how to write a good project progress report

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Progress Report: How to Write, Structure, and Make Project Progress Visually Attractive

Picture this: Days or weeks into a project, your supervisor asks for a progress report.

Depending on your experience with writing progress reports, you might respond with readiness, anxiety, or confusion. Where do you begin? How do you know you’ve created a satisfactory or even amazing final report? Fear not—the expert team here at Piktochart is here to help.

In this progress reporting guide, we’ll not only give you top tips on how to write a successful report but additionally provide you with progress report templates and checklists to keep you focused on the important stuff. We begin, of course, with the all-important question anyone from a newbie to even a seasoned professional might have: “What is a progress report?”

Table of contents:

What is a progress report, why is a progress report important.

• How to write a progress report
• How to structure a progress report
• Free progress report templates you can edit right away

Progress report checklist

In case you prefer watching over reading, feel free to check out the video summary of this blog post:

A progress report is exactly what it sounds like—a document using simple and straightforward language that explains in detail what has been achieved and what else is needed for project completion. Essentially this document is a status update before the final report, outlining tasks completed by a team member, project manager, or team, along with what else needs to be done.

W hether you need to provide daily progress reports or even quarterly progress reports, this asset outlines the activities you’ve carried out, the tasks you’ve completed, and the milestones you’ve reached vis-à-vis your project plan .

Depending on the scope and complexity of the project, you might need to give a progress report weekly or monthly or for every 25% project milestone.

In terms of audience, a progress report is typically written for a supervisor, colleague, or client. Progress reports can be written from the perspective of one person as well as an entire team or department.

Throughout your career, you’re likely to be creating more reports than you can count (challenge for you: count them and find how many resources you’re using!).

Perhaps you find yourself spending more time crunching data and plugging numbers into graphs than actually working.

Reports don’t have to be as time-consuming as they often are. Progress report templates are time-savers! Get your free Piktochart account so you can follow along as we share more templates below.

We also tapped into the brilliance of Kevan Lee of Buffer in this interactive content experience to help you with your progress report projects.

Dive right in here, and learn some reporting hacks from Kevan .

Sometimes it might feel like writing about your progress in detail is redundant, especially when you’ve been regularly communicating with your supervisor, teammates, and client throughout the course of the project. Like any project manager, you probably think there are more important things to work on.

But this type of professional report is actually quite useful for several reasons.

1. It gets everyone on the same page

Each person who receives a copy of the report will know what has been accomplished and what is remaining. This prevents confusion about what has been or has yet to be done. Additionally, it provides proof and data about the respective project that can be cited and sourced if and when questions arise in the future.

2. Writing progress reports facilitates collaboration

This is especially important when different teams or departments work together. Knowing what another team is prioritizing helps prevent working in silos and also reduces task redundancy. Additionally, progress reporting helps a team identify areas where it can offer help or collaborate with others.

When teams can track progress on where other teams are on the project timeline, project managers get a better idea of the current status. They can reassign resources to make sure everyone is on track to hit the deadline for the current project, which can be tricky if you’re managing remote teams .

If you’d like to learn more about how you can work together with your team on a report, sign up for a free Piktochart account and try our online report maker .

3. It improves transparency and accountability by providing a paper trail

When you submit your report, you’ve placed on record that you’ve accomplished a task or explained why your results were different than expected. Once the document has been accepted, it becomes part of the project’s official documentation.

So, just in case someone accuses you in the future of failing to accomplish a task or not reporting a problem, you can point to the progress report as proof that you did so.

On the flip side, if your project ever gets nominated for an award, you can be sure validators will come seeking documents that explain how the entire thing was accomplished.

4. It improves project evaluation and review

Next time you plan for a project, your team can examine documents, including progress reports, of previous projects to find out what was done right, what went wrong, and what can be improved.

Previous reports can shed light on systemic issues, loopholes, and other causes of delay or failure—both internal and external—that must be avoided or resolved.

5. It provides insights for future planning

When the supervisor knows what tasks have been accomplished, he or she can focus on monitoring progress toward the next stages of the project.

When a report shows that delays have occurred, the supervisor is able to investigate the problems that hindered progress and take steps to prevent them from happening again in the future.

The supervisor will also be able to adjust the project timeline if absolutely needed or instruct teams to double down.

Ultimately, all the valuable insights from the project documentation can increase the chance of success for future projects.

Here is a progress report format example:

How to write progress report s

Have you ever found yourself stuck tapping your pen or staring at a blinking cursor, unable to begin writing?

Writer’s block is not an unusual experience when creating progress reports, especially for those whose jobs typically don’t involve drafting a long document or creating a formal report.

One reason people may find it difficult to write these reports is the thought that they’re not ‘writers.’ Yet, this is simply a negative mindset.

Reports don’t require sophisticated language—in fact, the simpler, the better.

Here are some writing tips on progress reporting:

“Piktochart is my go-to tool when I’m looking for a way to summarize data that is easy for our upper management to review. Piktochart provides me with the tools to display data in a creative, visually appealing way.” – Erica Barto, Selection, Testing & Assessment Specialist at Valero Energy Corporation Create a report, presentation, infographic, or other visuals online with Piktochart. You don’t need any graphic design experience to make professional visual content. Sign up for free .

1. Think of it as a Q&A

Before you start worrying about your reporting frequency and whether you should provide monthly reports or weekly reports, take a step back and focus on the purpose of the report itself.

In essence, the reporting process comes down to Q&A; you’re answering key questions about your progress. Imagine your manager, colleagues, or client asking you their most important questions, and you’re simply providing them with answers on the project status.

For example, let’s say that you’re organizing a weekend fair with food stalls and music and that you’re put in charge of food concessions.

The project plan might require you to have secured letters of intent (LOI) from at least 10 businesses by the end of the first month.

Your progress report would then outline the companies or entrepreneurs who have sent LOIs, including a description of their businesses and plans for their food stalls. If talks are in progress with other businesses that haven’t yet sent LOIs, you can include that and explain when they’re expected to send in their letters.

On the other hand, if you haven’t met your target, you’d have to explain why but also narrate the efforts you have exerted and the expected timeline for achieving the desired results.

2 . Use simple and straightforward language

This doesn’t mean you can’t use technical jargon.

For example, if you’re in the construction business, you don’t have to avoid using terms like “tender” or “variation” or “risk management.”

But otherwise, speak plainly. Use clear and concise language.

One misconception in business writing is that complexity impresses. In truth, it only causes confusion. Fact is, being able to speak plainly about your subject indicates that you understand your subject matter inside out.

Let’s get specific. One thing that makes business documents dreary is the transformation of verbs into nouns—just like I did there.

If we had to rephrase that to keep the verb, we’d write, “transforming verbs into nouns.” It sounds simpler and gets to the point.

3 . Avoid using the passive voice where possible

Sometimes, you can’t avoid using the passive voice in formal documents that prohibit the first-person point-of-view. But when done well, it helps to make your progress reports more relatable.

Going back to the food concession example, a passive sentence would read: “Research on potential food concessionaires was carried out.”

To make that sentence active, give it an actor (which is the team in this case), as in: “The team researched on potential food concessionaires.”

4. Be specific

A study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience found that when you use concrete words, you tend to engage both the left and right parts of the brain, while the right region tends to remain unstimulated by abstract words.

While the jury is still out on exactly how word meanings are represented in the mind, we can agree that the phrase “a merry sound” doesn’t stir the imagination as much as “tinkling bells”.

“A hot day” doesn’t activate visual imagery as much as “a melting popsicle” does. When a reader’s mind is stimulated by words, it’s less likely to drift off.

Taking the previous example, “researched on potential food concessionaires” doesn’t evoke a visual image. Meanwhile, “built a list of 50 potential food concessionaires” is more concrete, especially when you add details of what food items might be sold.

5. Explain jargon if needed

This depends on who will be reading your progress reports, and if you’re using very specialized jargon that only members of your team would be familiar with.

For example, in a report written by a construction team addressed to the project manager , construction jargon could be used as the recipient obviously understands it.

6. Spell out acronyms when they first occur in the document

Don’t assume that every single person reading the report will understand all the acronyms you use without you spelling them out.

For instance, in construction work, SWMS should first be spelled out as “safe work method statement”. ‘Pre-starts’ should be spelled out as ‘pre-start checks’. So in your report, it would look like this: “safe work method statement (SWMS)”, then all subsequent references are free to just be SWMS.

