority 3] — Estimated time: [hours] — Due: [date]

  Available focused time: ~[hours] (based on [total hours] minus [meeting hours] minus [buffer])

## Follow-ups to Send
  - [Follow-up 1] — To: [person] — By: [day]
  - [Follow-up 2] — To: [person] — By: [day]

## Deliberately Deferred
  ↓ [Item 1] — Deferred to: [week/date] — Reason: [why]

## Patterns Noticed
  [Any systemic observations from Step 3]

## Notes for Next Review
  [Anything to remember or check next week]

Review Cadence Variants

The core methodology adapts to different cadences:

Cadence	When to Use	Modification
Weekly (default)	Standard knowledge work	Full workflow as described above
Bi-weekly	Lower task volume or longer project cycles	Extend the retrospective window; add a mid-cycle pulse check
Daily standup prep	High-velocity environments	Abbreviated: skip Steps 3-4; focus on today's 1-3 items and blockers
Monthly	Strategic/leadership review	Add: goal progress, OKR check-in, delegation assessment, team capacity

Guardrails

• NEVER fabricate task status or calendar events — if data is unavailable, ask the user.
• NEVER prioritise for the user without their input — present items and a recommended order, framed as a suggestion.
• NEVER estimate domain-specific work without the user's input — ask for effort estimates on technical or specialised tasks.
• Flag outputs: [From connected source], [From user input], [Suggested].

Tip: Ask for Markdown or DOCX output via companyFILES to get a formatted review ready to share.