Dashboard
What are Status Reports and Why you Need to Write One?
A status report is basically an update on a project's status by a team member.
Arjun Rajkumar
October 10, 2024
An effective status report should allow the reader to quickly get a high level overview of the project from reading the report. It should cover what's accomplished, what is upcoming, and address any problems/blockers faced by the user. Aside from just using these status reports to identify blockers, it allows managers to get regular progress updates on the project.
Different types of status reports:
1. Daily status report
The daily status report or the End of Day (EOD) status report is usually submitted at the end of the day by all people who are working on the project. It covers a high level overview of the work that got done in the day, and any blockers/problems that need to be addressed. These can be done in person in a meeting, or in a more effective way, asynchronous progress updates over email. They are really useful as they allow you to quickly see if there are any problems/blockers that could derail the project, and to get an overview of how things are progressing.
2. Weekly status report
Personally, I find the weekly status reports more useful than the daily status reports. There is more flexibility in when you send the weekly report out, to what questions to include as compared to the daily report. The weekly status reports cover what actually got done in the week, any problems/blockers, and what the upcoming work is in the next week. There is more flexibility with the kind of questions you can ask in a weekly report, and it can include any of the following: Sending a question like 'What are your priorities for this week?' at the beginning of the week, to 'How is your week going so far?' in the middle of the week, to 'What did you accomplish this week?' at the end of the week. By reading all these questions together, you can get a really good idea on the work done, missed opportunities, what/who in your team needs improvement etc.
3. Monthly status report
Similar to the weekly status reports, the monthly status reports cover a broad overview on the work that was done the previous month, the major accomplishments, blockers/problems the team is currently facing, and what is on the table for the current month. There is a lot more flexibility, and the exact team questions you want to ask will depend on your own team goals, and what you want to track.
Different types of status reports:
1. Daily status report
The daily status report or the End of Day (EOD) status report is usually submitted at the end of the day by all people who are working on the project. It covers a high level overview of the work that got done in the day, and any blockers/problems that need to be addressed. These can be done in person in a meeting, or in a more effective way, asynchronous progress updates over email. They are really useful as they allow you to quickly see if there are any problems/blockers that could derail the project, and to get an overview of how things are progressing.
2. Weekly status report
Personally, I find the weekly status reports more useful than the daily status reports. There is more flexibility in when you send the weekly report out, to what questions to include as compared to the daily report. The weekly status reports cover what actually got done in the week, any problems/blockers, and what the upcoming work is in the next week. There is more flexibility with the kind of questions you can ask in a weekly report, and it can include any of the following: Sending a question like 'What are your priorities for this week?' at the beginning of the week, to 'How is your week going so far?' in the middle of the week, to 'What did you accomplish this week?' at the end of the week. By reading all these questions together, you can get a really good idea on the work done, missed opportunities, what/who in your team needs improvement etc.
3. Monthly status report
Similar to the weekly status reports, the monthly status reports cover a broad overview on the work that was done the previous month, the major accomplishments, blockers/problems the team is currently facing, and what is on the table for the current month. There is a lot more flexibility, and the exact team questions you want to ask will depend on your own team goals, and what you want to track.
What content to include in the status report?
The content to be included depends on what you personally want to track and improve in your team. Broadly it can range from tracking daily/weekly/monthly progress i.e. what actually got done, to including any problems/blockers they are facing, to what the plans are for the upcoming/next period. It is important to also get answers to major accomplishments, areas for improvement, and other important information that is specific to your team.
Main benefits of status reports:
1. Saves time, reduces meetings
Instead of having a one-on-one meeting to find out how a project is progressing, you can quickly look at the notes submitted in the status reports to understand progress. Also, it is easier to share this information with other stakeholders when it is written down by your team. Without written status reports, you will have to interrupt your co-workers and keep asking them for updates. This decreases productivity by interrupting them with meetings, which takes them away from time they can be working on the project.
2. Keeps your team focussed on the main goals
By writing down regular status reports, everyone in your team is aware of the main goals that you are working together as a team. If a new member is working on something that is not important, or if someone else in your team is working on a wrong solution to a problem, these will be brought out in the status reports, and can be changed immediately.
3. Awareness
When status reports are written down and shared with everyone in the team, the whole team becomes tangentially aware of the work the other person is doing. There is better teamwork, and more cohesivenss in the team as a result of reading other peoples status reports.
