weekly-plan · AI/ML · Mesrai Skills

Purpose

Plan your week forward with clear priorities tied to quarterly goals. Sets the foundation for effective daily planning and ensures strategic alignment.

Usage

/weekly-plan - Plan upcoming week (or current week if Monday)
/weekly-plan next - Plan next week (when running on Friday)

Context Routing

Check these files first:

thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/ - Quarter OKRs, North Star, strategic pillars
thoughts/shared/pm/reports/ - Last week's review (if exists)
thoughts/shared/pm/prds/ - Active PRDs and their stages
thoughts/shared/pm/launches/ - Upcoming launches
thoughts/shared/pm/reports/ - Previous weekly plans (for pattern analysis)

MCP Queries (if available):

Calendar MCP - Next week's meetings
Linear MCP - Backlog and upcoming tasks
Analytics MCP - Metrics trends (inform priorities)

Fallback: File-based planning using strategy docs and PRD pipeline.

Workflow

Step 1: Determine Target Week

Calculate target week:
- Default: Upcoming week (Monday-Friday)
- If run on Monday: Current week
- If user specified "next": Next week
Check if week already planned:
- Look for thoughts/shared/pm/reports/YYYY-WXX-weekly-plan.md
- If exists: Ask "Week already planned. Update it or create new version?"

Step 2: Review Last Week (If Available)

Check for thoughts/shared/pm/reports/[last-week]-weekly-review.md:

If exists, extract:

Carried over items - What didn't get done?
Learnings - What worked/didn't work?
Momentum - Which initiatives are advancing?
Stalled items - What needs unblocking?

If doesn't exist:

Note: "Last week wasn't reviewed. Proceeding with forward planning only."
Suggest: "After this week, run /weekly-review to build the habit."

Step 3: Strategic Context Gathering

A. Quarter Goals & North Star:

Read thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/:

Current quarter OKRs
North Star metric and target
Strategic pillars (usually 3-4 themes)

Extract:

Which goals are on track / behind / ahead?
Which pillar needs more attention this week?
Any upcoming deadlines (end of quarter, board meeting, etc.)?

B. Active PRD Pipeline:

Scan thoughts/shared/pm/prds/:

For each active PRD:

Current stage
Next milestone
Blockers (if any)
Stakeholders involved

Group PRDs by stage:

Team Kickoff - Need to plan/scope
Planning Review - Need to prioritize
XFN Kickoff - Need alignment
Solution Review - Need detailed design
Launch Readiness - Need to ship
Impact Review - Need to analyze results

Identify: Which PRDs need to advance this week?

C. Upcoming Launches:

Check thoughts/shared/pm/launches/:

Features launching this week
Pre-launch checklists due
Post-launch monitoring needed

D. Calendar Preview (If MCP Available):

Query Calendar MCP for next week:

Get all events for [week start] to [week end]

Extract:

Key meetings (stakeholder syncs, reviews, planning sessions)
All-hands/team meetings (fixed commitments)
Open time blocks (capacity for deep work)

Calculate:

Meeting load (hours in meetings)
Deep work capacity (hours available for focused work)
Context switch frequency

If heavy meeting week (20+ hours):

Limit priorities to 2 instead of 3
Flag: "Light on execution capacity this week"

Step 4: Priority Setting

Framework: Top 3 Priorities

Use this prioritization logic:

Priority 1 (Most Important):
- Directly advances a quarter goal that's behind
- OR: Critical blocker removal
- OR: Upcoming launch with deadline
Priority 2 (High Impact):
- Advances quarter goal that's on track
- OR: Strategic initiative that supports North Star
- OR: Stakeholder commitment with firm deadline
Priority 3 (Meaningful Progress):
- Supports strategic pillar
- OR: Advances PRD through pipeline
- OR: Foundation for future work

Constraints:

Each priority should take 6-10 hours of work
Priorities should span different strategic pillars (balance)
At least one priority should be proactive (not reactive)

Validation Questions:

If I only do these 3 things this week, will it be a successful week?
Do these priorities advance our quarter goals?
Am I over-committed given meeting load?

