RNL Consultancy Limited
My most popular project management articles at Suite101:
- Essential Skills of Project Management Training Project managers must develop essential skills in project management to achieve successful projects. These are acquired through formal training and on the job training... more
- Project Management and Using Leadership Skills The leadership development level of a project manager is important to a successful project. Effective leadership skills must be used as needed over the project lifecycle... more
- Project Evaluation and Selecting Project Metrics Project management metrics are important to the extent that they are used for project process improvement. The intent of project metrics is clear performance improvement... more
- An Example of Project Risk Management Planning Project risk management planning requires thinking through the risks and applying risk mitigation strategies. This example will show how to do that planning effectively... more
- Identify Project Risks Early and Plan Response Identify project risks early by looking at scope, people interaction and project approach. Assess the risk probability and potential impact to create a mitigation plan... more
- Project Failure a Common Business Problem Project failure is high whether it is measured by actual cost versus budget, the final delivery date versus original schedule or business requirements met by the solution... more
- Manage Project Requirements Analysis and Design Project management of software requirements must be managed to ensure right inputs result in the right outputs. Managers as well as the Project Manager are responsible... more
- Project Planning, Estimation and Time Allocation Project planning requires good project estimates for a realistic project schedule; that realism will be enhanced by factoring in realistic time allocation to the schedule... more
- Manual Software Testing Versus Automated Testing Software testing is a time consuming but essential task. As software becomes more complex so does the task of testing it. Automated testing is designed to make it easier... more
- Detailed Project Planning for Project Managers Detailed project planning is a necessary step for a successful project. It is important to capture all project tasks at a level of detail that avoids future surprises... more
- Project Report Format for Project Reporting Effective project status reporting is to communicate situation and progress to all key stakeholders. It is a simple way to give out key project messages and information... more
Project reporting is an essential task for any project and the most
frequent report is project status. The project manager will normally write
the report and deliver it as a written email update or presentation or
perhaps a combination of both. The information will be from the project
team and must be current and accurate. Consequently a project manager must
ensure that they are fully in touch with project status.
Purpose of Project Reporting
The project report format needs to address the key goals for project reporting:
- Current, accurate and complete information on project progress and the project's RAG [Red, Amber, Green] Status*
- Barriers to successful project delivery and what the project team is doing to remove those barriers or prevent them from having an impact
- Understanding of business impact and change
- What actions stakeholders need to take, if any
* RAG Status is a simple way to indicate the project status using a traffic light metaphor:
- Red = project is either very delayed or significantly over budget or both
- Amber = project is delayed or over budget or both
- Green = project is on track to deliver as scheduled and within budget tolerances [i.e. +/- 10%]
[The actual definitions should be agreed or well-defined beforehand and this RAG status is useful for dashboard style reporting of multiple projects, especially for senior management.]
Project Report Format Example for Project Status
The project status report should include current project status, key
risks, project metrics and work done, work in progress and work to be
started. It should be targeted at the intended audience and contain the
level of detail appropriate for that audience. The frequency, method of
update [written, verbal or both] and who gives the project report should
be defined beforehand. The following is an example the project report
format being used.
| Project Status |
Project is on track to successfully deliver as planned. Slight delay
to sign-off of test report but this will not impact final delivery. The
project will now move to the deployment phase and the relevant experts
have already started these tasks. Current risks are being managed and no
final risks have emerged to delay the Go Live date. |
| Key Risks |
|
| Project Metrics |
|
| Work Completed |
|
| Work in Progress |
|
| Work to be Started |
|
Project Report Format Example for Project Status
This audience requires the right level information, which needs to be succinct and focus on the few things that matter rather than everything that can be reported. In particular, the audience will want to know if the project is on track and whether it needs any help with any risks or issues.
In the final analysis the presentation, content and level of detail needs to be determined for the audiences. However, a project will want to "standardise" on a report format to simplify the production and delivery of project information and in particular to not have multiple reports, report formats and potentially giving different or confusing information dependent on which report is read. Following a single report format and adjusting the level of detail for the audience will help to achieve consistency and clarity for all concerned.
