Project Status Report

Whether you're working with a team of two or twenty, your project status report is an important part of the process. Status reports are a quick and reliable home for all project-related information. Spread the word of project updates regularly to ensure no stakeholder is left in the dark. Your team will thank you for keeping everyone in the loop.

Organize your project status update to be skimmable and digestible. Ensure it's clear, succinct, and approachable. The best way to accomplish this is by sticking to a template. Just fill out the sections of the template with the most recent updates and you're done! You've just saved yourself valuable time and will send project updates to your stakeholders that are straight to the point.

We've built a project status update example for you to consider. Make edits and adjustments to align the template with your project needs. Check it out below.

What is included in a project status report?

Dial in the contents of your project status report to make completing and sharing this information a breeze. Both you and stakeholders will know what to expect when your project status update template is organized and straightforward.

1. Project description and name

First and foremost, give your project status update a title (usually the project's title) and add a description. The description can be a brief overview of the project, which teams are involved, or any other information you deem important when describing the project.

2. Project benefits, goals, and objectives

In this section of the template, you'll list out project benefits, goals, and objectives. Choose to get as detailed as you feel is necessary. Keep in mind that most stakeholders are probably familiar with this project information, so you most likely don't need to add all the details here. Keep it concise, maybe only include the goals for the most recent phase of the project, then move onto the next step.

3. Project timeline

Is your project on track? Have any tasks fallen behind? Do any stakeholders need to be alerted to a change in the project timeline? Use this section to record project benchmarks as they were set early in the project's outset. Consider keeping an active timeline by checking off phases of the project as your team completes them.

4. Project status updates

You have options with how to share and spread project status updates in this section. Choose one person to be responsible for gathering status updates from all project stakeholders to include here or invite stakeholders to input their own updates. The latter bolsters a more collaborative workspace. You can work with a bulleted list or chart, choosing the method of communication that works best for your team.

5. Team shoutouts

An important part of positive team morale is giving credit where credit is deserved. Use this section to highlight individual contributor's accomplishments during the most recent phase of the project. Call out stakeholders or entire teams to show appreciation for the work they've completed on the project so far.

6. Questions or concerns

Here is a section to list and answer any outstanding questions going into the status update. Using this section as a single, authoritative destination for all project questions and concerns strips the project of the risk of losing questions in Slack or email. Invite your team to add a question here as soon as they arise so they don't get lost in the shuffle.