Writing status reports may sound like a chore, but it’s a great opportunity to communicate with management. When writing a report, you should first briefly introduce the most important information, then list specific details such as the project budget and timeline, and then describe the achievements and challenges. The entire report should be concise and clear. If the report you give is short, organized, and rich in content, it will be appreciated by the leadership.
Outline the Report
Gather budget and scheduling information. On most projects, the budget and schedule are the most important parts of the work status report. Leaders generally want projects to be completed on schedule and within budget.
- Determine the overall project goal and then break it into smaller goals. For example, if the goal is to produce 1,000 T-shirts within 4 months, you need to give three monthly status reports. The core of each report should be whether 250 T-shirts have been produced that month. If you complete 300 T-shirts in the first month, you can write that progress is ahead of schedule in the report.
List major accomplishments. The purpose of writing a work status report is to let leaders quickly know which programs are running normally and which ones have problems. Prioritize accomplishments, especially important events, and list as many details as possible.
- If you are working on a team, talk to other team members about the progress of the project and include as many names as possible in the report.
- Try to use specific numbers rather than generalities.
Brainstorm solutions to problems. If you discover problems in the project, don’t try to hide them. Discuss them with your manager and propose solutions. List several options and let leaders choose their favorite.
- For example, if the project is ahead of schedule but the budget remains unchanged, you could suggest speeding up production, adding another employee, or increasing the budget.
Proposed Draft Report
The title should be concise. The report title or title should include the name and date of the project or work being reported. If you are responsible for several reports at the same time, use consistently formatted titles.
- For example, the title could be “August 2018 Parker Shipment Status.” Next month’s report title could be “September 2018 Parker Shipment Status.”
- Before formulating a question, first confirm whether the company has a specific question format for work status reports.
Start with an executive summary. Leaders are busy and may not have time to read the entire report. List the most important information in an executive summary at the beginning of the report so leadership can quickly understand the status of the project.
- For example, an executive summary for “Parker Shipment Status August 2018” might read: “Parker shipments are ahead of schedule, but are currently 30% complete and 50% budgeted. Speeding up production can reduce costs.”
Segmented report. Large blocks of text make it difficult to arouse reading interest, and it is difficult to obtain information quickly. Try to use short paragraphs to list the key points so that leaders can more easily obtain effective information.
- For example, achievements, challenges, and solutions can be presented in three paragraphs.
Complete the Final Draft
Adjust the report content according to the leader’s preferred style. Make sure your leaders’ concerns are front and center in the report. If you’re not sure about your leader’s preference, consider a sample work status report they’ve previously favored.
- For example, if your boss prefers a chronological report, you might start with a section titled “This Week’s Progress,” followed by a section titled “Next Steps.”
Use visual elements when necessary. Some leaders may prefer visual elements to understand project progress so they can assess project status more quickly. Add some visual elements if your lead asks for it or if you think they will add something.
- For example, you can put a green light next to your budget to indicate that your expenses are being controlled well. If progress is somewhat delayed, a yellow light can be marked on the time phase.
Proofread and edited reports. Don’t rely too much on spelling and grammar checkers in word processing applications. Try to keep sentences short and remove unnecessary and repetitive words.
- The content of the report should be concise and direct. Excessive use of jargon can make people think that you are trying to hide something or that you are unclear, so this should be avoided.
- Read the report aloud. If you feel that a certain sentence does not make sense when you read it, it may mean that the content of the text is not clear enough.
Submit reports promptly. Your boss may ask you to update the report regularly. The project you are responsible for may be part of many projects managed by the leader. Once there is a delay, it may cause delays in other projects.
- Communicate with the leader about the time for submitting the work status report. The general submission time depends on the length of the project. If it is an ongoing project, it is enough to submit a report every month. If it is a short-term project lasting only a few months, reports may be submitted weekly or bi-weekly.