Project Management Reporting

Rating

Project Management Reporting

🔥 Project management involves many different layers and activities. Hence, a project cannot be carried up to the completion stage without the preparation of various reports. Just like in in accounting, where financial statements are prepared at regular intervals to keep the shareholders and stakeholders informed on the progress of the company, project managers also need to provide reports at intervals to update their relevant stakeholders on the progress of the project.

What is a Project Management Report? Definition

A PM report is a document that is detailed and often organised to provide information on the project's progress, performance as well as plans for the project’s future (Project Management Institute, 2018). These reports are issued out throughout the project’s life cycle.

Types of Project Management Reports

Depending on the project size and complexity, PM reports can be submitted weekly, monthly or quarterly. As mentioned earlier, project management reports come in different types or forms. Here are some typical ones:

1. PROJECT STATUS REPORT
   A status report is a snapshot of a project at a specific point in time, providing complete and timely updates about individual tasks, progress and the project's overall health (Meredith et al 2021).
2. PROJECT BASELINE REPORT
   According to Richman L. (2011) this type compares the current project timeline with the original proposed timeline, allowing the project manager and the stakeholders to learn from experience as they check their progress or plan future projects.
3. TIME MANAGEMENT REPORT OF A PROJECT
   This report contains every detail about the time resources were spent on the project. It can be used to assess the amount of time each task consumes and the time used to schedule as well as make adjustments.
4. PROJECT RISK ASSESSMENT REPORT
   It prioritizes predicted and current risks that the project will be encountering. Therefore, project managers can easily mitigate the risk before it sabotages the project's success.
5. FINANCIAL REPORT OF A PROJECT
   It compares initial estimates of expenses, budgets, or projected profits to the actual numbers required or to the amount that has been injected into the project.

Clearly, PM reporting does not just involve a single report, but is rather a collection of different types of reports that cater for a specific part in the project. All of these reports taken together make up the overall PM reports. When combined together, they help in planning, monitoring and executing a project successfully.

Steps in Project Management Reporting

1. General Project Details – Project name, project manager, main project members, etc.
2. Executive Summary – Summarizes the project's purpose, scope, activities, timelines and milestones, anticipated obstacles and more.
3. Project Scope and Deliverables – Detailed list of project activities and tasks.
4. Project Timelines and Milestones – The expected dates to start and finish certain tasks.
5. Project Resources – The tools, team members and other resources needed to achieve the project goals.
6. Risk and Bottlenecks – Outline any potential risks or unexpected setbacks such as scope creep, delays, technical failure, equipment breakdown, or insufficient funding.
7. Quality Assurance – The actions that have been implemented to ensure the project results meet the expected requirements and standards.
9. Financial Information – Details about the projected or allotted budget and how funds are spent.
10. Overall Project Health and Well-being

Benefits of preparing project management reports

1. Keeping track of the progress of the project
   This is one the main aims of preparing project management reports. They are an effective way of keeping track of the progress of the project. They enable managers and stakeholders to create realistic schedules and measure them against the original project plan.
2. Attracting financial assistance from investors
   Keeping records of previous project’s reports or the current planned reports may come in handy when in need of financial assistance. These reports can be provided as proof that you have successfully carried out and completed projects before or your projected plans will show the investors your capability of efficiently managing the funds. Thus, investors will be more attracted to your experience of carrying out projects. Numerous studies over the years have shown that companies who plan are more likely to get funding, be successful, and reach their goals than those who don't (Meredith et al, 2021).
3. Locating and mitigating risks
   Since the reports provide detailed information about the project, it can be much easy to identify risks. It can help in identifying risks or confusion that do not align with the original plan. Additionally, a project report eliminates the risks by taking connective action so as to avoid any downfall regarding the project.
4. Monitor the performance of the project’s team members
   Since reports can be made monthly or weekly, the manager can easily identify the team members that may not be effectively and efficiently working to meet the deadlines of the assigned tasks. Hence, the reports make it easier to monitor the team members' performance, quality of work and the progression, stagnation, or regression of certain aspects.

Regardless of how good project management reports may be for the managers and stakeholders, we have to consider the potential downsides of these reports. For instance, Meredith (2021) outlined the fact that preparing the reports can be time-consuming. Also PM reports can be difficult to interpret, especially for stakeholders who are not familiar with project. Meredith (2021) also stated that the reports can be biased (window dressing), so as to try and lure investors to inject funds into the project.
Although project management reports have their downsides to the external stakeholders mostly, they are an essential tool to be implemented in project management, Each type of report can assist the project manager greatly in reaching certain project goals in order to complete the project in an efficiently and effectively way.

⇨ Kindly put forward your experiences and views with respect to Project Management Reports. Thank you beforehand.

References
1.Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Mantel, S. J. (2021). Project Management: A Managerial Approach. United Kingdom: Wiley and Sons.
2.Maylor, H. (2010). Project Management. Pearson.
3.Project Management Institute. (2018). Project Reporting: A Guide to Effective Communication.
4.Richman, Larry. (2011). Successful Project Management: EBook Edition. United States: AMACOM.

		Comments by date▼ Comments by rating Rating
		2 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Project Reporting for an Innovative Project Suppose the project is one which no one has attempted before... creating something new out of existing resources. in such cases, is the same reporting process applicable?...

		1 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Simple Project Reporting @Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar: If it is a really small project, a simple way of reporting will do, with less separate types. Also the steps are probably applied less extensive and thorough. But apart ...

		1 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Agile Way of Reporting is the Only Way to Go in Innovative Projects @Jaap de Jonge: Since project is innovative we don't know the scope as it's evolving day after the day by receiving the feedback on what can be done and what cannot be done. Expected start date and en...

		1 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Reporting in Agile Projects I think all of the 10 "steps" (subjects) also apply to agile projects. You should not consider them cast in stone, you probably need to update them somewhat more frequently, and the reports might have...

		1 Maurice Hogarth Consultant, United Kingdom
	Project Reporting Framework As a general set of comments on (project) reporting: Projects, by definition, are activities that have not been done before, i.e. they are always innovative. Projects, of their nature, have a stat...