Often the path of least resistence. Here's some ideas that assume that your management is set in concrete on this, and simply won't be moved from having their own Super Special Just for Me Status Reports. Cause... let's face it... sometimes status reports are not about status, they are about ego. Here's some tips to minimizing work

• Never provide more than they want. State it clearly, concisely and unambiguously.. but that often means figuring out what the manager thinks of as "clear", "concise" and "unambiguous".

• Do not provide extra info unless you need them to take action. And then, consider whether you want it in a status report, or a phone call. Some of this is knowing where the status goes. They are tremendously useful red flags when you know who they will go to and how the reader will be reading it.

• Due date is usually the LAST date - I have never heard a manager say "hey, you gave me status too early!!!" - minimize the context switch and send status when you've finished the last reportable thing for that project.

• Keep a secret one true status report - It doesn't matter if it makes sense only to you - a status report that lets you build the others quickly will save a lot of time. It is also a wonderful thing if you work in a high-audit field where people with long lists of questions come to you asking to to prove that you know or did what you said you knew or did.