Project status report template

The template, section by section

1. Report header

Project name, reporting period, author, and date. One line.

2. Overall status

Green, amber, or red, with a one-sentence reason. Rate against the agreed plan, not against effort.

3. Summary for executives

Three to five sentences a sponsor can read in thirty seconds: where the project stands, what changed this period, and what needs attention.

4. Completed this period

The work finished this period, tied to milestones or deliverables rather than activity.

5. Planned for next period

The work expected to finish next period. Anything carried over from the last report is named as carried over.

6. Risks and issues

The top risks and open issues, each with an owner and a next action. New entries and changes since the last report come first.

7. Milestones

The next few milestones with their target dates and whether each is on track.

8. Budget

Spend against plan at a summary level, with a sentence on the forecast if it has moved.

9. Decisions needed

What you need from the sponsor or steering group, by when, and what happens if the decision waits.

Tips for reporting that gets read

• Keep the whole report to one page. If a section regularly runs long, the project has a problem the report should name.
• Keep the same sections in the same order every period, so a reader can compare this week with last.
• An amber or red status is information, not failure. The report exists to surface what needs attention while there is still time to act.

Draft the report from live project data

AutoPMO drafts weekly status reports from live project data, ready to export to Word or PDF, so reporting day starts from a draft instead of a blank page.

More about status reporting