7. Stick to facts

Avoid providing an opinion, unless it’s part of the project.

For instance, your task might be to analyze data and offer your interpretation and prediction. In that case, you can offer your speculation and point of view, as long as you have evidence to back you up.

8. Use graphics to supplement the text

Avoid writing down a long series of numbers in a sentence. Try using different types of graphs , tables or charts, especially when dealing with a series of numbers.

Here at Piktochart, we have many progress report templates, and the hiring progress report below is a great example.

When using graphs or charts, try out several types to determine which ones best present your data. You might use a bar graph , pie chart , line graph , or even scatter plot . When doing so, though, spend time distinguishing different data sets from the others by using labels and colors.

Don’t worry if this sounds daunting—there are plenty of software that can help you visualize data , including the most basic examples, MS Excel and Numbers for Mac.

How to structure progress report s

You may still be wondering about the exact process of how to write a progress report. Armed with all of these practical tips, how do you put the report together?

First, it depends on the type of report, as well as the intended reader. A progress report may be written daily, weekly, or monthly. It may be written for an individual or a team.

As you’ll see in the examples below, the main parts of a progress report are:

1. Introduction

This part provides an overview of the contents of the progress report. It’s best to write this after you’ve completed all the other parts of the report. That way, you’ll be able to provide an accurate summary.

Keep it short and simple. One or two paragraphs will do.

2. Accomplishments

Numbers and details are your friends, especially when writing this section of the progress report. The accomplishments you write should correspond to your goals.

What were your goals for the period covered by the report?

This could be a goal for the day, week, month, or quarter. On the other hand, it could be a team goal, too.

Be concrete when writing goals. For instance:

Avoid providing too much detailed information. The simpler this section is, the easier it is for stakeholders and the project team to see the project priorities.

4. Roadblocks

Explain what situations, if any, prevented you from achieving your goals, or may have hindered the project’s progress.

But don’t stop there. Be proactive and present an action plan and timeline for resolving the roadblocks. Include details, such as funds, materials, and human resources you may need to implement the solution.

Progress reporting templates you can edit right away

To guide you better, here are progress report template examples that are visually attractive and highly readable.

These templates are available if you sign up for a free Piktochart account . Once you log in, use any of the templates below and edit the elements and text to make it your own.

1. Daily progress report s

A daily progress report includes your goals for the day, as well as your accomplishments the previous day. It also explains challenges encountered in performing tasks and achieving goals.

Another section under the daily report is ‘lessons learned’. These need to be directly related to the day’s tasks and challenges, as well as to the previous day’s accomplishments.

2. Weekly progress report

Weekly progress reports provide a week-by-week breakdown of what has been accomplished and what tasks remain to be completed.

Just like a daily report, a weekly progress report may include challenges and lessons learned. Examples are included in the templates below.

To get a better idea of this, let’s go back to the events example:

• Many potential vendors were attending a week-long industry convention; couldn’t book meetings.
• Potential vendors didn’t read the entire email.

Lessons Learned

• Consider industry events when planning a timeline for contacting clients
• Introductory emails must be short and have readable formatting

3. Monthly progress report ing

A monthly report is necessary for projects with longer durations. The report may provide both monthly and quarterly data on project progress.

4. Team progress report s

Team progress reports provide information on both team and individual milestones and progress status. Now this one is more complicated, simply because it involves several people who may have worked on different tasks.

It’s not enough to just let one person make the report. Of course, one person can do the typing, but everyone must provide input and feedback.

One way to keep a record of different team members’ input is to keep track of edits they have made.

To do this, simply enable tracking of changes on a Word document, or on Pages for Mac users. When working on a collaborative tool like Google Docs , click the pencil icon on the top-right part of the window, and choose “Edits become suggestions” on the drop-down menu. Here’s what that looks like:

On the other hand, team members can insert comments or questions. Again, you can do this easily on a Word document, as well as on software that let you comment on shared documents, like Google Docs and Piktochart .

Here’s what it looks like in Piktochart (learn more about this feature in our guide to annotated comments for teams ):

Here’s one example of Piktochart’s many team project report templates .

One last thing… You’ve finally finished typing up your report—breathe a sigh of relief, but don’t hit ‘send’ just yet.

Go over it at least once (better to do it more than once, especially if it’s a team report). Re-read the article, edit the content as needed, then ask a teammate to proofread with a fresh pair of eyes.

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Progress Report: What is it & How to Write it? (+Examples)

Picture this: You're a project manager juggling multiple tasks, deadlines, and team members. Keeping the balance between different tasks is hard but very important.

Enter the progress report, your secret weapon in conquering chaos and ensuring smooth sailing.

But what exactly is a progress report, and how do you craft one effectively? In this blog post, I'll demystify progress reports and guide you through the process of writing one.

From daily progress reports to weekly progress reports, using practical progress report templates and a tried-and-true format.

What is a Progress Report?

A progress report is a vital tool in project management , designed to keep different types of stakeholders informed about the ongoing status of a project.

It's a concise document highlighting current achievements, challenges, and goals, allowing the project manager to track progress and make necessary adjustments.

Project progress reports are one of the most important types of project management reports . They help maintain transparency, communication, and accountability within a team, ensuring everyone is on the same page. They also provide valuable insights for decision-makers, helping them gauge the project's overall health and success.

Here's what you can expect to find in a typical progress report:

• Project Overview: A brief summary of the project's objectives and scope.
• Current Status: A snapshot of where the project stands regarding completed tasks, milestones reached, and overall progress.
• Challenges and Issues: Any technical difficulties, resource constraints, or personnel issues.
• Next Steps: The immediate tasks and goals on the horizon and how the team plans to tackle them.
• Progress Report Format: The layout of the report can vary depending on the organization's preferences or industry standards.

Writing a progress report can seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be. You'll create a valuable document that keeps everyone informed and aligned by breaking it down into manageable sections and using clear, concise language.

Embrace the progress report writing skill and watch your team's productivity and communication soar.

Why are Progress Reports Important?

Progress reports play a vital role in project management, serving as a communication tool to keep stakeholders updated. Let's delve into why progress reports are crucial for the success of any project or business.

Transparency and Accountability

Progress reports eliminate ambiguity and promote transparency. By regularly sharing project updates with stakeholders, the project team is held accountable for their work. This accountability ensures everyone is on track to meet the project milestones and objectives.

Identify Potential Issues Early

Progress reports help identify potential problems before they escalate. Team members can spot bottlenecks, delays, and other issues by examining project data and analyzing the progress report.

Early detection enables the team to take prompt action and prevent these issues from derailing the project.

Effective Decision-Making

Armed with accurate and timely information from progress reports, project managers and stakeholders can make informed decisions.

When a project progresses smoothly, management can allocate resources more efficiently or plan for future phases. On the other hand, if a project encounters challenges, swift decisions can be made to reallocate resources or change course.

Maintaining Momentum

A progress report's important aspect is maintaining momentum. When team members see their progress documented and shared, it fosters a sense of accomplishment and motivation.

This positive reinforcement encourages teams to keep pushing forward and maintain their productivity.

Improved Communication and Collaboration

Progress reports facilitate better communication and collaboration among team members. By sharing updates and insights, the entire team stays informed, reducing the chances of miscommunication or misunderstandings.

Moreover, progress reports provide a platform for team members to ask questions, provide feedback, and offer support.

Performance Tracking

Business progress reports, such as quarterly, monthly, or annual progress reports, help track performance over time.

By comparing past reports, management can gauge the business's overall health and identify trends or patterns. This historical data can inform future strategies and drive continuous improvement.

How to Write a Progress Report

Step 1: define the purpose.

The first step in writing a progress report is understanding its purpose. Progress reports inform stakeholders about the project's status, including what has been accomplished, any challenges encountered, and future planning. This allows project managers to keep everyone in the loop and make informed decisions.

The purpose of this monthly progress report is to update the management team on the project's status. It presents an overview of completed tasks, in-progress tasks, upcoming tasks, and any challenges faced during the reporting period. This report will also provide insight into key performance metrics and future planning .

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Determine who will read the progress report. Is it for higher-ups, clients, or team members? Tailor the language, tone, and level of detail accordingly.

