Weekly brief
Definition
A weekly brief is a short, fixed-format summary of how the operation ran last week and what needs a decision this week, sent on a schedule, in the same shape every time, to the people who can act on it. It is not a dashboard and it is not a report pack. The discipline is the format: the same handful of numbers, in the same order, on the same day, so that a change stands out precisely because everything around it is familiar.
What it changes in practice.
The usual weekly report fails for a structural reason — it is rebuilt by hand, so it arrives late, looks different each week, and contains far more than anyone acts on. A brief that is generated rather than compiled can be short, because nothing in it had to be justified by the effort of producing it.
Delivery matters as much as content. In an SA food business the people who need the brief are on the floor or in a vehicle, not at a desk, which is why Finch sends it on WhatsApp rather than as an attachment somebody opens on Wednesday.
What it looks like when Finch catches it.
Related terms and reading.
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