Effective project management means effective project reporting
It’s happened to everyone. It’s the middle of a busy month and a stakeholder asks for an urgent update on the project.
You immediately begin frantically rooting through emails and pinging coworkers for updates, trying to figure out who’s working on what. You frantically scroll through four or five documents, each made by a different person. No matter what, you’re stressed and spending time on collecting information, rather than working on the tasks that matter.
Delays like that are one of the reasons that 35% of projects aren’t completed on time, according to the Harvard Business Review. But with a good project management reporting system, you can streamline the process of collecting information about the progress of your projects. A well-written project report presents key information in an organized way, so stakeholders can easily understand how a project is going. That means fewer meetings and emails, but more information and communication — and a whole lot less stress.
What’s a project report?
Project reports are updates on the status of an ongoing project. They include essential information about the project’s objectives and progress, and summarize important data about budget, workflow and timelines. A good project report preemptively answers stakeholder questions and enables them to get a good grasp on how the project is progressing.
Typical things included in a project report
A project report is way more than a simple update on a project. An effective project reporting process involves keeping stakeholders attuned to the details of the project, its progress, and the key KPIs you’re evaluating along the way.
Checking off these boxes will turn a casual briefing into a reliable, professional, and readable piece of reporting. Plus, these steps make the report easier to produce, providing you with a basic structure for your own writing and data. And for less technical users, a good project report will provide them with exactly the right amount of information that’s relevant to their work, which is an added bonus in fields like construction and manufacturing.
Project information
Every report should include a summary of your project. This includes the project’s name (as well as an ID number or other identifying information), the name of the project manager, sponsor, client, the project’s start date and projected end date, relevant details from the original project plan, and the date on which the report is being published.
Remember to pick an appropriate title for the report — something that tells readers what kind of information they can expect to find inside. A report that’s just titled “Important Project Report” doesn’t tell the reader anything about what they’ll read in the document. A better title would include the kind of report and the project name, such as “2024 Budget Report: ACME Redesign.”
KPIs
Depending on the type of report you’re writing, the KPIs you choose to include might concern timeliness, project budget, quality, and/or workflow effectiveness. It’s important to keep your report’s overall goals in mind and pick metrics that are relevant to those project goals. For example, in a budget report, you might want to include budget variance as one of your KPIs, but leave out schedule compliance.
One tip to make this section stress-free? Track project information on a regular basis using a management platform. That way, you can easily extract raw data to calculate KPIs.
Current progress (breakdown of data)
When reporting on your progress, take the data you calculated in your selected KPIs and break it down so that it makes sense to the project stakeholders. Analyze your data carefully to explain whether the project timelines, budgets, overall quality, and workflows are on track.
There’s a chance that this might surface potential roadblocks that could result in project delays or issues in executing key project milestones effectively and on time. If these crop up, take advantage of the opportunity to pinpoint potential fixes.
What are the types of project management reports?
There are tons of different project management report types, and each has its own specific uses. When you’re choosing the kind of report you’re going to produce, think about your audience, the type of project in question, and the current state of that project.
We’ve highlighted a few of the most important types of project reports below. But there are dozens of other kinds of reports out there, including Gap Analysis Reports, Workload Reports, and Closure Reports.
Status Report
Resource Report
Resource reports detail the allocation/utilization of resources by tracking where tasks are allocated and how many team members are assigned to them. They help ensure that each team member has the time and resources to complete important tasks.
Budget Report
Budget reports note spending on a project over a given period so you can compare that spending to the overall budget. These are used for effective budget management by determining whether a project is on track with spending. (more Imagery)
Risk Report
The project risk report summarizes high and low-level risks to the project. It’s often written after an assessment of potential risks highlighted in a risk review meeting.
How often should project managers produce reports?
There’s no single timeline for producing top-tier project management reports. Your ideal schedule will depend on the project at hand. Shorter, fast-paced projects might require weekly reporting, while longer ones could be managed with biweekly or monthly reporting.
When you’re considering the best schedule for project management reports, think about what your stakeholders will need to stay in the loop while minimizing unnecessary meetings and check-ins.
Tips for effective project reporting
Whether you’re writing your first project report or are a seasoned pro looking to sharpen your skills, here’s a few tips that can help make your reporting shine.
Collect data ahead of time
The work of project reporting starts before you even begin to write a report. If you put in the effort to track throughout the management process, writing your report will be way easier.
Using project management software software for data management can help you keep detailed records of your project’s progress. Then it’s a quick step to extract these records and plug them into your report.
Keep your audience in mind
It sounds so simple, but it’s important: at every step, think about who you’re writing for, and what kind of information your stakeholders or board will want to see.
How much detail will your audience want? Do they want a high-level summary or should you go deep on key data points? Ask yourself these questions while you write, and your report will be better for it.
Decide on objectives
When you’re managing a project, you should know your goals before you begin. So when you’re preparing a project report, it’s helpful to be clear on the objectives you want to communicate. Before you begin, decide what the overall aim of the report is. Then, in each section, make sure the information you include helps work toward that objective.
Outline your report
Writing a project report is easier with a clear structure. Plus, that structure makes your report easier on the reader.
Start with a summary, where readers can quickly get the information they need. Then get more detailed with a full introduction to the project, followed by a body section with data and KPIs. End with a conclusion breaking down your data and summing up your progress.
How Quickbase can help with project reporting
Project reporting can seem daunting, but the right project management reporting tools can take care of the most tedious parts for you. Quickbase provides resources to help you through every step of project reporting.
With Quickbase, you can easily generate personalized project reports. You can also manage organizational tasks throughout your project’s lifespan, which will make reporting much easier. Use Quickbase to track budgets and costs with tools like expense tracking and budget controls — or use it to manage documents with efficient, secure storage.
Takeaways
Project reporting is one of the best ways to track your progress throughout a project and keep stakeholders in the loop.
If you aren’t sure where to begin, don’t stress! You can start with a few basic steps:
Organize your data using a management system (check out Quickbase’s budget and document storage platforms if you’re looking for a good option).
Decide which type of report you want to produce. Keep your audience and objectives in mind.
Select a few KPIs that suit the type of report you’re writing and the needs of your audience.
That’s it! If you keep your data organized and use the above templates, you’ll be ready to produce great reports for current and future projects. You’ll end up saving time, improving communication, reducing stress, and having more successful projects overall. Your stakeholders (and your coworkers) will thank you.
