PROJECT PROGRESS REPORT

 

Project name:                                                                                                                   

No:       

Project manager:                

Signed:

Date:

 

Project team

Name

Department

Name

Department

 

 

 

 

 

Project objectives

Technical

 

Business

 

 

Target product characteristics

WAN

 

Security

 

 

Table of Critical Milestones

Milestone

Agreed plan date

Current estimated date

Comment

Source of data

e.g.

Rev 1

e.g.

Rev 1/2

 

Initiation

1/8/07

1/9/07

 

Planning

 

 

 

Execution

 

 

 

Close

 

 

 

Bold    indicates delay from revision 1.

 

Progress and key issues

            1.

            2.

 

Action required by the PMO

            1. Resolve resource issues.

            2. Potential budget extensions.

            3. Key milestone changes etc.

Note    In order for the Project Management Office (PMO) to approve anything they must be provided with the necessary data ahead of the meeting to aid the decision making process. Also, the only action that might arise is the need to make recommendations to the Executive Management Board (EMB). Some indication of the decision urgency and the project implications should be indicated.

 

Reports issued this month

Number

Author

Title

 

 

 

 

 

 

All templates may require adjustment to meet specific project and company needs.

Where necessary make the document available electronically to all stakeholders centrally.

 

Template comment

 

The ‘project progress report’ is designed to give concise details to a senior management review committee. This example is from a research environment in which the Project Management Office (PMO) acts as the reviewing body on a monthly basis.

 

Project Name

Many projects are given a name that is easily recognisable but may cause confusion in some areas.

 

No.

Record the project code number.

 

Project manager         signed                         date

Record the Project Manager’s name, his signature (signifying his agreement to the report contents) and the date of signing.

 

Project objectives

These should be added to remind everyone what they are who are not familiar with the project on a daily basis. It also provides an opportunity to challenge them for any reason. If may be useful to distinguish the project objectives in some manner e.g. as in this case for ‘technical’ or ‘commercial’ objectives. These are the overall project objectives which would of course be in recorded within the Project Notebook.

 

Target product characteristics

Many ‘products’ of a project must meet specific performance criteria. These targets are the desired characteristics or profile of the product. This is often known as the TAP or Target Acceptable Profile. In this case we are recording the physical characteristics (pharmaceutical) and its performance in man (clinical).

It is often the case that if the TAPs are not met then they must meet a reduced set called MAPs (Minimum Acceptable Profile). In theory, if these are not met then the project has failed and must either be ended of modified in some manner (the latter shouldn’t be an option if the project has been designed properly).

 

Table of critical milestones

This highlights the key milestones from the project schedule. Senior management will only be concerned about the major milestones of the project and not the detail. It doesn’t really matter to the Project Manager how underlying project tasks are managed, (to a certain degree), provided the milestones arrive on time. The milestones reported in the progress report should be agreed with senior management.

 

The table identifies previous agreed dates of milestones and indicates any potential movement (current estimated dates), with additional comment. In theory, there should never be any movement from the baseline schedule. However, the world isn’t perfect. Senior management will need to agree the need to move milestones having discussed the implications.

 

 

Progress and key issues

Record key areas of progress here. Remember, if milestones are on track then progress is OK, so don’t go overboard here. Also raise any associated issues on which you need senior management input.

 

Action required from PMO

It is very useful if the Project Manager decides what is expected of the senior management team e.g. the project needs another $10,000 from contingency for equipment or there is a need for temporary labor. This will save a lot of time. In addition, make sure the senior management team are provided with any data required to make the appropriate decision.

 

Reports issued this month

These encourage conversion of activity into reports and can be a useful reference for the meeting. It is good practice to make sure all pieces of work are converted into reports so that all concerned have access to the data.