Step 5: Task Breakdown (Optional)

For each priority, identify 2-4 key tasks:

Priority 1: [Title]

Task 1 (Est: X hours)
Task 2 (Est: Y hours)
Task 3 (Est: Z hours)

Total estimate: Should match priority weight (6-10 hours)

This helps with:

Reality check on scope
Daily planning (break priorities into daily chunks)
Progress tracking

Step 6: Generate Weekly Plan

Create file: thoughts/shared/pm/reports/YYYY-WXX-weekly-plan.md

Template:

---
week: YYYY-WXX
week_start: YYYY-MM-DD
week_end: YYYY-MM-DD
quarter: Q[X] YYYY
---

# Weekly Plan - Week of [Month] [DD], [YYYY]

## TL;DR

- **Top 3:** [One-line summary of each priority]
- **Meeting load:** [X] hours ([Light/Medium/Heavy])
- **Key milestone:** [Most important thing to ship/decide/align this week]

---

## Strategic Context

**Quarter Goal:** [Primary goal for this quarter]
**North Star Progress:** [Current value] / [Target] ([%] to goal)

**This Week's Focus:**
[1-2 sentences explaining why these priorities matter now]

---

## Top 3 Priorities

### Priority 1: [Title] ⭐ Most Important

**Why this matters:**

- Advances: [Quarter Goal / Strategic Pillar]
- Impact: [What changes if we complete this]
- Risk if not done: [Consequence of deferring]

**Success looks like:**

- [Specific, measurable outcome]

**Key tasks:**

- [ ] [Task 1] (Est: X hours) - [Why/who]
- [ ] [Task 2] (Est: Y hours) - [Why/who]
- [ ] [Task 3] (Est: Z hours) - [Why/who]

**Dependencies:**

- Needs from: [Person/team] - [What]
- Blocks: [What this unblocks]

**Linked to:**

- PRD: [Link if applicable]
- Decision doc: [Link if applicable]

---

### Priority 2: [Title]

**Why this matters:**

- Advances: [Quarter Goal / Strategic Pillar]
- Impact: [What changes]

**Success looks like:**

- [Specific outcome]

**Key tasks:**

- [ ] [Task 1]
- [ ] [Task 2]
- [ ] [Task 3]

**Dependencies:**

- [List]

**Linked to:**

- [Relevant docs]

---

### Priority 3: [Title]

**Why this matters:**

- Advances: [Quarter Goal / Strategic Pillar]
- Impact: [What changes]

**Success looks like:**

- [Specific outcome]

**Key tasks:**

- [ ] [Task 1]
- [ ] [Task 2]

**Dependencies:**

- [List]

**Linked to:**

- [Relevant docs]

---

## PRD Pipeline This Week

| PRD    | Current Stage   | Target Stage by Friday | Action Needed                   |
| ------ | --------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| [Name] | Team Kickoff    | Planning Review        | Complete scoping, get estimates |
| [Name] | Solution Review | Launch Readiness       | Final stakeholder sign-off      |

---

## Key Meetings

| Day | Meeting | Purpose     | Prep Needed              |
| --- | ------- | ----------- | ------------------------ |
| Mon | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N - Link to prep doc] |
| Tue | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N]                    |
| Wed | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N]                    |
| Thu | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N]                    |
| Fri | [Title] | [Objective] | [Y/N]                    |

**Meeting load:** [X] hours / ~40 hour week = [Y%]
**Deep work capacity:** [Z] hours available

---

## Strategic Pillar Balance

[If your strategy has defined pillars, show allocation]

| Pillar     | This Week's Time | Last Week | Trend        |
| ---------- | ---------------- | --------- | ------------ |
| [Pillar 1] | 40%              | 30%       | ↑ Increasing |
| [Pillar 2] | 30%              | 40%       | ↓ Decreasing |
| [Pillar 3] | 30%              | 30%       | → Steady     |

**Balance check:**

- [Commentary on whether allocation matches strategy]

---

## Risks & Mitigations

**Potential blockers:**

- **Risk:** [Dependency on X person who's on vacation]
  - **Mitigation:** [Async update or defer to next week]

- **Risk:** [Heavy meeting load limits execution time]
  - **Mitigation:** [Decline non-essential meetings or defer Priority 3]

**Capacity concerns:**

- [If overcommitted, note which priority to defer]

