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Project Status Reports

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What Is a Project Status Report?

What Is the Purpose of a Project Status Report?

Types of Project Status Reports

Status Report vs. Progress Report

How to Write a Project Status Report

Project Status Report Template

Project Status Report Example

What Should Be Included in a Project Status Report?

What Is Project Reporting Software?

Benefits of Project Reporting Software

Must-Have Features of Project Reporting Software

How to Make Project Status Reports in ProjectManager

Best Practices for Presenting Project Status Reports

Other Types of Project Management Reports

Try Our Project Reporting Software for 30 Days

What Is a Project Status

Report?

A project status report is a document that

describes the progress of a project within a
specific time period and compares it against
the project plan. Project managers use status
reports to keep stakeholders informed of
progress and monitor costs, risks, time and
work. Project status reports allow project
managers and stakeholders to visualize
project data through charts and graphs.

Project status reports are taken repeatedly

throughout every phase of the project’s
execution as a means to maintain your
schedule and keep everyone on the same
page. The status report for a project generally
includes the following:

The work that’s been completed

The plan for what will follow

The summary of the project budget and

schedule

A list of action items

Any issues and risks, and what’s being

done about them

Related: 12 Essential Project Reports

The true value of a project status report lies

beyond its use as a communication channel. It
also provides a documented history of the
project. This gives you historical data, so the
next time you’re planning a similar project, you
can avoid any missteps or bottlenecks.

Because project status reports cover so many

topics, they were historically time-consuming
to create. Fortunately, modern project
management software like ProjectManager
expedites the all-important status reporting
process. Try our automated project reports
and simplify your project reporting.

Create a project status report with just a

few clicks with ProjectManager—Learn
more.

What Is the Purpose of a

Project Status Report?

There are several reasons why project

managers create status reports. Here are
some of the most important.

Help the project management team keep

track of costs, tasks and timelines

Compare the budget and time forecasts

with the actual costs and task duration

Improve communications across the

organization

Simplify the communication process

Keep stakeholders informed

Deliver key messages to the intended

target audience

Improve organizational support for your

projects or your team

If you’re reporting to stakeholders, you don’t

want to bog them down with unnecessary
details. Keep your status reporting
presentation light and to the point.

GET YOUR FREE

Status Report
Template
Use this free Status Report
Template for Excel to manage
your projects better.

Download Excel File

Types of Project Status

Reports

You might create daily, weekly, monthly or

quarterly status reports depending on your
project management requirements. Here’s a
quick overview of when it’s best to use each
of them.

Daily Status Report

A daily status report captures what each

member of the project team has worked on
over the course of that day. It not only
highlights what they’re working on currently
but addresses any issues that are preventing
them from completing their tasks. It includes a
summary of today’s work and what was
accomplished the day before.

Weekly Status Report

A weekly status report is like the daily status

report except it covers a full work week rather
than just one day. It includes the name of the
project, the date of the status report, a
summary outlining what work was done over
that time period and the action plan for what
to work on for the next week. There will also
be a section to list any challenges, risk and
mitigation plans to respond to them.

Monthly Status Report

A monthly status report provides a similar

update on a project or projects but over a
period of a month. It provides leadership with
relevant information to better manage the
project or projects. As with other frequencies,
the team reports on what they’ve
accomplished, the month is recapped and the
next month’s activities are outlined.

Quarterly Status Report

A quarterly status report is a short and easily

digestible snapshot of the project over a
period of time, in this case, four months or a
quarter of the year. It covers the same
territory as the other status reports and is
likely to include graphs and other visuals to
make all the data easier to grasp.

Status Report vs. Progress

Report

There are many different types of reports you

can generate when managing a project. Some
of them are more for the project manager and
others for the stakeholders, owners or clients
to keep them updated.

We’ve been talking about a status report, but

it shouldn’t be confused with a progress
report. While a status report has data on the
progress over the period of time which is
being reported, there’s a wealth of other
information beyond the mere progress of the
project.

A progress report, on the other hand, details

the specific tasks and milestones that have
been completed to show that the project is
making progress in sync with the project
schedule. Like a status report, it’s used to
keep managers and stakeholders updated.

How to Write a Project

Status Report

Writing a project status report is an essential

project management task. Whether you
generate one weekly, monthly or quarterly,
the steps are essentially the same. Here’s how
to write a project status report:

1. Determine the objective

2. Target your audience (Clients, team

members, sponsors, etc)

3. Choose the format and type

4. Collect your data

5. Structure the report

6. Make sure it’s clear

7. Edit draft

Project Status Report

Template

Because a project status report follows a

basic outline, it can be helpful to use a project
status report template. However, a project
status report template is only a static
document. Using project status reporting
software integrates with all your project
management tools for greater efficiency.

ProjectManager’s free status report

template for Excel—Download now.

Project Status Report

Example

To better understand the process described

above, let’s take a look at a project status
report example. For this simple example, we’ll
create a weekly status report for a home
construction project using our free project
status report template.

