Project Status Reporting

Revision as of 01:27, 22 February 2021

Project Status Reporting (also known as Progress reporting) involves the process of iteratively reporting the current status and progress of a project to relevant stakeholders. The reporting is conducted by the members of a project team by addressing whether or not the determined targets are being achieved.^[1][2]

Summary

Project Status Reporting is applied within project management to control and monitor progress of project deliverables. Project reporting involves the process of collecting day-to-day project information and distributing necessary updates to relevant stakeholders.^[3][4] Performance measurements such as; time, cost, quality, accomplishments and risks, are being compared to the project plan and previous period, all along the project life cycle.^[2] This provides an understanding of whether or not, the project deliverables are being met within determined tolerances, which is of great importance in terms of managing uncertainties.^[5] Continuous monitoring and reporting are regarded as main activities to highlight deviations in accordance to the project plan. ^[4] It enhances the possibilities to quicker discover deviating trends and responsiveness in terms of corrective actions.^[6] The composition, format and frequency of the status reports are determined by the communication management approach, where communication format and frequency is defined in the initiation stage of the project.^[4] During the course of a project, the project manager is spending the majority of the time on communicating with its project team and relevant stakeholders.^[3] Thus, effective communication is a key factor to maintain, in order to conduct and deliver successful project management.^[2][7] On one hand, Project Status Reporting has an important function in terms of bridging the knowledge within the project network. On the other hand, it provides essential project updates a foundation to support managerial decision-making.^[7][4] Overall, this makes Project Status Reporting a powerful tool to support progress controlling, with a specific link to project management. However, if a project is a part of a portfolio or program, the level of progress control and reporting can be escalated into larger context. Here it is important to consider how to align the risk system within the project, portfolio and program hierarchy. Although, status reports have to be produced on a project level and escalated upwards, in order to identify project specific deviations and accomplishments.^[4]

More specifically, it consist of a formal report which is updated consistently along the project lifecycle. The frequency and specifications can vary, based on factors such as; project timeline, project size, complexity.^[2] Regularly, reports are being presented on a weekly basis, but daily and monthly spans are not uncommon. The report is conducted by a member of a project team, either the project manager or any other team member. The finalised reports are being provided to relevant stakeholder as a support for decision-making.^[1][7]

Big idea

Concept of a Project Status Report

Project Status Reporting consist of a formal report which is updated consistently along the project lifecycle. The content of the reports involves critical aspects of the project, such as scope, scheduling, resources, cost and issues.^[2] The report is conducted by a member of a project team, either the project manager or another assigned team member. The frequency and framework specifications can vary, based on factors such as; project timeline, project size, complexity.^[4] However, reports are regularly being presented on a weekly basis and is an essential pillar of project communication.^{[7] [2]} The reports are usually distributed through a roll-up process where reporting starts from the level of the team members and is being escalated to the project manager, and upwards in the project hierarchy. The reports are thereby being provided to all relevant stakeholders and decision-makers within the project network. This could for instance include the steering committee, executive sponsors, customers, risk owners as well as all project staff members.^[4]

Characteristics of a Project Status Report

In literature there are various approaches presented on how project status and progress can be reported. However, there are some main principles, elements and characteristics of which the report should contain. When it comes to the quality of the reports, there are four general reporting principles which should be followed in order to assure high transparency and reliability of the communicated information. The four reporting principles are, namely: materiality, timeliness, consistency and accuracy.

• Elaborate more here

When it comes to generic characteristics of the Project Status Reports, there are some reoccurring elements which are included in the format. The reported content is conducted in the same format repeatedly along the project lifecycle. Thus, the input to the status reports includes information on updates and progress that has been made since the last report was conducted.^[2] Firstly, it consist of a general description of the project itself as well as document information. The main parts consist of a status summary and a review of key areas and milestones of the project. Additionally, it is provided a summary of project risk, issues as well as presentation of performance metrics.^[4] The output of the status report depends on whether or not the project status of activities and metrics are kept within project tolerances. If targets are being met, continue according to project plan. Else, corrective actions are to be taken based on risk evaluation.^[2] Moreover, in Section 3- Application it is being elaborated on how the conduct a Project Status Report, based on activities related to the reporting format and elements.

