Stakeholders are concerned with the progress of the project because they have a vested interest in its success. They want to stay in consistent communication with you and get reports on how the project is progressing over regular periods of time.
The way for a project manager to keep stakeholders updated is through reporting, specifically with a progress report. A project progress report sounds straightforward—it’s a report on the project’s progress. But how it’s structured makes or breaks a progress report.
What Is a Progress Report?
A progress report communicates what has been happening in the project, over a set period of time, to stakeholders. It shows whether the project is on schedule, and if not, the report is used to start a discussion on how to adjust the budget and project resources to bring it back on track.
Therefore, you can say that the purpose of a progress report is to persuade stakeholders that the project is sound and moving forward as expected. It does this by showing the work-in-progress, which allows stakeholders the opportunity to make any change requests.
These suggestions can then be managed and worked out to prevent any negative impact on the project scope. Project managers can also use progress reports as a means to address issues that they’re having and, in doing so, set more realistic expectations for the stakeholders.
Progress Report vs. Status Report
What’s the difference between a progress report and a status report, given that they are both communication tools and provide stakeholders with vital information on the project? Both progress reports and status reports summarize where the project is at in terms progress, costs, issues and any other information that is helpful to stakeholders.
Related: Free Project Report Templates
There is one key difference, however. A progress report is a picture of the project over a course of a specific period of time, while a status report only captures the moment in which it was initiated. The progress report offers a larger amount of data, while the status report shows data from a moment in time without the larger context.
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Progress Report Template
Use this free Progress Report Template for Word to manage your projects better.
Types of Progress Report
A progress report is a very versatile document that can be used to monitor the progress of a project, or simpler sets of tasks, procedures or workflows. Here are some of the most common types of progress reports.
- Project progress report
- Work progress report
- Daily progress report
- Weekly progress report
- Monthly progress report
- Quarterly progress report
- Annual progress report
What Should Be Included in a Project Progress Report?
A progress report can be one page or several, depending on the depth of detail you wish to convey. They can be delivered as a memo, in letter form, or as a formal report when presented to stakeholders.
Whichever progress report format you choose, stakeholders will want to see where the project is and where it’s going. Therefore, you should include a list of tasks, milestones and whatever progress was made. This leads to the larger goals of the project and what has been accomplished in terms of its objectives.
Let’s review some of the key elements that should be included in a progress report for monitoring projects or simply the performance of a team when executing business processes or tasks.
Executive Summary
The executive summary is a short but informative section that overviews the entire progress report. It highlights challenges, key accomplishments and the current project status. The goal is to provide stakeholders with a high-level understanding without them having to read the full document. Ideally, the document will include recent advancements, significant issues that could impact the budget or timelines and the overall alignment with project goals.
Project Objectives and Goals
The next section that follows in the progress report format is objectives and goals. Here, outline the benchmarks to measure success; the objectives define what the project wants to achieve while the goals are the broader visions that guide the purpose of the project. The objectives and goals are also helpful in identifying shifts in priorities or unexpected challenges that shifted the project’s focus.
Scope of Work
In a sample of a progress report, you’ll likely see the scope of work. Here, you’ll see the project boundaries including the expected tasks and outcomes. This helps maintain clarity on deliverables, timeframes and resources. If there’s a change in scope, be sure to reflect on them in this section to show any approved adjustments and how the impact the original scope.
Tasks Overview
The tasks overview section is an update on the progress of specific tasks such as what tasks are completed, delayed or ongoing. Each task status shows the current work pace to help keep stakeholders informed on the immediate progress. If there are any dependencies between tasks or blockers that are preventing completion, note them in the tasks overview section.
Project Milestones
Project milestones in a project progress report template show key checkpoints in the project’s lifecycle. This is the section to document the progress for each, including the anticipated completion and the associated dates. Milestones are the major project phases or significant events including the completion of planning or any critical approvals. Project managers should track milestones to gauge the pace of the project and any risks that could impact the timeline.
Project Deliverables
Project deliverables include tangible project outcomes or products. It outlines what has been delivered and what is still outstanding. All deliverables need to align with the project’s objectives as they act as indicators of progress, especially to stakeholders. The project deliverables section helps track the timeline and the quality of work.
Change Log
In the change log section, record any changes to the project’s budget, scope, resources or timeline to offer transparency. There should be an individual log for each detailed change, the reason behind it, the approval process and any implications on project outcomes. Having a thorough change log helps inform stakeholders of adjustments and provides accountability for project decisions.
Budget Status
The budget status is a financial overview that helps compare planned versus actual spending, tracking cost variances along the way.
Progress Report Sample
The best way to understand how a progress report works is to analyze a progress report example.