Step 3: Set the Timeframe

Decide the reporting period – weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Choose a timeframe that best suits your project's pace and stakeholder expectations.

Step 4: Collect Information

Gather data on tasks completed, team members involved, and any obstacles faced. Consult previous progress reports, project documentation , and team members for accurate information.

Step 5: Organize Content

Break down the report into logical sections. Here’s what we suggest:

• Summary: A brief overview of the report's contents.
• Completed Tasks: List tasks accomplished during the reporting period.
• In-Progress Tasks: Describe ongoing tasks and their current status.
• Upcoming Tasks: Outline tasks scheduled for the next reporting period.
• Challenges: Discuss any obstacles encountered and how they were addressed.
• Key Metrics: Highlight key project performance indicators and progress towards goals.
• Future Planning: Discuss plans for the next reporting period and any adjustments needed.

Step 6: Write the Summary

Craft a concise summary that provides a snapshot of the report. Mention key achievements, challenges, and plans for the future. Keep it brief but informative.

This progress report covers our team's accomplishments during Q1, with a particular focus on the completion of the website redesign and the initiation of our social media marketing campaign. We've encountered some challenges in coordinating with external vendors, but we've implemented solutions to overcome those obstacles .

Step 7: Detail Completed Tasks

List all tasks completed during the reporting period. Include the following information:

• Task description
• Team members involved
• Start and end dates
• Any relevant metrics (e.g., hours spent, budget used)
• Task 1 – Implement a user login system.
• Team members: Jeff and Sarah.
• Start date: January 1st.
• End date: January 15th.
• Metrics: 98% successful login rate.

Step 8: Discuss In-Progress Tasks

Outline ongoing tasks, their current status, and expected completion dates. Explain any delays and their impact on the project timeline .

• Task 2 – Develop a mobile app.
• Current status: 70% completed.
• Expected completion date: February 15th.

Step 9: Describe Upcoming Tasks

Identify tasks scheduled for the next reporting period. Provide details such as:

• Assigned team members
• Estimated start and end dates
• Dependencies on other tasks
• Task 3 – Launch marketing campaign.
• Assigned team members: Anas and Mark.
• Estimated start date: February 16th.
• Estimated end date: March 1st.
• Dependencies: Completion of mobile app development.

Step 10: Address Challenges

Discuss any challenges encountered during the reporting period. Describe how they were resolved or any plans to address them in the future.

• Challenge 1 – Unforeseen technical issues causing delays.
• Resolution: Increased resources and adjusted project timeline to accommodate the additional time required.

Step 11: Present Key Metrics

Highlight key project management performance indicators and progress toward project goals. Use visuals like charts or graphs to make the data more digestible.

• Metric 1 – User registration rate.
• Current status: 500 new users per week.
• Target goal: 1,000 new users per week.

Step 12: Plan for the Future

Discuss plans for the next reporting period, including any adjustments required. This may involve reallocating resources, revising timelines, or redefining objectives.

In the next reporting period, our focus will shift to improving user retention and engagement. We plan to implement new features based on user feedback and optimize the onboarding process.

Step 13: Proofread and Revise

Review the report for clarity, accuracy, and readability. Ensure all information is presented in a clear, concise manner.

Step 14: Submit the Report

Submit the progress report to the relevant stakeholders, ensuring they have ample time to review and provide feedback.

Example Progress Report Template

Use this template as a starting point for your progress report:

By following these steps and guidelines, you'll be well-equipped to write an effective progress report that keeps stakeholders informed and drives project success. Clear communication is key to maintaining momentum and ensuring everyone is on the same page.

Examples of Progress Reports

1. business progress report.

A business progress report helps track company growth, accomplishments, and areas for improvement. It includes:

• Revenue and sales figures.
• Market trends and competition.
• Operational efficiency.
• Employee performance.
• Goals and milestones achieved.

2. Quarterly Progress Reports

These reports offer a snapshot of a project or business every three months. They cover:

• Major achievements.
• Challenges faced and solutions.
• Key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Updated project timeline.
• Budget status.

3. Monthly Progress Reports

Monthly progress reports provide more frequent updates on projects or departments. They highlight:

• Accomplishments and setbacks.
• Progress towards monthly goals.
• Resource utilization.
• Issues and risks.
• Action items for the upcoming month.

4. Project Status

Project status reports focus on a specific project's progress. They showcase:

• Project documentation updates.
• Completed tasks and upcoming deliverables.
• Risks and issues encountered.
• Team members' performance.
• Changes to project scope or timeline.

5. Personal Progress

Personal progress reports help individuals track their growth and development. They include:

• Personal goals and objectives.
• Achievements and lessons learned.
• Skill development and training.
• Performance feedback.
• Areas for improvement and action plans.

Best Practices for Writing Progress Reports

Know Your Target Audience

When you create a progress report, start by identifying your target audience . Project stakeholders, team members, and future decision-makers should all benefit from your report.

Write in such a way that it is easy for them to understand. Avoid technical jargon and explain industry-specific language so everyone stays on the same page.

Reporting Frequency and Dates

Establish a reporting frequency for your progress reports. Whether weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, maintain consistency. Include report dates and the expected completion date of the current project to provide a clear timeline.

Stick to the Project's Scope

Focus on the project's scope and stay within the project's purpose. Don't digress or include unrelated details. A concise report ensures that readers remain engaged and informed.

Review Previous Reports

Refer to the previous report to identify any changes or developments. Highlight the work completed, project deliverables , and any updates to the project plan. Doing so will maintain continuity and keep stakeholders informed about the department's progress.

Prioritize and Organize

Arrange project priorities logically, focusing on the most critical aspects first. Organize the information in a clear, easy-to-follow format. Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points for better readability.

Be Transparent About Problems

Don't shy away from discussing problems or challenges. Addressing issues helps stakeholders understand the project's status and any hurdles that may affect successful completion. Offer potential solutions or workarounds to demonstrate proactive thinking.

Back Up Progress with Relevant Data

Use relevant data to support your progress. Figures, charts, and percentages can provide a quick overview of the project's status. Make sure your data is accurate, up-to-date, and presented in an easy-to-understand format.

Highlight Team Member Contributions

Acknowledge team members who have made significant contributions to the project. This recognition boosts morale and encourages continued excellence.

Include Future Projections

Discuss what's next for the project, such as upcoming tasks or milestones. This helps stakeholders understand the trajectory of the project and anticipate the work ahead.

Keep it Simple and Actionable

Present complex ideas in a simple, easy-to-understand language. Break down complicated concepts into manageable chunks. Offer actionable insights and practical takeaways, so stakeholders can quickly grasp the project details.

Establish a Database

Create a database to store all progress reports. This repository helps stakeholders access past reports and provides valuable insights for future projects. It also ensures that information is preserved and easily accessible when needed.

Proofread and Edit

Before sharing your progress report, proofread and edit for clarity, consistency, and accuracy. This step ensures that your report is polished, professional, and easy to understand.

Progress Reporting FAQs

A progress report is most valuable when you're working on a long-term project. It's a way to keep stakeholders updated on progress and share important insights.

The primary purpose of a progress report is to provide a clear and concise overview of a project's status. This includes: – Communicating progress toward goals – Identifying potential issues and solutions – Demonstrating accountability and commitment to the project – Providing a step-by-step guide of completed tasks and upcoming work – Offering visual aids, like charts and graphs, to illustrate data A well-crafted progress report keeps stakeholders informed and fosters collaboration. It's also valuable for maintaining momentum and motivation throughout the project.

Writing Progress Reports Does Not Need to Be Hard

So, you've reached the end of this blog post. You're now equipped with the knowledge and tools to make progress report writing a breeze. Remember, it doesn't have to be a daunting task.

Keep it simple, stick to the facts, and let your progress shine. Talk about what you achieved, any challenges you faced, and how you overcame them. Use a clear, concise, structured format to ensure your message is easily understood.

To simplify the process, check out our guide on project reporting tools .

Ask yourself:

• What are the key takeaways from this period?
• How can I best communicate the status of the project?
• Are there any challenges that need addressing?

Considering these questions will make your progress report informative, actionable, and engaging. And don't forget, practice makes perfect. The more progress reports you write, the easier and more efficient the process will become.

