The overall information for the project will likely be broad. Find out what smaller things must be done to achieve the ultimate goal. For example, if your goal is to produce 1,000 T-shirts and your budget is $500, you need to know what materials are needed to produce the shirts and whether they are already on hand or must be ordered.
For example, if your goal is to produce 1,000 T-shirts in 4 months, you can break that goal down into smaller goals of 250 T-shirts each month. If the team produced 300 T-shirts in the first month, you could report that you were ahead of schedule.
If you’re working on a team, talk to other team members about what’s going well with the project. Include as many names in your report as possible. Use specific numbers where you can, as opposed to generalities.
For example, if your project is ahead of schedule but behind on budget, you might suggest speeding up production, adding another employee to the project, or boosting the budget.
For example, suppose you produced 250 shirts in 28 days. You might predict that the next 250 shirts will be completed in 28 days from the date of the status report.
For example, you might write “The project is ahead of schedule, in large part, thanks to the diligent efforts of Sally Sunshine. Sally worked overtime 3 days last week. "
If there’s not a specific template, there may be one you can use in your word processing app. You can also find sample templates online by searching for “status report template. " Make sure any template you download will actually work for your project. You may want to let a supervisor look at it first.
For example, your heading might be “August 2018 Parker Shipment Status. " A report for the next month would be “September 2018 Parker Shipment Status. "
For example, the executive summary for “August 2018 Parker Shipment Status” might be: “The Parker Shipment is ahead of schedule. However, we’ve used 50% of our budget with only 30% of the total shipment produced. Speeding up production may help decrease costs. "
For example, you might have one section for accomplishments, another for challenges, and a third for solutions.
If you’re working on an ongoing project, you can create a “template” for your status reports that you’ll use each time. This will be much easier for your manager, because they’ll know exactly where to find the information they need in each report. If you need to update figures included in the report before you turn it in, leave yourself reminders to do so.
For example, if you know your manager likes to read a chronological story, you might start with a section headed “This Week’s Progress,” followed by another labeled “What’s Next. " Try to speak to your manager specifically in the status report. [16] X Expert Source Amber Rosenberg, PCCPacific Life Coach Expert Interview. 8 March 2022.
For example, if you’re sending a digital file using email, you might want to make sure any visual elements can be viewed on a mobile device.
Your writing should be concise and direct. Avoid using a lot of jargon, which can make it seem like you’re trying to hide something or don’t know what you’re talking about. Read your report aloud. If you stumble over a sentence, that’s a clue that your writing is not as clear as it could be.
For example, you might put a green traffic light next to the budget, to indicate that costs were being managed well. If you’re a little behind schedule, you would put a yellow light next to the scheduling section.
