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    • Introduction
    • The Stages of a Project
    • Chapter 1. Sponsorship and Leadership
    • Chapter 2. Defining the Objectives and Benefits
    • Chapter 3. Planning the Project
    • Chapter 4. Ensuring the Project is a Manageable Size
    • Chapter 5. Defining the Budget
    • Chapter 6. Managing the Risks
    • Chapter 7. Getting the Right Project Manager
    • Chapter 8. Getting Customer Representation
    • Chapter 9. Defining Roles & Responsibilities
    • Chapter 10. Getting the Right Resources
    • Chapter 11. Monitoring and Reporting Progress
    • Chapter 12. Communicating Progress
    • Chapter 13. Consultation and Leadership
    • Chapter 14. Getting Realistic User Requirements
    • Chapter 15. Defining Your Approach
    • Chapter 16. Conducting Structured Testing
    • Chapter 17. Creating an Implementation Plan
    • Chapter 18. Conducting a Post Implementation Review
    • Chapter 19. Realising the Benefits
    • Chapter 20. Learning the Lessons
    • Chapter 21. Celebrating Success
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  • 21 Ways to Excel at Project Management

Communicating Progress

Question 12: Are you distributing regular progress reports?

Good Practice: Progress reporting is an essential part of project management. Regular reports, from weekly to monthly, should be issued to the executive sponsor, business sponsor, budget holder, steering committee, project team, and user group and circulated to all other interested parties. The report should be as brief as possible and summarise key points.

The following is the recommended format for a maximum of two pages:

  1. Report Date
  2. Project Status
  3. Project Summary
  4. Key Issues
  5. Identified Risks
  6. Tasks and Next Steps
  7. Decisions Needed
  8. Key Future Dates and Milestones
  9. Budgeted Cost
  10. Spend to Date

This approach ensures that you are keeping people informed, involved and committed. Frequent communication is essential to the well-being of any project.

Regular progress reporting creates a valuable written record of the project’s life. You can use these reports later to look back and decide how to improve the running of future projects.

You might develop some metrics to measure project progress in other ways, such as Earned Value or Activity Float Statistics.

The timing of status updates depends on the size and complexity of your project. Some project managers find fortnightly or even monthly reporting adequate. A good approach is to provide weekly status updates over video conferencing and then follow up with an email. Follow a no-surprises approach to projects. Weekly status updates mean delivering any good or bad news within a few hours or days of its occurrence.

Video call with multiple business people on a laptop screen

Common Mistakes

  • Poor communication channels.
  • Lack of honest communication.
  • Not asking for help when it is needed.

Warning Sign: Unwillingness to communicate bad news.

Communicating Progress

Question 12: Are you distributing regular progress reports?

13
Consultation & Leadership

Question 13: Are you achieving the right balance of consultation and leadership?

14
Getting Realistic User Requirements

Question 14: Are the user requirements realistic?

15
Defining Your Approach

Question 15: Have you based your development on an iterative prototyping approach?

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