The purpose of a project status report is to communicate progress made on a project during a specific time period. Status reports are typically sent out daily, weekly, or monthly, depending on the audience.
The purpose of a project status report is to keep key stakeholders informed and aligned on what is happening and why. You can create this template by yourself to set up the metrics, customize it for your project and then invite your team members to collaborate and send a timely relevant report.
Project reports usually include:
- Basic information: name, lead PM, date.
- Progress: a short summary of progress on the project.
- Overall information: updates on project scope, changes in the budget, and schedule.
- Milestones updates: progress toward reaching milestones.
- Timelines: estimated timeline vs. the current timeline.
- Action items or project deliverables: updates on ongoing and upcoming tasks.
- Risks: unfinished tasks, deadlines and other problems.
Remember to create your daily or weekly project status reports within the context of your previous report.
When to use a project status report?
A weekly status report is a helpful way for teams to update project stakeholders on important details, such as the project schedule, overall status, budget, and deliverables. By providing this information on a regular basis, teams can show that they are proactive and focused on meeting project goals.
In addition, weekly reports can help stakeholders stay informed about the project's progress, which is important for effective budgeting and decision-making.
A status report can help avoid constant update meetings by summarizing project progress, detailing project health and risks, and offering solutions and action items.