Explore Further

• Essential Components of Project Management
• Best Project Management Software 2023
• The Inspiring History of Project Management. How Did It Begin?
• 9 Essential Roles In Project Management

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Martin luenendonk.

Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.

This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

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How to Write a Solid Progress Report for Project Success

Progress reports are like project status updates that help everyone involved understand how things are going. Writing a solid progress report is crucial for keeping your project on track and ensuring its success. In this guide, we’ll break down the process of creating a great progress report, making it easy for you to communicate your project’s progress effectively. We have also included progress report templates for you to get started right away.

Progress Report Template

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What is a Progress Report

A progress report is a document that provides an overview of the status, advancements, and achievements of a project or task. It typically outlines what has been accomplished, what is currently in progress, and any challenges or obstacles encountered. Progress reports are commonly used in various settings, such as work, education, or personal projects, to keep stakeholders informed about the project’s developments and to ensure everyone is on the same page regarding the current state of affairs.

Progress Report Templates to Keep Track of Project Progress

Daily Progress Report Template

Project Status Report Template

Project Status Summary

Project Dashboard Template

Project Status Summary Template

Why You Need to Use a Progress Report

A progress report promotes a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement in project management. Here are several reasons why a progress report is important.

Clear communication: Keeps everyone on the same page by sharing what’s happening in a project.

Tracking achievements: Highlights what has been successfully completed, boosting team morale.

Problem-solving: Identifies and addresses challenges, helping to find solutions and stay on track.

Decision-making: Provides real-time information for informed decision-making during the project.

Accountability: Holds team members responsible for their tasks and deadlines.

Learning and improvement: Creates a record of progress, facilitating learning for future projects.

Efficiency: Keeps the team working efficiently by preventing confusion and misunderstandings.

Collaboration: Encourages collaboration and coordination among team members.

Key Components of a Progress Report

The following components of a progress report collectively provide a comprehensive view of the project’s progress, challenges, and future plans, enabling effective communication and decision-making.

• Introduction : Brief overview of the project, including its purpose and objectives.
• Work completed : Summary of tasks or milestones achieved since the last report.
• Work in progress : Description of current activities, tasks underway, and their status.
• Challenges and issues : Identification and discussion of any problems, roadblocks, or challenges faced.
• Achievements : Recognition and celebration of significant accomplishments and milestones.
• Upcoming tasks : Outline of the next steps, tasks, or milestones planned for the future.
• Timeline and schedule : Review or adjustment of the project timeline or schedule, if necessary.
• Budget overview : Overview of the project’s financial status, including spendings and any budget changes.
• Recommendations : Suggestions for improvements or changes to improve project efficiency.
• Conclusion : A brief summary and conclusion, often including an overall project status assessment.

Challenges of Creating and Using a Progress Report

While project reports are handy for keeping track of project progress, they can pose some challenges.

Time-consuming: Writing a progress report can take time away from actual project work.

Communication issues: Making sure that everyone understands the report may be challenging.

Data accuracy: Getting accurate information for the report can sometimes be difficult.

Overlooking details: Important details may be unintentionally left out.

Balancing detail and brevity: Finding the right level of detail without making the report too lengthy can be tricky.

Tracking complex projects: Managing and reporting progress for complex projects may pose a challenge.

Ensuring regular updates: Getting everyone to consistently update progress can be a hurdle, especially in dynamic work environments.

Best Practices for Creating an Effective Progress Report

Creating an effective progress report involves following some best practices:

• Keep your report clear and straightforward, avoiding jargon or overly complex language.
• Highlight the most important information, emphasizing achievements and addressing challenges.
• Use a consistent format and structure for easy comprehension.
• Submit reports on time to make sure that the information is relevant and up-to-date.
• Provide enough detail to convey the message, but avoid unnecessary information that may overwhelm.
• Use charts or diagrams to visually represent data and trends for better understanding.
• Include potential solutions when discussing challenges, promoting a proactive approach.

Create Your Next Progress Report with Creately

Simplify the process of creating progress reports and streamline project management, communication, and improve overall project success with Creately ’s visual collaboration platform.

Task tracking and assignment

Use the built-in project management tools to create, assign, and track tasks right on the canvas. Assign responsibilities, set due dates, and monitor progress with Agile Kanban boards, Gantt charts, timelines and more. Create task cards containing detailed information, descriptions, due dates, and assigned responsibilities.

Notes and attachments

Record additional details and attach documents, files, and screenshots related to your tasks and projects with per item integrated notes panel and custom data fields. Or easily embed files and attachments right on the workspace to centralize project information. Work together on project documentation with teammates with full multiplayer text and visual collaboration.

Real-time collaboration

Get any number of participants on the same workspace and track their additions to the progress report in real-time. Collaborate with others in the project seamlessly with true multi-user collaboration features including synced previews and comments and discussion threads. Use Creately’s Microsoft Teams integration to brainstorm, plan, run projects during meetings.

Pre-made templates

Get a head start with ready-to-use progress report templates and other project documentation templates available right inside the app. Explore 1000s more templates and examples for various scenarios in the community.

Comprehensive shape libraries

Create any visual aid from flowcharts to timelines with comprehensive shape libraries for over 70 types of diagrams including icons. Illustrate or make annotations easily with freehand drawing and format text without leaving the keyboard with markdown shortcuts.

Progress reports are indispensable in project management. They foster communication, accountability, and a culture of continuous improvement. Make use of the progress report templates we have provided to track your progress and stay organized.

Join over thousands of organizations that use Creately to brainstorm, plan, analyze, and execute their projects successfully.

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Amanda Athuraliya is the communication specialist/content writer at Creately, online diagramming and collaboration tool. She is an avid reader, a budding writer and a passionate researcher who loves to write about all kinds of topics.

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Project Management

How to write a project report (with steps & templates).

March 21, 2024

Juggling all the different components of a project can be quite a challenge. If that weren’t enough, you also have to write a project status report to update key stakeholders on the project’s progress. The struggle is real.

So where do you start? Fortunately, we have the answer. And that’s precisely why we put together this guide—to walk you through the process so you have a clear path from start to finish.

Learn more about creating project reports and different types of project status reports. Plus, you’ll walk away with five free project report templates, carefully crafted to streamline your project management workflow, save you time, and impress your stakeholders. 🤩

What is a Project Report?

How to write a project report, 1. project status report, 2. project progress report, 3. project cost benefit analysis report, 4. project time tracking report, 5. project resource report, 6. project risk report, 7. project variance report, 8. project performance report, 9. project completion report, why is project reporting important, 1. final project report template, 2. project status report template, 3. digital marketing report template, 4. employee daily activity report template, 5. campaign report template, create professional project reports in less time with clickup.

A project report is a document offering a comprehensive overview of a project’s objectives, progress, team performance, and milestone accomplishments. It also gives an account of the challenges faced during a project’s execution , solutions devised to tackle them, and the lessons learned during the process. 

Project managers create these reports to communicate with other project stakeholders—including team members, sponsors, clients, and other interested parties—to ensure everyone’s on the same page. The document also serves as a foundation for further evaluation and analysis to ensure the project says on track and achieves its goals. 🎯

Creating a project report doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Follow these three simple steps to create your first project report with ease.

Understand the purpose of the report

Before you create a project report, you need to understand the purpose of the report (the “why”) and know your target audience (the “who”). This will guide the content, structure, and tone of your project report.

Gather and organize the relevant information

At this point, you need to gather project information relevant to your project report. Make sure your data is accurate, reliable, and up-to-date. Organize the gathered information in a logical and structured manner.

• Executive summary : As its name suggests, this project summary gives readers a quick overview of the whole report. It’s a snapshot that highlights the most important parts of the project. While it’s placed at the start of the report, it’s often written last. It covers the project’s objectives, methodology, major outcomes, and conclusions. 
• Introduction: This sets the context and expectations of the entire report. It includes the project’s purpose and scope, project schedule, the problems it aims to address, and the methodologies to get there. It also outlines the structure and organization of the rest of the report. 
• Body: Typically, this is the longest part of project management reports because it dives into in-depth details, including project progress, data collection, analysis reports, constraints, and limitations. Remember that whatever you include here should reflect the purpose of your project report and the preferences of your target audience. 
• Conclusions & Recommendations: Based on your findings and analysis, identify opportunities for improvement, suggest strategies for addressing them, or propose avenues for future research. 