Purpose

The concept of conducting consistent Project Status Reports is deeply embedded within several areas of project management. However, the main objectives are related to the steps of continuous progress controlling, risk reduction and communication management within a project. If the project status is not monitored on a regular basis, there is a risk of losing control of the course and target of the progress.^[4] Nonetheless, the main purposes of conducting efficient project status reporting corresponds to the following areas:

• Communication: It aims to improve the communication flow across the project network, by distributing necessary status updates to relevant stakeholders. Establishing an effective communication management approach is essential for project success, in terms steering the project in the right direction in accordance to the project plan and objectives.^[7]

• Decision-making: The reports have the purpose of supporting and facilitating project-related decision-making, by contributing with metrics and status on project progress. This enables the opportunity for stakeholders to constantly monitor that activates are within project tolerances, and else decide on corrective actions.^[4]

• Risk transparency: Another main purpose involves identifying and capturing new risks within the project boundaries or identify changes within already discovered ones. These are being escalating through the status reports by sharing them with the stakeholders. This enhances the risk culture within the project organisation by enabling higher risk transparency, as well as increasing awareness about project uncertainties.^[5]

Different types of Project Status Reports

A Project Status Report can appear differently in terms of format and reporting frequency, based on determined communication management approach of a specific project. In addition, there are different types of status reports which can be conducted on different levels within the project hierarchy, in order to collect information on process specific progress. For instance, the PRINCE standard (AXELOS 2017) is addressing four different types of Project Status Reports, which can all be used for progress reporting within the same project.^[4]

• Checkpoint reports: Checkpoint reports are reporting the current status of individual work packages and are produced on a project team-level. The formality and presentation of these reports can vary, with either being presented verbally or through a project log. The collected information can consist of task completion, potential time and budget deviations and KPIs. The reports are provided to the project manager, who is transferring the collected data and updating the project stage plan accordingly.

• Highlight reports: Highlight reports are based on collected data from the Checkpoint reports and provides a summary on updates and progress for the entire project. The reports are produced by the project manager and is distributed to relevant stakeholders to create project awareness. The reported content can for instance be presented through documents, e-mails, charts or Kanban boards.

• End Stage report: The End Stage report is produced by the project manager at the end of each management phase to evaluate the overall progress and performance of the project. It is being presented to the project board and is used as a foundation for decision-making regarding the next stage of the project. That is, approving to move on, taking corrective actions or stop the project.

• End project report: The End project report is merely conducted in the end stage of a project, and not repeatedly throughout the project lifecycle. It is produced by the project manager and presented to the project board as a foundation for evaluation and closure of the project. The report finalises handover project ownership and provides a detailed update on task completion as well as potential learnings to future projects.

The output of the project status reports are emphasising if the current progress is corresponding to the project stage plan. However, if any new or increased risks and issues have been highlighted, then additional corrective action need to be taken to mitigate the risk. The process of taking corrective actions is not included in the scope of project status reports, but are instead escalated through an Issue report, Exception report or a Lesson report.

Application

Process of conducting a Project Status Report

1) Pre-phase

Before being able to collect project progress data and conduct the status report itself, project-specific reporting guidelines needs to be defined. This is a part of the initial phase of the project where the reporting process and delivery method is to be defined in the communication management approach as well as the project risk management strategy. In order to ensure an efficient communication flow and progress control, the need for different reporting metrics among the stakeholders should to be identified (as a part of the Stakeholder analysis).^[2] Furthermore, decisions have to be made regarding reporting frequency and formatting in order to create a clear process in terms of reporting routines. In addition, roles and responsibilities needs to be assigned within the project team in regard to who is responsible to; collect respectively information, processing data, assuring reporting quality as well as distribution of reports to relevant stakeholders. Moreover, the distribution strategy needs to be determined, that is, delivery method and presentation tools that should be used.^[4]

2) Elements of the report

A generic template for a Project Status Report consist of the following elements:^[2][8]

• General project information
  • Project name, date, reporting period
• Project status
• Task completion
  • If a project and its work packages are on track/at risk/off-track
  • Performance compared to project tolerances
• Project summary (brief)
• Review of key areas & milestones
  • Highlight relevant key areas/milestones
• High level overview of each key area
  • Add links to other documents/resources
• Key issues & challenges/risks
  • Highlight if there have been any key issues/challenges
• Project metrics
  • KPIs
• Additional notes & highlights

3) Distribution

• Distribute as defined according to the communication management approach. It is of high importance that the correct information is reaching all the targeted stakeholders.^[4]

4) Outputs and deliverables

The output is utilizes by stakeholders as a foundation of decision-making and forecasting the future stages of the project. If work packages for the reported period are not kept within project tolerances, corrective action are needed to be taken to mitigate the identified risks. In order to process risk, the identified issues and trend deviations are being escalated into Expectation reports. In addition, Issue reports are being conducted, where an impact analysis is made and recommendations on how to proceed.^[4]

5) Evaluation

What needs to be done to move the project forward to the next period. In the end of a project a Lessons report can be conducted based on highlights from the project status documented history. Thereby, important learnings can be made on what worked well and not.^[4]

Best practices

Best practices: In this section eight best practices are presented on factors to consider in order to conduct an effective and successful project status report. The content has been compiled based on best practices from a report from the PRINCE2 standard (AXELOS 2017) and reports from Swanson (2014) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2006).^[4][7][2] They all are providing guidelines on how to best utilize the reporting tool within a project context and contributing with different aspects on similar success factors.

