Project delivery
Project status report
One page with decisions needed first, then where the project stands against the baseline in numbers, what changed since last time, and the top three or four risks with owners and dates.
What it is
A status report exists to get decisions made and to record what was known when. Most of them do neither, because they lead with activity and bury the decision somewhere on the second page that nobody senior reaches.
Decisions come first here for that reason. Each one names what has to be decided, who decides it and by when, and what happens if it is not decided. A report with a permanently empty decision section is either not being read or not being written honestly.
The status colour needs a sentence. Amber on its own is a mood, and amber because cost performance has been flat at 0.85 for six periods with the forecast exceeding budget is something somebody can act on. A colour with no sentence attached is the most common way a report manages to say nothing at length.
When to use it
- Reports are being sent and decisions are still not being made.
- A sponsor asks in month eleven why nobody flagged something, and there is no record.
- The report runs to four pages and the sections at the back are never discussed.
- A hybrid project is being reported as a single percentage that means nothing.
What is in it
- Decisions needed
- Where the project stands
- What changed since last time
- Top risks and issues
- Coming up
- How to use this
The template
Project. Settlement rebuild · Period. Week ending 6 February · Reported by. Name
Overall. Amber, and the reason in one line rather than a colour on its own
Decisions needed
First, because it is the only section that requires the reader to do something. Each one names the decision, who has to make it, and by when.
| Decision | Who decides | By when | If it is not decided |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approve CR-014 reduced scope option | Sponsor | 13 February | Certification slot on 6 March is at risk |
| Confirm the November regulatory date is immovable | Regulatory affairs | 20 February | Phase two planning cannot be sequenced |
Where there are none, say so in one line. A report with a permanently empty decision section is either not being read or not being written honestly.
Where the project stands
Three or four lines against the baseline. Numbers rather than adjectives.
Month 7 of 12. Earned value 360000 against a planned 405000, actual cost 424000. CPI 0.85 and SPI 0.89, both flat for six periods, forecasting completion around 707000 against a 600000 budget. First region remains on track for July.
For adaptive components, report in their own terms rather than converting them. Delivery running at an average of 26 points a cycle over the last five, remaining scope 240 points, forecasting 16 to 26 weeks. Combining the two into a single percentage produces a number that does not correspond to anything.
What changed since last time
Only what changed. A reader who saw the last report should be able to read this section alone.
- Environment availability resolved. Dedicated slot agreed from 17 February
- Requirements readiness standard agreed with the analytics team, effective this week
- Steel delivery risk confirmed by the supplier as not materialising
- CR-014 raised and assessed, recommendation attached
Top risks and issues
Three or four, with an owner and a date each. The full set lives in the RAID log and does not belong here.
| Ref | What | Owner | Next action | By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-01 | Sole controls engineer leaves in March with no handover | K. Osei | Second engineer paired from 10 February | 28 February |
| D-01 | Acquirer certification lead time sits on the critical path | S. Baptiste | Slot booked against forecast, lead time confirmed in writing | 6 March |
| I-03 | Cost performance flat at 0.85 for six periods | Project manager | Options paper for the steering group on scope, budget or date | 24 February |
Coming up
What the next period holds, at the level a reader outside the team can follow. Four lines at most.
How to use this
One page. The constraint is the design. A report that runs to four pages is read by nobody senior enough to act on it, and the sections that get skipped are the ones at the back, which is why decisions come first here.
Say what the colour means. Amber on its own is a mood. Amber because cost performance has been flat at 0.85 for six periods and the forecast exceeds the budget is a statement somebody can act on. A status colour with no sentence attached is the most common way a report manages to say nothing at length.
Do not report activity. Lists of what people did last week fill space and answer no question anybody asked. What changed, where we stand against the plan, and what is needed from the reader is the whole of it.
Write it once for one audience. A single report sent to everybody is simultaneously too much and not enough, which is what produces the complaint that senior stakeholders were unaware of key decisions while others said the volume was excessive. The communications plan is where the different audiences and formats get decided.
Keep the old ones. A run of status reports is the record of when something was known, which matters when somebody asks in month eleven why nobody flagged it.
Questions people ask
- Should predictive and adaptive components be combined into one figure?
- No. They measure different things, and translating one into the other produces a number that does not correspond to anything. Report each in its own terms with one view of milestones, risks and spend above them.
- How often?
- Match it to how fast decisions are needed rather than to a habit. A fortnightly report on a project where nothing changes in a fortnight is padding, and a monthly one on a project delivering weekly is always out of date.
- Why keep old reports?
- Because the run of them is the record of when something was known, which is exactly what gets questioned when a project goes wrong.