How to Give a Project Update That Makes You Look Good (Even When Everything’s Gone Wrong)

The short answer for a decent update: open with one line of context, then use the Action-Obstacle-Overcome structure. Say what you’ve done and what you’re doing now (Action), name the one thing in your way (Obstacle), then explain how you’ll deal with it, including a Plan B (Overcome). You don’t lie, you don’t spin, and you finish on confidence instead of complaint, even when the project is cracking.

“So where are you with the Lanstokes?” asks your CEO.

You’re handed a microphone while your head is hauling through the muddy detail of weeks of calls, misunderstandings, delays and disappointments. The positive spin eludes you.

Like Andy in The Shawshank Redemption, there’s no way you’re getting out of this smelling of roses.

So how DO you put a shine on sh!t?

You can’t lie, and looking on the bright side is only relevant as a Monty Python tune, not in an update on a complex project to the CEO. Here’s a structure you can keep in your back pocket, so whenever you’re called on for an update, even on the spur of the moment, you turn into this:

Yeah, baby. Let’s eat dragon meat.

“What does a bad project update sound like?”

Here’s a typical one:

“Last week, we received the designs back from Climahigh and realised they were wrong. So now we’ve got to send them back off again. Hopefully they’ll get done before the end of the month.

It’s really annoying because we thought we’d had everything sorted out after all the meetings and phone calls of the last month.

Now we have to see if the other suppliers can work on a shorter lead time to complete Phase Two.”

Why it’s a bad update

• It launches in with no context. Your listener has to work out which project, which phase and who’s involved before they can follow a word of it.
• It ends on a negative. Your colleagues and managers want to know you’ve got this in hand, and that if it goes tits up, you’ve got a Plan B.
• It’s full of weak words:
  • “Have to / got to” sounds like someone has a gun to your head.
  • “Hopefully”: can you rely on hope? A Plan B is far more reassuring.
  • “It’s really annoying” doesn’t inspire confidence. It’s fine about the past, but about the current situation it sounds a little stroppy.

“Why should you set the context before giving an update?”

One of the biggest mistakes people make with updates is skipping the context. A manager asks, “What are you working on?” and the answer dives straight into the detail.

Even if they name the project, they may be overseeing several. So before anything else, remind them of:

• What the project is
• Who’s involved
• When it’s due
• Where it’s happening (not always relevant in digital)

For example:

 “It’s the residential project in Shanghai we’re building with [partner name] for next year.”

Do this in writing too. Managers complain all the time that people launch into updates without setting the scene. However clear the update itself is, they’re still playing catch-up.

“What is the Action-Obstacle-Overcome update?”

It’s a three-part structure you can run in under a minute, after a one-line scene-setter:

1. Action: what you’ve accomplished and what you’re doing today. That refers to past action and current one, folded together.
2. Obstacle: what’s impeding progress
3. Overcome: how you’ll deal with it, including your back-ups

Action: what have I done, and what am I doing today?

“We evaluated the designs from Climahigh. We’re sending them back today with our annotations and amendments, and will renegotiate the completion date to [new date].”

Obstacle: what’s getting in the way?

“There are concerns this could have a knock-on effect on Phase Two.”

Overcome: how will I deal with it?

“We’re eager to press on with Phase Two. As a result:

We’ve spoken to the CEO of Climahigh and gone through the amendments with her, instead of the design team
We’ll renegotiate the lead time for the next phase
We’ll also make preliminary enquiries with James, who did the designs for the Solarheat project, as a back-up.”

Why this update works

• It deals in actions, not feelings. “We’re sending them back” signals you’re moving forward, rather than punching the filing cabinet.
• The only emotion mentioned is eagerness, which is far more positive than “annoying”.
• You have a Plan B and a Plan C, so your audience hears control, not hope.

“What does the research say about structured updates?”

Research on disorganised and non-fluent speech, such as this study by McCroskey and Mehrley, suggests that clear, structured answers delivered fluently make a speaker seem more competent.

The trouble is that being put on the spot sends your stress hormones, including cortisol, soaring. Cue the classic panic response:

• Words tumbling out like loose change
• Adrenaline firing like a blacksmith’s forge
• The rabbit-in-headlights stare that suggests you’ve been lightly electrocuted
• Talking in circles while you hunt for your point
• Finishing and realising you never said the important thing, because you hadn’t planned it

The result? You look unprepared or incapable, and neither is necessarily true. But it’s the impression that sticks. A simple structure takes the guesswork out of the moment, which is exactly why it works.

“How do I sound confident without sounding arrogant?”

You need to sound confident, and you can do that without conveying arrogance. Drop the ‘ums and ahs’. Drop the upward lilt at the end of statements. And ditch this really annoying vocal habit that undermines your credibility.

Frequently asked questions

“How long should a project update be?”

Aim for between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. One line of context, one accomplishment, what’s happening now, one obstacle, and two or three ways you’ll overcome it is plenty. If they want more, they’ll ask.

“How do I give an update when the news is bad?”

Be honest about the obstacle, then spend most of your time on the Overcome step. People can handle bad news. What unsettles them is not knowing whether you have a plan. What works for my clients is that when they reach the ‘Overcome’ stage, you might way what you’ve tried already and then ask how they would deal with it. Not every situation has a pre-packed solution. One of the reasons that you might give an update in the first place is to find ways of problem solving. This will open your eyes as to what updates are really for.

“How do I buy time to arrange my thoughts?”

It’s not as hard as you might think. The most underused technique is the pause. Simply repeating the question back (“So, where am I with the Lanstokes project?”) also helps you unscramble the brain mess, and it sounds perfectly natural. Here are more techniques for when you’re caught on the hop.

“Can I use this for stand-ups and status meetings?”

Yes. It works for spontaneous updates, stand-ups and one-to-ones. It maps closely onto the familiar “what did I do, what will I do, what’s blocking me” format, with the added step of showing how you’ll unblock yourself.

In short

Next time you’re asked for an update, set the scene, then think Action-Obstacle-Overcome:

• what you’ve done and are doing today;
• what’s impeding progress;
• how you’ll overcome it.

Then go forth and slay those dragons, my friend!

Print this out for easy reference

Your Action Plan

1. Don’t wait until you’re asked for an update to give it. [Here’s why.]
2. Right, now you’ve seen that, think of someone who might need to know what’s going on.
3. Draft some bullet points (2 minutes).
4. Drop them an email or arrange a call.

Want to sound this confident on the spot? Explore my Communication Skills Training or Presentation Skills Training. But let’s assume you already know you need some help with how your manage up: for example, giving updates, speaking spontaneously, then contact me here.