If there are important project next steps or action items, share them here so everyone knows what to expect. This is the optimal way to let everyone know what’s happening without getting into the details. Because these are high-level reports, they’re appropriate for anyone who wants to stay informed about project progress. Project status reports should go out to your project team, project sponsor, important stakeholders, and cross-functional team members. Project reporting tools make it easy to find all of this information in one place, and create a project status report with the click of a button. You don’t need to also spend hours every week or month grabbing data from different places. Reduce manual workĪs the project manager, you already have enough on your plate. If you’re looking for tips on how to report on projects in real time, check out our article on universal reporting tools for every team. They’re an opportunity for your stakeholders to stay informed on how well you’re sticking to the project plan. These reports are summaries of what happened during the past week, two weeks, or month of project work. Project status reports are not real-time reports. Read: What causes project failure? 7 common culprits and their solutions Summarize project progress And if the project is off track? You can quickly and proactively fix it-so you still hit your project deadline on time and on budget. Because these reports mix high-level summaries with some important metrics, everyone has a sense of the project's health. Progress reports are a way to do that without too much manual work. No one likes being blindsided-and as the project manager, you’re empowered to make sure your team is aware of your project health at all times. The worst thing for a project is when you arrive at the end of the timeline and realize you were off track the whole time. When you correctly report on project status, you effectively: Keep track of project health Effective reporting has a variety of benefits. Reporting isn’t just something you should do for the sake of doing it. Create a project reporting template The benefits of effective project reporting These shouldn’t be reactive reports on things going poorly-rather, effective reports keep your team updated on the project’s progress, whether the project is on track, at risk, or off track. Schedule your project reports as frequently as is helpful for your stakeholders. Some projects benefit from weekly reporting, while others only need to be updated once a month. How often you share project status reports depends on your project’s timeline. They show and tell your team that you’re on track, making you (and everyone else) feel confident. They answer the questions everyone has before team members even have a chance to ask them. Regularly sharing project status reports is important because they help you keep all project stakeholders in the loop and aligned on how your project is progressing. With a timely status report, you can ensure your entire project team and cross-functional stakeholders understand what’s on track, what’s blocked, and what’s coming next. Written concisely, project reports offer high-level information about project progress, so team members get at-a-glance insight into what’s happening within the project. Project status reports are timely updates on the progress of your projects. Whether you’re gearing up for your first ever project status report or you’re looking for a better system than the one you currently use, this article will walk you through what a progress report is, how you can build one, and how to use project status reports to hit your project deadlines on time, every time. That way, you spend less time on unnecessary data gathering and more time on work that matters. Instead of manually assembling this information, use a project status report template to streamline this process for you. But manually compiling this information from different sources is one of the biggest drivers of work about work-busywork that gets in the way of your meaningful, high-impact tasks. Reporting on the status of work is critical to keeping your team on the same page, proactively identifying risks, and staying on track and on budget. It’s the end of the week and here you are again: having to dig through a variety of spreadsheets, emails, and tools to patch together an update of how your project is doing. Learn how to create project status reports in a few easy steps, plus check out a template you can use right away. These high-level updates proactively let your team know if a project is on track, at risk, or off track-so you can course correct if necessary to hit your deadlines every time. Effective project status reports are the best way to keep your stakeholders aligned and in the loop during your project progress.
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