The Occasional Progress Report

Occasional progress reports are typically used when a project is short in duration, and only one progress report will be needed. They are written halfway through the project's duration as a way to let management know how the project has progressed thus far, as well as any problems that have been encountered, or delays that can be expected.

The compartments for the occasional project report are described below.

The Summary Statement gives a quick description of how the project is progressing. It also tells if the project is on schedule and, if possible, a completion date. You should use information from the Work Done, Schedule, and Plans compartments to help craft the summary.

The Background compartment tells the people involved in the project. It also gives locations and dates. The questions who, where, why, and when should be answered.

The Progress compartment is made up of the information contained in its four sub-compartments.

Planned Work tells what work should be finished by the report date. You can refer to an attached schedule or plan.

Work Completed tells how much work has actually been completed. If a lot of numerical data has to be included, this data should be placed in an attachment. The purpose of an attachment is to keep the report text flowing.

Problems tells about problems that affect the work on the project. The problems should be described in detail. For example, a delay in receiving building supplies.

Adherence to Schedule tells if the project is on schedule, behind schedule, or ahead of schedule. Time should be in hours, days, or weeks.

The Plans compartment is short. It tells the plans and expectations for the rest of the duration of the project. It should note if the project will be completed on time, or a revised date of completion.

The Evidence compartment is optional. It should contain statistics, results of tests, specifications, lists, drawings, and anything else that would clutter the report. You can add more than one attachment; however, each attachment must be noted in the Background or Progress section of a report.

]]>