4. Get more done
By tracking progress effectively, you and the whole team, gets more done. It's as simple as that. Instead of waiting till the end of a sprint to realize that there is a problem, you can immediately be aware of the progress, and get more aligned to work goals that are in the right direction.
Many teams rely on dashboards, project management tools, backlogs, and presentations to track their work. However, these tools often fall short in engaging important stakeholders. Why? They lack context and narrative. There is too much information, and feature overload with these project management tools. These tools do not tell the whole story as it is happening. Managers, stakeholders need more than just reading to-dos and trello boards; they need specific information. They want to understand:
Question: How does the work that you are currently doing fit into the bigger goals and broader initiatives?
Question: What are the downstream effects?
Question: Are there any upstream bottlenecks/problems? Can something be improved?
The content to be included depends on what you personally want to track and improve in your team. Broadly it can range from tracking daily/weekly/monthly progress i.e. what actually got done, to including any problems/blockers they are facing, to what the plans are for the upcoming/next period. It is important to also get answers to major accomplishments, areas for improvement, and other important information that is specific to your team.
Main benefits of status reports:
1. Saves time, reduces meetings
Instead of having a one-on-one meeting to find out how a project is progressing, you can quickly look at the notes submitted in the status reports to understand progress. Also, it is easier to share this information with other stakeholders when it is written down by your team. Without written status reports, you will have to interrupt your co-workers and keep asking them for updates. This decreases productivity by interrupting them with meetings, which takes them away from time they can be working on the project.
2. Keeps your team focussed on the main goals
By writing down regular status reports, everyone in your team is aware of the main goals that you are working together as a team. If a new member is working on something that is not important, or if someone else in your team is working on a wrong solution to a problem, these will be brought out in the status reports, and can be changed immediately.
3. Awareness
When status reports are written down and shared with everyone in the team, the whole team becomes tangentially aware of the work the other person is doing. There is better teamwork, and more cohesivenss in the team as a result of reading other peoples status reports.
4. Get more done
By tracking progress effectively, you and the whole team, gets more done. It's as simple as that. Instead of waiting till the end of a sprint to realize that there is a problem, you can immediately be aware of the progress, and get more aligned to work goals that are in the right direction.
Many teams rely on dashboards, project management tools, backlogs, and presentations to track their work. However, these tools often fall short in engaging important stakeholders. Why? They lack context and narrative. There is too much information, and feature overload with these project management tools. These tools do not tell the whole story as it is happening. Managers, stakeholders need more than just reading to-dos and trello boards; they need specific information. They want to understand:
Question: How does the work that you are currently doing fit into the bigger goals and broader initiatives?
Question: What are the downstream effects?
Question: Are there any upstream bottlenecks/problems? Can something be improved?
Status reports bridge this gap. They transform data into actionable insights, providing the 'why' behind the 'what'. By offering context and narrative, they make information more accessible and relevant to stakeholders, encouraging more frequent engagement with your team's progress.
Important tips to improve your status reports:
- Automate the collection of status reports. If you are doing it in person via daily standups, or weekly meetings, a lot of information is getting lost every week. Also, as they are done in person, it requires more meetings and you are wasting time, taking your co-workers away from doing productive work.
- Ensure that everyone submit their status reports. This can be done by setting reminders, sending other people's status summaries so that everyone in the team know that they are important.
- Publish the status reports to the whole team. This gives your whole team more awareness of the work that is being done by your entire team. Also, sets a precedence on the importance of writing status reports when they are reading other peoples reports.
- Make every work in your status reports count. Do not necessarily make them short, but only include content that will be useful for the person reading the status reports.
Important tips to improve your status reports:
- Automate the collection of status reports. If you are doing it in person via daily standups, or weekly meetings, a lot of information is getting lost every week. Also, as they are done in person, it requires more meetings and you are wasting time, taking your co-workers away from doing productive work.
- Ensure that everyone submit their status reports. This can be done by setting reminders, sending other people's status summaries so that everyone in the team know that they are important.
- Publish the status reports to the whole team. This gives your whole team more awareness of the work that is being done by your entire team. Also, sets a precedence on the importance of writing status reports when they are reading other peoples reports.
- Make every work in your status reports count. Do not necessarily make them short, but only include content that will be useful for the person reading the status reports.