Format and proofread the report

Ensure that your project report follows a consistent formatting style—headings, subheadings, and bullet points will make it easier to read. In addition, scan your report for spelling or grammar errors and typos.

Types of Project Reports

Project reports come in diverse formats, with each serving different use cases. Here are nine of the most commonly used types of project reports.

A project status report is a document that gives a snapshot of where your project stands at any given moment. It’s like answering the question, “How’s the project doing?”

But instead of just saying “The project is fine,” you actually dive into the project goals, tasks completed, milestones achieved, challenges faced, lessons learned, potential roadblocks, and next steps. 

Whether it’s a weekly project status report or a monthly status report, this documentation eliminates the need for status meetings while giving stakeholders the most recent status of the project.

A project progress report is slightly similar to a status update report, as they both discuss task progress. However, the progress report is more quantitative and zooms in on individual tasks and project milestones . 

It’s like taking a magnifying glass and examining the progress of each task, one by one. For example, it could include in-depth information on the percentage of completion and current status of each task (completed, on track, delayed, etc.). 

The cost-benefit analysis report is usually prepared before a project is put into motion. Of the various project reports, this one aims to answer a simple question: “Is it worth pursuing this project?”

To answer this question, the report first assesses all project costs like operational expenses, materials, salaries, equipment, and potential risks. 

It then considers the projected benefits, such as increased profit margins, cost savings, improved efficiency, or happier customers. Finally, the report compares the costs to the benefits to determine if it’s time to move forward or explore other options.

A project time-tracking report is a document that records and summarizes time spent on project activities. Each project team member contributes to writing this report—they track and record the amount of time they’ve spent on tasks and submit it to the project manager. ⏰

Thankfully, the rise of project management tools has eliminated the need for paper-based time-tracking submissions. They make it easy for team members to submit accurate and detailed time reports to the project manager—while reducing the administrative burden of manual report compilation. 

Project managers can see how time is spent and the overall productivity of team members. As a result, they’re able to make informed decisions, such as redistributing workload (aka workload management ), reassigning tasks, and providing feedback and support to team members. 

A project resource dashboard offers a bird’s-eye view of how resources (e.g., labor, equipment, materials, budget, etc.) are allocated in a project. Think of it as a comprehensive resource inventory, listing every project task, the responsible party, and the resources being used. 

Project reports like this help project managers keep track of resource availability, identify potential resource constraints or shortages, and make informed decisions about resource allocation and optimization.

A project risk report offers a comprehensive analysis of potential risks, their likelihood of occurrence, their potential impact on the project, and recommended mitigation strategies. 

Rather than waiting for future events to derail the project, project reports like this one allow project managers to take a more proactive approach to risk management—thereby boosting the chances of overall project success.

A project variance report reveals the gaps or deviations between project plans and the actual performance or results achieved. It compares various factors—like budget, time, resources, and scope—and their planned values with their actual values, then computes the differences (or variances). 

By analyzing these variances, project managers and stakeholders can discuss the possible reasons behind them, identify areas that need attention, and take corrective actions where necessary.

A project performance report evaluates the overall performance and achievements of a project against predetermined metrics and objectives. It includes information on project deliverables, key performance indicators (KPIs) , and stakeholder satisfaction.

This report helps project managers assess project success, identify areas for improvement, and communicate the project’s performance to stakeholders.

A project completion report marks the end of a project journey. It summarizes the entire project lifecycle, from initiation to closure. This report contains an overview of the project’s objectives, deliverables, milestones, challenges, and recommendations for future projects.

Writing project reports may initially seem redundant and time-consuming. However, it plays a crucial role in achieving project success. While a few benefits were hinted at earlier, let’s get a better picture of why project reports should not be overlooked.

More clarity

Creating a project report allows you to step back and reflect on the project’s progress. As you record the milestones, successes, and challenges, a wealth of insights begin to unfold—strengths, weaknesses, and areas that need attention.

This holistic view of the project’s health helps you steer it toward the desired outcomes and ensure it stays on track.

Encourages evaluation and analysis

Project reports allow you to evaluate and analyze the different aspects of a project in a systematic way—gathering relevant data, analyzing them, and evaluating their significance. By giving your project a critical analysis, you can uncover valuable insights, identify patterns, draw meaningful conclusions, and take strategic action. 🛠️

Enhances communication and collaboration

Creating a project report challenges you to present the project’s progress and results to stakeholders in a clear and coherent manner. A well-written report promotes project transparency and ensures everyone is on the same page.

It also facilitates collaboration by providing a common reference point for discussions, feedback, and decision-making.

Boosts professionalism and credibility

When you present a comprehensive and well-structured report, it shows that you have conducted thorough research, followed a methodical approach, and can effectively communicate complex information. This, in turn, boosts your reputation, enhances your credibility, and showcases your expertise among peers, colleagues, and potential employers.

Knowledge preservation

A project report serves as a valuable reference for future research or projects. By documenting your process, methodologies, challenges, lessons, and results, you create a resource that can be consulted and built upon by others.

This contributes to the cumulative knowledge in your field and fosters a culture of collaboration and innovation.

Improves Team Alignment

Project reports are instrumental in enhancing team alignment. They provide a clear, concise snapshot of progress, identifying accomplishments, challenges, and next steps. This enables all team members to understand the project’s current status and their respective roles in achieving the overall objectives.

Check out these project report templates for teams:

• Nonprofit Organizations Project Report
• Operations Teams Project Report
• Finance Teams Project Report
• DevOps Teams Project Report
• Agile Teams Project Report
• Sales Teams Project Report

5 Project Report Examples & Templates

Sure, you could write project reports from scratch and spend countless hours formatting and structuring them. But why would you when you can use free project report templates? They provide a structure and format for your report so you can simply plug in your data and customize the design to fit your needs. Not only do project report templates speed up the report creation process, but they also enhance the overall quality of your reports. 

Let’s jump right in to explore our top five project report templates. 📈

A final project report is the perfect finishing touch to conclude a project and highlight its achievements. ClickUp’s Final Project Report Template provides a solid structure to help you put it together with the following key sections:

• Planned vs. Actual: A quantitative breakdown of how the project deviated from the original plan with regard to its start date, completion date, duration, and budget
• Management Effectiveness: A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis evaluating how the project was managed
• Project Learnings : Share the important project lessons learned by the team throughout the lifespan of the project
• Contract Terms Checklist : A simple table listing the various contract terms, whether they were completed, and any remarks you have 
• Overall Performance rating: A 1 out of 5 rating of the different aspects of the project, from planning and execution to leadership and communication

This template is built in ClickUp Docs , which means you have unlimited flexibility for customization—add extra sections and tweak the appearance to suit your taste. And guess what? The table of content updates in real-time as you add, edit, or delete multiple headers.

If you want to wow your team and clients, this project status report template will help you get the job done. 

Writing a project status report is fairly straightforward. But staring at a blank document and worrying about crafting perfectly manicured sentences can make this process last a lot longer than it should. 

Thankfully, ClickUp’s Project Status Report Template is here to save the day! Built inside ClickUp Whiteboards, this template provides a hassle-free method to quickly capture key project details in a visually engaging way.

• General information: Cover general project details (e.g., project name, objectives, project timeline , reporting period, etc.) which you’ll need to fill in only once
• Progress details: Use color-coding to share in-progress, at-risk, delayed, and completed tasks
• Support and resources: List out assets (e.g., labor, money, etc.) needed for a smooth operation 
• Highlights and takeaways: Share key lessons learned and other noteworthy highlights
• What went well/What needs improvement: Use this opportunity to reflect on the project’s progress and share the areas that performed well and what needs attention
• Next steps: Highlight the key action items that need to get done to keep the project on track

Enter the details under each of these sections onto sticky notes, which’ll help you quickly pour down your thoughts without worrying about writing perfect sentences. It’s also very helpful for stakeholders as the information on sticky notes is short and straight to the point. 

This template removes the pressure of creating a status report and saves valuable time—all while keeping key stakeholders informed and up to date.

After running a digital marketing campaign project, you need to gather key metrics from the campaign and present it to key stakeholders for evaluation, performance analysis, and notes for future improvements. 