Imagine a construction contractor who is in

charge of building wall frames, installing the
insulation, electrical wiring, drywall and
interior painting of a brand-new house. A
status report example, following our free
status report template, would begin with basic
project planning information, such as the
project name, new house, reporting period
would be between Jan. 1-7, the report dated
Jan. 9, project manager Joe Johnson and
project sponsor Jack Dell.

Next is the summary, which highlights the key

accomplishments. In this case, it would be the
installation of wall frames. The section after
zooms into the progress of the project. It
starts with smaller action items that are
needed to build the wall frames.

These action steps also include the date

when they were done and a RAG status. That
is a red, amber and green indication of the
level of confidence and control over that part
of the project. The owner, or team member
who did the work is named and any
comments not already addressed can be
added.

Following that is a section on upcoming work.

Here you can add the action items related to
electrical wiring, such as marking locations for
cable boxes, electrical outputs and threading
cables through the wall frames. The section
following that will list project deliverables,
which in this case will be the wall frames,
which are the tangible output that’s been
completed during the reporting period.

The next section is on the project’s health. It

notes the budget spent over the period and
what percentage that is in terms of the overall
budget. There’s also an overview of the
project schedule, scope and quality control
and assurance.

The section after that lists the risk

management issues. It lists the risk, its
severity, response and owner. Maybe there’s a
possibility that the materials or equipment
required for electric wiring won’t be delivered
on time. This risk would likely be high in terms
of severity as it’ll impact the project schedule.
To mitigate this, another company may be
contacted to see if they’ll deliver on time.
You’ll also note who on the team is watching
over this risk.

You’ll conclude and add any recommendations

if needed. This will provide stakeholders with
a clear picture of the status of the project.

How Do You Ask for a Project Status

Report?

A project status update is usually distributed

on a regular schedule, but sometimes people
want to see a status report immediately. You
can ask for a project status update via email,
but you don’t want to come across as rude. To
request a project status report, you should
ask in a professional manner and place your
request through the proper channels.

A friendly reminder is never a bad idea, as it

maintains a connection, especially if you can
offer something of value in return. If you’re
using project management software, then you
can always get an instant status report by
checking the project dashboard that tracks
various metrics.

The ProjectManager dashboard delivers your

project status instantly. Pull from schedules,
budgets, resources and more without the
possibility of human error. Then, customize
your display and filter information to show
only what you want to see, such as remaining
resources, project health, tasks and costs. A
dashboard can be an excellent alternative to
the traditional project status report.

Get real-time project dashboards that

you can easily share with stakeholders—
Learn more.

What Should Be Included in

a Project Status Report?

The different elements of a project status

report organize the different parts into a
cohesive whole. The objective of a status
report, of course, is to keep stakeholders
informed and expose areas of the project that
need greater organizational support.

To better communicate these things, be sure

to touch on all the following when you
compose your project status report.

General Project Info

To start with, you’re going to need to just put

down the basics. What is the project name?
Who is the project manager? What is the
number of resources? All this information is
essential, if obvious, to track the paperwork.
Don’t assume your stakeholder is familiar with
all this information. It’s especially useful when
you’re doing historical research for future
projects. Roll it into your status report
template, if you have one.

General Status Info

Again, you’re going to want to stamp the

report with data that will distinguish it from
the other project management reports. So,
here you want to include what date the report
was generated, who the author is and so on.

Milestone Review

Milestones are the major phases of your

project. They’re a good way to break up the
larger project into smaller, more digestible
parts. The milestone review lets you note
where you are in terms of meeting those
milestones (against where you planned to be
at this point) in the project’s life cycle.

Project Summary

One of the main purposes of the status report

is to compare the project’s progress with the
project plan estimates. To do this, include a
short summary of the forecasted completion
date and costs of the project. This allows
project managers to control the project’s
execution and measure success. Be sure to
include the activities that are facing issues
and how those problems might impact the
project’s quality, resources, timeline and costs.
Explain what you’re planning to do to resolve
these issues and what the results will be once
you have fixed the problem.

Issues and Risks

Risks are all the internal and external factors

that are a threat to your project. They become
issues once they affect your project budget,
timeline or scope. List the issues that have
arisen over the course of the project to date.
What are they? How are you resolving them?
What impact they’ll have on the overall
project? Apply the same questions to the risks
that you’re aware of. Have they shown up? If
they have, what are you doing to get the
project back on track?

Project Metrics

It’s important to back your report up with hard

numbers to prove the statements you’re
making. You should have established the
metrics for status reporting during the project
planning phase.

It’s impossible to know if your project is

succeeding without measuring its
effectiveness. These metrics are a way to
show you’re on track and evaluate what, if
anything, needs attention.

What Is Project Reporting

Software?

Project reporting software is used to

automatically collect project data, analyze it,
and display the results to help project
managers make better decisions when
managing a project. The software gathers
information from different sources within the
project and converts them in spreadsheets,
graphs and charts.

Depending on the software, reporting data

can be filtered to highlight areas of the project
that you need to see at that time. Reports can
be generated on various aspects of the
project’s progress and performance, such as
time, cost, workload, etc.