Executive Summary
The executive summary is an update on the progress made during the Oakwood Apartments construction project kickoff. Key accomplishments include finishing the foundation and starting framing on two of the three buildings. Challenges include delays in delivering the materials for plumbing and electrical systems which could impact future milestones. The team continues to focus on staying aligned with the timeline and coordinating next steps.
Project Objectives and Goals
The project’s objective is to build a residential complex with three apartment buildings totaling 90 units by the end of Q3 2025. The goal is to achieve milestones within budget and on schedule to result in high-quality builds that support durability and keep residents happy.
Scope of Work
The scope of work includes preparing the site, foundation work, structural framing, interior and exterior finishes and landscaping. It tracks progress in these areas in addition to any scope changes. This week, there aren’t new scope adjustments.
Tasks Overview
The following is a tasks overview chart to help better understand the breakdown of project tasks and what the status of each is.
Project Milestones
The project milestone chart outlines the milestones in the project, the planned date and the status of each. There is also room to leave any comments on each milestone.
Project Deliverables
In the project deliverables table, there is information about each deliverable, the status of each deliverable as well as the due date. Any comments can be left as well.
Change Log
The change log in the sample progress report is an opportunity to outline any project change requests accompanied by the date, description, approver and how it will impact the project.
Budget Status
The budget status a high-level overview of the project budget in various categories of the project costs. This include site preparation, foundation, framing, roofing, etc. It includes how much was spent, the remaining budget and any comments for context.
RAID Log
RAID stands for risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies. There is a description for each as well as a status and the action required.
Progress Report Template
If you’re running a project, you’ll have to produce a progress report periodically over its life cycle. To save time, it’s good to use a progress report template. ProjectManager has dozens of free project management-related templates on our site, including a free progress report template.
How to Write a Progress Report
Now let’s go through each of the steps that you’ll need to follow to make a progress report for a project, process or workflow.
Start with Identifying Info
Whether you’re using our template or creating one from scratch, your progress report should begin with project top-line information. From there, it goes into a summary of the project. Our template breaks those high-level topics into five: status, scope, schedule, cost and risk.
Summarize the Data
The summary is where you can compare the status of the previous progress report to the current one. This provides a clear indication that the project is moving forward as planned. Beyond that, there’s room for a summary to explore the topic in greater detail.
Dive Into Finer Details
Once you’ve identified the project and summarized its overall status, you can then go into greater detail about each topic. For example, listing tasks and their progress, going into any issues that might have arisen and looking into your budget allocation.
List Your Accomplishments
On our free progress report template, we end with an accomplishments box to capture any that were not collected above. Finally, there’s an expected accomplishment box, which is a way to set expectations for the next progress report.
Best Practicing When Making a Progress Report
When you’re writing your progress report, one way to make sure it’s effective is to think your stakeholders’ perspectives as you write it. You want to relay what happened over the period covered if anything blocked that progress and what is coming next.
Don’t Be Generic
Stakeholders want specifics. They don’t want you to go into details about how you accomplished something, but they want to know what was accomplished. They want metrics, not narratives. Your answers should be meaningful and avoid unnecessary details.
Know the Frequency
That is, if you’re working on a very long project, stakeholders might want a progress report delivered to them weekly or even daily. Find this out first and deliver your progress reports when the stakeholders expect them.
Break It Up
It’s a good idea to break your progress report into sections. This makes the report more readable. Having a section headlining informs the reader what to expect and helps guide them through the document.
Write Well
Use clear and simple language; avoid jargon that can confuse the reader. You want them to know what you’re saying immediately and not have to struggle through it (or worse, misunderstand) what you’re trying to convey.
Use Software
Having project management software can facilitate the reporting process. Depending on what tool you’re using, you can get real-time data and easy delivery to your stakeholders. This saves time and presents better data.
How ProjectManager Lets You Create Progress Reports
ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that organizes your tasks, teams and projects. Our features help you plan, monitor and report on every aspect of the project. Our cloud-based tool means that you’re getting real-time data to create more accurate and timely reports.
Stakeholders want to see the big picture and our one-click reporting tools make it easy to get them just the data they want to see. Our reporting feature lets you make instant reports on task, time, costs, timesheets, project variance and more. Plus, sharing it with stakeholders is easy!
To get an instant status report, use our dashboard feature. The real-time dashboard is constantly collecting data from your team and automatically calculating it to display in easy-to-read project metrics that show the percentage complete on tasks, how much time is left, team workload and more.
ProjectManager is a cloud-based tool that delivers real-time data to help you make better decisions. Project managers get transparency into every aspect of the project’s life cycle and teams are placed on a collaborative platform that fosters better work. See why organizations from NASA to Nestle use our tool and take this free 30-day trial today.
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