Communicating Progress
Question 12: Are you distributing regular progress reports?
Good Practice: Progress reporting is a key element of project management. Regular reports, anything from weekly to monthly, should be issued to the Project Sponsor, Budget Holder, Project Team, Steering Committee and circulated to all other interested parties. The report should be as brief as possible and summarise key points. The following simple format is recommended, with a maximum of 1-2 pages:
- Report Date
- Project Status
- Project Summary
- Key Issues
- Identified Risks
- Tasks and Next Steps
- Decisions Required
- Key Future Dates and Milestones
- Budgeted Amount
- Spend to Date
This ensures that people are kept informed, involved and committed. Regular communication is essential to the well being of any project.
Regular progress reporting creates a valuable written record of the projects life. This can be used later to look back and decide how the running of future projects can be improved.
Metrics can also be developed to measure project progress in other ways, such as earned value, 
or activity float statistics.
Common Mistakes
- Poor communication channels.
- Lack of honest communication.
- Not asking for help when it's needed.
Warning Sign! Unwillingness to communicate bad news.