Sharing this info across multiple digital channels can get overwhelming but there’s no need to worry. ClickUp’s Digital Marketing Report Template has you covered with everything you need. Plus, it’s neatly broken down into the following sections:

• Digital Marketing Performance: This section lets you summarize the overall performance of your campaign by capturing key details like project budget allocations, actual expenses, cost per acquisition, total impressions, and total clicks across multiple campaigns
• Web Analytics Report: This section analyzes website performance during and after the project’s completion. It captures metrics like page views, bounce rate, traffic sources, and overall conversion rate
• Social Media Campaign Performance: This section analyzes social media performance by measuring metrics like impressions, followers, and engagement rate—all in a simple table for each social media platform 

Use this template to present the performance of your digital marketing project in a simple and visually engaging way. This makes it easy to identify trends, analyze the impact of your campaign, and make informed decisions regarding future marketing initiatives.

A key way to stay on track and guarantee overall project success is to engage team members in the process.

The Employee Daily Activity Report Template by ClickUp has a simple tabular layout that makes it easy for team members to record and keep track of: 

• Completed tasks and the time spent on each
• Ongoing tasks and their due dates
• Upcoming tasks and any support they’ll need

This template encourages each team member to get work done and ask for support when needed—while allowing you to keep the project on track by providing support and maximizing team performance.

Remember the Digital Marketing Report Template we looked at earlier? You can choose to further analyze the marketing performance section, with elements from this Campaign Report Template by ClickUp . 

Dive deeper into how each marketing channel contributed to overall ad cost, ad revenue, and ad conversion rate. You can further break down each channel’s performance by analyzing the metrics from each individual campaign on that channel.

There you have it—your secret sauce for creating an effective project report in a fraction of the time. And that’s only scratching the surface … working inside ClickUp unlocks a lot more perks. 

Not only does ClickUp make project reporting easy and quick, but it also gives you access to free project management templates to enhance your workflow. Quickly assign tasks to your team, keep track of progress, discuss updates, and collaborate on documents and whiteboards—all in one place. ✨

Did we mention the integrations? ClickUp plays nicely with other apps, allowing you to seamlessly connect your favorite tools to supercharge your team’s productivity. And let’s not forget about the time you’ll save using ClickUp’s automations—a feature that lets you breeze through repetitive tasks that used to eat up valuable time across project management reports.

Just imagine what you can do with those extra hours—maybe enjoy a cup of coffee or catch up with your team about how best you can support them. Make project reporting a blast with ClickUp and boost your chances of a successful project. 

Get started by signing up for free on ClickUp today … Ready? Set? Report!

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How to write an effective progress report

As someone who has written hundreds of progress reports, I know that writing a good progress report can keep people in the loop about how your project or product is moving. Additionally, it helps build trust by actively letting everyone know how things are going, what may have changed, and where you may need support. It can be a very helpful tool.

Getting started with writing progress updates can be a little tricky. There are some key steps you’ll want to navigate to ensure that your progress reports are effective, helpful, and meeting the needs of your team and stakeholders.

In this article, we’ll talk about what a progress report is, why they’re important, the elements of a progress report, and more.

What is a progress report?

A progress report is a document, usually in the form of a weekly email, that lets key stakeholders and team members who are involved in your project stay up-to-date on how things are going.

These updates can include the progress from this week, whether or not the project is on track, and if any additional leadership support is necessary to keep the project going smoothly and eliminate blockers or challenges.

Why are progress reports important?

Progress reports are important because they help build trust in the project team by keeping stakeholders in the loop with clear communication. A good progress report ensures that stakeholders don’t sit and wonder how a project is going.

Another benefit? They can help you spot issues and elevate them before problems stack up and take your project off course. You can also use a progress report to escalate blockers, or potential blockers, to the stakeholders who may be able to assist you in clearing them. Need approval before you move forward with a key part of the project? You can outline that in your update and let everyone know to expect this before it happens.

Progress reports also help keep a pulse on the pace of the project. If you know that you have important dates coming up, knowing that you have a regular time you’ll need to check in on the progress of the project can help you know if you’re on schedule.

If things start to get off track, you’ll be able to course-correct easier. And, since a progress report keeps your stakeholders in the loop, there are no big surprises to anyone if something doesn’t go according to plan.

What’s included in a progress report?

The first important thing is to really understand what your stakeholders want to see in an update. Are there particular parts of the project they might be concerned about and want more detailed insights into how that part of the project is going? If so, you may want to come up with a list and build your outline from there.

A comprehensive progress report typically includes:

• A summary of activities completed by the team
• What progress was made, and how the team is tracking toward their goals
• What challenges there were, if any
• Action items and any next steps

Activity summary

In the activity summary, you can be as detailed as is helpful to communicate to stakeholders. Ask if your stakeholders want either an in-depth or high-level summary of the work that was completed by the team.

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For example, some stakeholders want to be able to see each individual item the team completed. Some stakeholders think that a high-level summary of features is enough information. You can customize the level of detail in your activity summary for your stakeholders and team.

Progress update

Your activity summary and progress updates might sound similar, but activities are usually more task-oriented while progress is usually either an outcome or progress toward a specific outcome.

For example, let’s say that your progress update outlines that your engineering team spent time writing code for a new feature this week. Your progress report may include details about customer feedback about the new feature that your UX designer gathered.

Challenges and obstacles

While it may not be easy to talk about challenges or difficulties during a project, your stakeholders will want to know what challenges came up, how they were handled, if they’ve changed the timeline of the project, and if the team needs any help.

A great way to talk through the challenges section of your progress report is to follow a simple format:

• A brief description of the challenge encountered. This should be no longer than 2–3 sentences.
• A brief outline of how the challenge was addressed
• A clear statement of whether or not the challenge is still being resolved
• A clear ask for help, if help or support is needed

For example, here’s how this might sound in an actual progress report:

Dealing with API challenges with VendorX

This week, we had an outage in production due to a breaking API change that was made by VendorX. The customer impact was that our app was unavailable for 30 minutes. Customers saw an error message. To resolve the issue, we reached out to VendorX tech support and let them know the issue was impacting our app. They were able to resolve it, and our customers no longer have this issue.

Next steps and action items

At the end of the progress report, you’ll want to give a brief description of what the team plans to do next on the project to keep momentum. This can include the upcoming tasks or activities the team intends to tackle and how this keeps the project moving forward.

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If you are dealing with a challenge, this section may also include the challenge’s impact on progress and how you may need to plan accordingly.

If you’re thinking that sounds like a lot to keep up with, there’s a great way to make it easier — use a template.

Using a template to make progress reports that are quick and easy to read

Progress report templates are easy to create and iterate over time as the needs of the project change. Templates can make writing your progress report faster and easier. Another key benefit of using a template? It’s easier to ask for help from your teammates to help fill in the key details because you can ask them to fill out key sections.

Templates also help your stakeholders know what to expect each week. By sending the same format each week, it can make it easy to know where the relevant information they need will be located in the progress report.

Here is a very simple template on Google Docs that you can use as a weekly progress report. Go to File > Make a copy to download it and, as we’ll go over next, you can customize it how you like to fit the needs of your project:

Tips for customizing a template

Progress reports aren’t one-size-fits-all. In fact, they should be customized to fit the needs of your project! Here are some tips to help customize a generic template:

• Make sections clear — Clearly outline the sections of your progress report, and let everyone know what you’ll be addressing in each section. Remember the key sections: activities, progress made, challenges or blockers encountered, and actions and next steps. You may want to include other sections, but you’ll want to include at least those four
• Include other sections as needed for your project — Depending on the type of project, you may also include area-specific updates. If you are building a new software product, you may also include an update on KPIs or customer feedback. If you work on an engineering team, you may need to update on code quality or test coverage metrics. Remember, this is for you and for your stakeholders to communicate, so customizing it to everyone’s needs is important
• Add some fun — Maybe you highlight new learnings, a fun fact, or a customer research anecdote as a part of your update
• Use emojis — Another way to make sections stand out is to add emojis. On a Mac, you can use Control + Command + Space to pull up the emoji keyboard. On a Windows machine, you can use the Windows Key + Period . Add emojis to your sections to add a little fun, and make each section’s purpose stand out visually. Adding an emoji can help visually call out sections. You can also use emojis for whether or not something is on track by using colors and color coding.
• Make updating and reading metrics easy by using tables  — If you’re reporting on a lot of metrics , make those easy to update by utilizing tables when and where you can. On the left side, include the name of the metric. On the right, include the number. Voila, an easy-to-read and easy-to-update metrics table

Once you’ve got the template, where do you store it? Ideally, put the template where you can quickly and easily access it and send it. Do you use a document repository like Sharepoint or Confluence? You can create a page that you can duplicate and edit. If you use something like Notion, you can save the page as a template that you can quickly and easily apply to any page within Notion.

