How often should I send a progress report?

At the end of each block, or every four weeks, works for most coaching. Weekly check-in replies cover the weeks in between.

Where do the numbers come from?

Only from what the client reported: their check-ins and the metrics on their record. A figure with no source in their own words is flagged.

Templates

Client progress report template for coaches

A client progress report tells a coaching client where they stand.

Have Fen write yours Or copy the outline

What goes in it

It leads with one line: on track, slipping or stuck, and why. Then it lists what they did since the last report, what is in the way and what it depends on, and what comes next with dates. Lead with the status so a busy client gets the point first, and use only the numbers they reported.

Under 250 words.

1
Where they stand
On track or off track, and why, in one line.
2
Done since last time
Sessions, check-ins and wins your notes record.
3
In the way
What is holding progress back, and what helps. Omit if nothing is.
4
Next
Each says who does it, the client or you, with a date where your notes give one.

When to send it

At the end of a training block, or every four weeks.
Before a renewal conversation.
When a client feels stuck and needs to see the progress they made.

Common mistakes

Burying a stall under a list of wins.
Listing sessions done instead of progress made.
Quoting a weight or measurement the client never reported.

Why it works

Most readers scan before they read: in Nielsen Norman Group's eyetracking work, 79% of users scanned a new page and only 16% read word by word. Put the point in the first line.
Nielsen Norman Group, How users read on the web
The inverted pyramid, conclusion first and detail after, lets a reader stop at any point and still leave with the answer.
Nielsen Norman Group, Inverted pyramid

Copy the outline

Paste it into any document.

PROGRESS REPORT

Where they stand
[On track or off track, and why, in one line.]

Done since last time
[Sessions, check-ins and wins your notes record.]
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

In the way
[What is holding progress back, and what helps. Omit if nothing is.]
1. 
2. 
3. 

Next
[Each says who does it, the client or you, with a date where your notes give one.]
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5.

Let Fen write it

1
Bring the client's record
Their intake, check-ins and messages, pasted, dropped or imported into that client's record.
2
It can't make up a number
Every weight, date and figure Fen writes is checked against the client's own words, and a load or macro target is computed from your rules. One with no source is flagged, never guessed.
3
You decide what goes out
At default settings nothing reaches a client until you press. Email replies go out from your own Gmail when you press Approve and send.

Questions

How often should I send a progress report?: At the end of each block, or every four weeks, works for most coaching. Weekly check-in replies cover the weeks in between.
Where do the numbers come from?: Only from what the client reported: their check-ins and the metrics on their record. A figure with no source in their own words is flagged.