• Communication- The reporting process needs to be incorporated and clearly defined in the initial stages of the communication management approach on how it is being communication within the project network. This involves frequency and format of the project status report as well as responsibility on who is conducting them.

• Simplify- It is important to keep the content of the status reports on high information level and aim to point out only the parameters that will contribute to higher project performance. This is important in order to avoid inefficient in-depth discussions about specific work packages. The information needs to be kept structured, short and quickly get to the point in order to assure effective utilisation of the data. All stakeholders should be able to extract the information they need.

• Verification- The information in the status reports is essential for decision-makers within the project, in order know how what actions to proceed with and task authorisation. Therefore, it is important to verify with the stakeholders what project information, KPIs and elements they want the report to consist of to make well-founded decisions. Additionally, based on different needs and communication preferences of the stakeholders, content and delivery method can be tailored in order to achieve maximal effect.

• Delivery method- It is important to select appropriate delivery methods for the status reports, based on ensuring that the information is reaching the targeted audience. The content needs to be clearly accessible when a decision-maker needs the information, which needs to be decided on in the initial communication strategy approach of the project. In some cases distribute through mail could be the most efficient one, while others prefer a shared document through the intranet or a visual Kanban board.

• Consistency- In order to achieve an effective communication of the reporting content and minimise confusion, the writing format and distribution of the status reports must be kept consistent. The same reporting format should be applied through a determined template, clear distribution cycle within the project network as well as a decided delivery method.

• Establish metrics- In order to monitor project status, metrics on how to actually measure progress needs to be defined. These KPIs are determined in the planning phase and updated throughout the course of the project as essential indicators on project health.

• Standardize- A standard routine for processing of data and reporting structure should be established in the planning phase of the project. That is, to achieve an objective view of the collected information and an efficient, uniform delivery to stakeholders.

• Apply tools- There are various of project management tools which could be applied in order to facilitate the process of conducting efficient status reports. This is beneficial in terms of analysing and displaying larger data sets, by systematically providing project metrics to increase productivity. There are numerous reporting softwares which could be applied as well as visualisation tools as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, Dashboards and wall charts.

Limitations

Challenges in applying the tool

How it should/shouldn't be used:

• In terms of project reporting, project status reporting is not a sufficient tool to escalate risks and issues to take corrective actions. It identifies potential negative trends, but not how to cope with them.
• Difficulties in creating a report that is effectively filtering the relevant information and targeting the right audience. Need to know the audience and get to the point, otherwise it can result in communication gaps.
• Need to make sure that the project status reporting is not regarded as a substitute to regular day-to-day communication. Some information is more urgent and cannot wait until the status report is presented.^[9]
• Risk for misreporting. The team members collecting the information can be selective in highlights and re-define information and deliverables.
• Executives are not relying enough on their staff to compile reliant reports.
• Risk of executives ignoring bad news and thereby not taking the corrective actions necessary.

Relate to standards/literature

• Project reporting is in standard, but not specifically Project status reporting (extending)
• (Is to be elaborated on)

Annotated Bibliography

• To be elaborated on

AXELOS, 2017. Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 2017 Edition, The Stationery Office Ltd, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [18 February 2021].

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2006) "Project Status Reporting" https://www2.cdc.gov/cdcup/library/practices_guides/CDC_UP_Project_Status_Reporting_Practices_Guide.pdf

Swanson, S. A. (2014). Anatomy of an effective status report. PM Network, 28(6), 52–61.

Keil, M., Smith, H.J., Iacovou, C.L. & Thompson, R.L. 2014, "The Pitfalls of Project Status Reporting", MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 57-64.

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Hayes Munson, K. A. (2012). How do you know the status of your project?: Project monitoring and controlling. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2012—North America, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10} Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2006) Project Status Reporting https://www2.cdc.gov/cdcup/library/practices_guides/CDC_UP_Project_Status_Reporting_Practices_Guide.pdf
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Project Management Institute (2017) A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK guide). 6th ed. Newton Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15} AXELOS, 2017. Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 2017 Edition, The Stationery Office Ltd, London. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [18 February 2021].
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI). (2019). Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI). Retrieved from https://app.knovel.com/hotlink/toc/id:kpSRMPPP01/standard-risk-management/standard-risk-management
6. ↑ Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI). (2019). Standard for Risk Management in Portfolios, Programs, and Projects. Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI). Retrieved from https://app.knovel.com/hotlink/toc/id:kpSRMPPP01/standard-risk-management/standard-risk-management
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5} Swanson, S. A. (2014). Anatomy of an effective status report. PM Network, 28(6), 52–61.
8. ↑ ProjectManager. (2021) The ultimate guide to Project Status Reports https://www.projectmanager.com/status-report
9. ↑ Keil, M., Smith, H.J., Iacovou, C.L. & Thompson, R.L. 2014, "The Pitfalls of Project Status Reporting", MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 55, no. 3, pp. 57-64.