Progress Reports

A progress report updates clients or principals on developments in an ongoing project. Progress reports are similar to staff reports, with the exception that the audience can include people outside the organization as well as within it. On long-term projects, progress reports may be delivered at designated intervals or at the time of specific task completions. For example, subcontractors on a housing-construction project meet weekly with the project developers. On short-term projects, reports can occur daily. For example, medical personnel in the intensive-care unit of a hospital meet each morning to review the treatment protocol and progress of each patient. Progress reports have become increasingly important to managers, especially in tough economic times, as a means to discover new business, determine the value of employees, and uncover hidden costs of doing business.5

Audience

The audience for a progress report might be supervisors, clients, or customers; developers and investors; company officers; media representatives; or same-level co-workers assigned to the same project. For example, a work team consisting of workers from various departments (engineering, marketing, and cost analysis) may be assigned to the development of a new product. Once a week, members of the team present the rest of the division with a progress report, especially during the early stages. Once the project is well under way and activity is focused on one particular segment, such as marketing, those representatives may be the only personnel to make progress reports, and the audience may extend to potential buyers, corporate officers, and other staff in the various departments.

Progress reports are commonplace in staff and committee meetings in which subcommittees report on their designated tasks. Audience questions are common at the end of progress reports. (See Appendix E on handling question-and-answer sessions.)

Organization

Different audiences may want different kinds of reports, so establish expectations with your intended audience, then modify the following accordingly:

  1. Briefly review progress made up to the time of the previous report.
  2. Describe new developments since the previous report.
  3. Describe the personnel involved and their activities.
  4. Detail time spent on tasks.
  5. Describe supplies used and costs incurred.
  6. Explain any problems and their resolution.
  7. Provide an estimate of tasks to be completed for the next reporting period.