---

## Carry-Over from Last Week

[If last week's review exists]

**Incomplete items:**

- [ ] [Item from last week] - [Why it carried over]

**Learnings applied:**

- [Pattern from last week] → [How we're adjusting this week]

---

## Success Metrics

**How we'll know this week was successful:**

1. [Measurable outcome for Priority 1]
2. [Measurable outcome for Priority 2]
3. [Measurable outcome for Priority 3]

**Leading indicators to track:**

- [Metric to check mid-week]
- [Stakeholder feedback to gather]

---

_Generated: [Timestamp]_
_Next: Run `/daily-plan` each morning to execute against this plan_

Step 7: Output & Next Actions

Save weekly plan file
Create/update task backlog (if Linear MCP available):
- Offer: "Want me to create Linear tasks for each key task?"
- If yes: Use /create-tickets to convert tasks
Display summary:
- "Week planned! Top 3: [P1], [P2], [P3]"
- If heavy meetings: "Heads up: [X] hours of meetings. I've kept priorities light."
- If carries over from last week: "[Y] items carried over - addressed in Priority [Z]"
Offer next steps:
- "Ready to start the week? Run /daily-plan tomorrow morning."
- "Want to share this plan with your team? I can format it for Slack."
- If no stakeholder profiles: "For richer context, add stakeholder profiles."

MCP Graceful Degradation

If Calendar MCP not connected:

Ask: "What key meetings do you have next week?"
Note: "I can give better planning with calendar access. Run /connect-mcps connect to google-calendar"

If Linear MCP not connected:

Manual task entry: "What key tasks need to happen for each priority?"
Offer to create tasks later once MCP connected

If strategy docs don't exist:

Ask: "What are your top quarterly goals?"
Suggest: "Fill out thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/OKRs.md for better alignment"

Tips for Best Results

When to run:

Best time: Friday afternoon (plan while week is fresh)
Alternative: Monday morning (start week with clarity)
Avoid: Mid-week (loses strategic perspective)

What makes a good priority:

✅ Specific (not "work on X" but "complete Y for X")
✅ Measurable (you'll know when it's done)
✅ High-impact (moves a key metric or goal)
✅ Achievable (realistic given meeting load)
❌ Too vague ("improve product" → What exactly?)
❌ Too many (more than 3 = lack of focus)

Common mistakes:

Setting 5-6 priorities (you'll get overwhelmed)
All reactive priorities (no proactive strategy work)
Ignoring meeting load (planning 30 hours of work with 25 hours of meetings)
No connection to quarter goals (busy but not impactful)

Integration with Other Skills

Before /weekly-plan:

/weekly-review - Review last week first (if Friday planning)
/quarter-plan - (If exists) Ensure week aligns with quarter

After /weekly-plan:

/daily-plan - Break week down into daily execution
/create-tickets - Convert tasks to Linear
/slack-message - Share plan with team

Parallel use:

/prd-draft - Priorities might include PRD work
/impact-sizing - Validate priorities are high-impact

Related Skills

Before this:

/weekly-review - Reflect on last week
/mcp - Connect to Calendar, Linear for richer planning

After this:

/daily-plan - Execute the weekly plan day by day
/create-tickets - Track priorities in Linear
/weekly-review - Close the loop at end of week

Complements:

/prd-draft - Weekly priorities often include PRD milestones
/stakeholder-update - Share weekly plan with leadership

Output Quality Self-Check

Before presenting output to the PM, verify:

Context was checked: Reviewed thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/ for quarter OKRs, thoughts/shared/pm/prds/ for active PRDs, and thoughts/shared/product/meeting-notes/ for upcoming commitments
Priorities aligned with strategic goals: Each of the top 3 priorities explicitly references which quarter goal, OKR, or strategic pillar it advances
LNO classification applied: Key tasks are tagged as Leverage, Neutral, or Overhead to ensure the week is weighted toward high-leverage work
Dependencies and blockers identified: Each priority lists what it depends on (people, decisions, deliverables) and any known blockers with mitigation plans
Carry-over items from last week addressed: If thoughts/shared/pm/reports/ contains incomplete items from last week, they are explicitly acknowledged as carried over, deferred, or dropped with reasoning