Another thing to consider is how you plan to send the update each week. One option is to link to a document repository that has all of the updates linked and just schedule an automated email to send to key stakeholders with a link to the homepage. Another option? Copy and paste the text from your update into an email and link to older updates that live elsewhere.

When to update your template

If you feel trapped using a template, know that you can customize them and change them over time. As the project changed and evolved, so did our progress updates. It’s okay to change them! In fact, sometimes it’s necessary. So how do you know when it’s time to change your template?

• You regularly get questions from stakeholders about aspects of your project that are not answered in the current template
• The project has taken on a completely new direction but you haven’t updated your progress report to capture these new aspects of the project
• You’ve added another team or aspect to the project but their work is not reflected in the template

All of these are signs that it’s time to update the template to include more or different information. This can be a great time to pause and ask your stakeholders what new information would be helpful for them to read about in the progress report.

Incorporating progress report comments

Your stakeholders may have follow-up questions or comments about your progress report. This is great news because it means that your stakeholders are involved and staying up to date! Of course, they may have positive feedback or negative feedback. How do you handle either situation?

Handling negative feedback about your progress report from stakeholders

You’ve sent out the progress report, and you’re excited to hear all of the positive comments on how much progress the team is making. Then the comments start rolling in, and they are disappointingly not positive. How do you address negative comments from stakeholders?

There is negative feedback about the formatting

Sometimes, stakeholders may have negative feedback about how the progress report looks instead of commenting on the contents of the report itself. This can be a good thing — they have an interest in the process!

Take their feedback into consideration and potentially make updates to the template to make incorporating their feedback easier from week to week. If there’s a way to make the report easier to read, make those adjustments. If data is missing that would help make decisions — and if the data is available — consider adding it to subsequent progress reports.

There is negative feedback about the progress being made

Sometimes, stakeholders will have questions or comments related to how quickly the project is moving or the challenges the team is encountering. Here are some steps on how to handle this when it comes up.

• First, try to understand where the stakeholder is coming from. Are they curious about why a challenge arose? Are they concerned about the progress so far? Are they nervous about missing a critical deadline? You may need to reach out to that stakeholder to understand their concerns or feedback better so that you know how you can help
• Once you understand where the concern is coming from, now you can work to address the stakeholder’s feedback or criticism. If they address a challenge that has come up, it may be a good time to escalate the support you need in clearing the blocker. If they’re addressing that it seems like the project is off-track, reiterate what you or the team are doing to ensure that the project stays on track
• Sometimes, negative feedback occurs because someone is missing context or does not have all the information. In this case, it can be helpful to ensure that the stakeholder understands

Handling positive feedback about your progress report

When you get positive feedback about the progress you’re making, this is a great time to share that feedback with the entire team and celebrate. There are ways to incorporate this kind of feedback into your team’s rhythms.

One way is to surface positive feedback at a daily standup or weekly team meeting, letting them know that the leadership team or external stakeholders are happy with the progress are cheering you on. If appropriate, inviting a stakeholder to a team meeting and letting them know they’re excited about the progress can be a fun addition.

Conclusion and key takeaways

Progress reports can help keep your stakeholders in the loop, build trust, and keep them up to date about what’s happening within your project. Remember that good progress reports adapt and change as you get feedback from your stakeholders and as the project needs change. Templating your progress reports can help you save time and allow others to contribute as you assign segments to other members of the team.

Remember that you can also keep it fun by adding your touch to it. If negative feedback arises, incorporate what you can. And when positive feedback comes up, remember to pass it on.

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Blog Business How to Write a Professional Progress Report 

How to Write a Professional Progress Report 

Written by: Daleska Pedriquez Jun 28, 2022

The first time I had to do a professional progress report, I panicked. I didn’t know where to begin my report or what to include. So I did some research and asked my co-workers for advice. 

I’m glad I did because they shared some useful tips on how to create a progress report . They also pointed me toward a ton of progress report templates to use as a starting point.

Now, I’ve filled out countless progress reports and learned some valuable lessons along the way. So, gather around everyone! I’ll show you the magic of using progress reports for your business, including how to incorporate data visualization.

Let’s get started!

Click to jump ahead:

What is a progress report?

Why are work progress reports important, what are the benefits of the project progress reports, how to write a progress report, 3 tips to write great reports, faqs about writing a professional progress report.

Let’s start with the basics. A progress report includes a detailed description of the current status of a project, as well as forecasts for the future. You can use this type of report to share insights on project status and performance. You may also project results and timelines based on the milestones your team has achieved and the challenges you’ve faced so far.

These reports often contain a summary of communications between a team member and a project manager. This helps stakeholders get a snapshot of how a project is progressing. 

Keep in mind: a progress report may be for your team alone, your company as a whole or your board of executives. Depending on the audience, you may want to include more or less granular information.

This may seem obvious, but reporting on progress is key for keeping your team on track. Consistent  project updates  will ensure everyone is working on the right tasks, at the right time. These reports also provide an opportunity for reflection…

What’s going well? What isn’t? Do the project objectives still make sense? Do they need adjusting? By taking the time to reflect  before  a project is finished, you’ll be able to catch any problems, adjust and increase your chances of success. 

Project progress reports offer several benefits to both project managers and stakeholders involved in a project. Here’s a closer look at the benefits of creating a professional progress report: 

Improves team collaboration 

As I mentioned, progress reports are all about keeping teams on the same page. Generally, everyone on your team would receive a copy of the report. That way, everyone can see what’s done and what remains to be done. 

This is also a good way to keep your team motivated during long projects. By reporting on everything that’s been accomplished, they can see just how far they’ve come.

In the initial phases of a project, your progress report may be as simple as a timeline. This type of report works well during the planning stages, too. For example, check out this weekly reporting template: 

You can customize this template however you need. Style the text, swap out the colors, add in your logo and voilà… you have a professionally branded report.

Guides decision-making throughout a project

Again, if you wait until the end of a project to reflect, you may miss opportunities to course-correct along the way. No  project plan  is perfect. There will always be unforeseen circumstances. A task that requires more time. A team member that drops out of the race… 

A progress report can help you deal with these hiccups. By proactively checking in on a project, you can make decisions about the best use of resources. Or even, whether you need to switch lanes entirely! 

Creates a detailed audit trail for all projects

While a progress report  isn’t  an audit, it does provide a record of all the work undertaken during a project. In other words, it’s useful if you or your company need to create an audit trail using project execution records.

Of course, progress reports are also useful if you’re answering to execs, giving updates to your fellow execs or simply referring back to the next time around. 

Take this quarterly project status report as an example. Using this template, you can share a high-level overview of a project with a simple progress bar featuring a clear percentage, or swap in any chart to depict progress. With Venngage’s editor, you just have to double-click on the chart and input the appropriate value.

Promotes transparency and accountability

Transparency and accountability are buzzwords in business, but with good reason. Without transparency, there’s no accountability. And without accountability, well, your project is going to be a slog. 

Progress reports are a great way to maintain transparency and accountability throughout a project. Not only can you see exactly who’s done (and doing) what, but you can also highlight the allocation of funding and resources, as well as results. 

Now that we’ve talked about the perks of using a progress report to  visualize your company’s projects , let’s dig into the good stuff. Here’s how to write a detailed progress report: 

1. Determine your report’s objectives

Of course, your report will have different objectives depending on the format. If you’re putting together a weekly report, those objectives may be tasks accomplished. You may also include notes about roadblocks or problems solved. 

A monthly or quarterly report will likely look at larger milestones instead and give a broader overview of the progress made on a project. This type of regular project evaluation may also compare progress to previous months. 

Pro tip: while designing in Venngage, you can create a new color scheme, or use one of the many automated color palettes available. If you’re on a business plan, you’ll also have access to  My Brand Kit , which allows you to upload logos, choose fonts and set color palettes. Then, you can easily apply your visual branding to every design.

2. Collect all your data

Once you’ve established your objectives, you can gather the necessary data to report on them. 

For example, with a weekly report, you may need to check in with your team members to get a status update on their tasks. With a monthly report, you may be able to pull results, in addition to a broader status update. 

Whatever claims you include in your report, just make sure you can back them up with data. If you’re saying a project is 90% complete, that percentage should be calculated based on real numbers, not estimates. 

In general, you’ll share a broader progress update on the first page of your report. Then, the following pages will show the supporting data. 

3. Perform a detailed data analysis

Now for the fun part. (Yup, I’m a data nerd.) 

Analyzing your data is the logical next step. I like to start by organizing my data into buckets. For example, I might have a bucket for tasks accomplished, outstanding tasks, blockers, budget and key learnings to date. 

Often, I’ll include a bucket for outstanding questions. And I analyze all of the above to identify patterns and make informed predictions.

Once you have all this information, make a note of which pieces of data can be visualized. Graphs, charts and other visuals help simplify complex data and reduce the amount of text you’ll need in your report. (More on visualizing your data in just a sec!) 

Pro tip: when creating a report in Venngage on a  Business Plan , you can collaborate in real-time with your team members and invite them to work on a design. You can also leave comments and get feedback, right on the platform. Alternatively, you can share your design online, via email or download a high-resolution PNG, PDF or interactive PDF. 

4. Outline and edit your report

Ah, the outline. I create an outline for everything I write, whether it’s a blog, business plan, or yes, a progress report. In my experience, it’s the best way to avoid writer’s block. With a detailed outline, you’ll never get stuck staring at a blank screen again. 

At this point, you know your objectives. You’ve collected and analyzed all your data. All that’s left is to  turn it into a story . 

I like to start with objectives and work my way backward. In my outline, I’ll cover objectives on the first page. Each one gets its own heading with supporting data underneath. I’ll also include a high-level description of my project on the first page. 

I like to organize the following sections by objective, too. This creates a natural hierarchy while keeping goals and objectives top of mind. 

5. Nail down the length of your report

Keep in mind that you don’t want your report to be the length of a bible! No one has the time or attention span for that. Here’s a quick rule of thumb: a progress report should be around two to three pages.

This should give you enough space to state your objectives, present supporting data, showcase progress and make any predictions. If your outline is more than three pages, have another look and see what you can trim. As all good writers know, sometimes you have to  kill your darlings . 

6. Design your report using visuals 

A picture is worth a thousand words — there’s a reason we’ve all heard this saying a thousand times! 

Engaging visuals  are the perfect way to turn dry data into meaningful, digestible statements. But you don’t have to create these visuals from scratch or hire a designer for that matter. By starting with one of  Venngage’s templates , you can simply customize the visuals to suit your needs.

For example, this project management status report template includes several images, charts and icons. You can swap out the images with your own or browse over three million high-quality, royalty-free photos to find something suitable. 

You can also change the icons to reflect your data. With Venngage, you get access to over 40,000 icons with thousands of diverse options to reflect a range of skin tones and cultural backgrounds. Plus, you can change the  charts to best represent your data . 

By using visuals in your design, you’ll break up walls of text and make your report both aesthetically pleasing and easy to understand. In the end, this will help you improve communication and impress any stakeholders involved. 

With Venngage’s  report maker , the design process is quick and easy. And best of all, you can do it all yourself — exactly the way you envisioned.

Related : 5 Best Report Creators for Businesses in 2022

7. Get feedback from your team 

Before sharing your final report, consider getting feedback from your team. 

They may have additional insights to share on a project’s progress. They can also help spot faulty data and prevent any embarrassing retractions down the line. This is also just good for morale. The more involved your team feels in a project, the more invested they’ll be. 

8. Finalize your report

Last step: proofreading.

Make sure to double-check everything, from spelling and grammar to project details and data visualizations. This step ties in with my point above. Getting a second pair of eyes to proofread your report is always a good idea. 

When you’ve been staring at something for weeks, it can be hard to catch mistakes. Your team members can look at your report with fresh eyes and share fresh insights.

In the data-heavy example above, a misplaced comma or rogue denominator could make all the difference. So don’t skip that final once over! At the end of the day, the goal is to create a report that’s as accurate as possible.

I’ve talked a lot about how to use visuals to create an engaging, full-featured progress report. But what about words, you ask? 

Keep these three quick tips in mind to breeze through the writing part, too: 

1. Stay focused

And I mean hyper-focused. 

Remember the first step in this guide: determine your report’s objectives. By staying focused on your objectives, you’ll avoid unnecessary tangents. Plus, you’ll have a lot less editing to do when it comes time to kill your darlings! 

If a point doesn’t tie back to your objectives, skip it. This will give your entire report a sense of direction. It will also help your team members digest and retain the information.

2. Discuss your objectives in a balanced manner

If you have multiple objectives, make sure you give each one its due. 

It’s true, one objective may be more important than the other. For example, you might dedicate more real estate to outlining project tasks than predicting future progress. Just make sure to weigh positive and negative data fairly. 

You don’t want a rose-colored report, so to speak. This will set unrealistic expectations and be more harmful than helpful down the line. Instead, use all the available data to share a balanced perspective in your progress report. 

3. Use a consistent reporting style

Reports are no place for flowery language. 

To make your report as effective as possible, use straightforward, simple language. Make sure to define any acronyms or technical terms at the beginning of your report. And remember the three Cs while you’re writing: be clear, concise and compelling.

What are the three types of progress reports?

There are three types of reports based on the time span they cover:

• Weekly: These reports typically cover a team member’s individual progress and how it affects the entire project.
• Monthly: These progress reports typically provide a broader overview of a project, including team member progress, methods and projections. Monthly reports are usually data-dependent and require more visuals than weekly reports.
• Quarterly: These detailed reports cover a three-month period. Quarterly reports include a lot more data and will require more visuals to make them digestible and engaging as a result. 

What are the qualities of a good progress report?

The qualities of a good progress report are: 

• Comprehensiveness: Provide a total overview of a project using clear objectives, simple language and a balanced ratio of text and images in your layout.
• Data-backed: Make sure your report includes accurate data that you’ve double-checked for any discrepancies.
• Rich in visuals: Leverage engaging visuals to break up the text in your report and turn your data into a compelling, easily digestible story.

Write a detailed professional progress report and achieve your goals

I know from personal experience that writing a progress report can be daunting at first. 

But with these tips and templates, I’m confident you can do it. So go ahead, give it a try.  Create a beautiful, raise-winning report  with Venngage for free. Just remember to clearly define your objectives first… and don’t skimp on visuals!

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• Writing Tips

How to Write a Progress Report

• 6-minute read
• 28th September 2021

A progress report is a business document that provides updates on a project’s progress toward meeting a goal. Typically, you’ll provide a progress report for a supervisor/manager, team member, or business client to summarize a project’s status and what still needs to be completed or improved.

But how do you write an effective progress report for your business’s projects ? In our guide below, we set out the typical structure of a progress report.

1. Header Information

A progress report should start with a header that includes key details about the report and the project. Typically, this will include the:

• Reporting period and/or the date of submission.
• Name(s) and position(s) of the report’s recipient(s).
• Name(s) and position(s) of the report’s author(s).
• Subject or title of the report/project.

This will help the recipient to understand the contents of the report at a glance.

2. Introduction

The introductory paragraph of a progress report should outline the purpose and timeframe of the project, plus any other important details or insights. 

You can also include an overview of what the rest of your progress report will cover.

3. Work Completed

The next section of your report should be titled “Work Completed.” Here, you can provide a chronological list of the project tasks that you have already completed and their corresponding dates. You can also include key findings from those tasks.

4. Problems Encountered

The next section should outline any problems encountered in the project so far. You should then explain either how those problems were solved or how they will be solved, and whether any extra help will be required to do so. You will also need to mention if those problems prompted any changes to the project.

5. Future Plans

To highlight the goals for the remainder of the project, the next section of your report should outline any future project tasks with their corresponding dates or deadlines, anticipated problems, and/or ideas for the project as you move forward.

End your progress report with a brief summary of key completed tasks, ongoing tasks, and major issues encountered. You don’t need to go into too much detail here, though. Stick to the essential details.

5 Tips on How to Write a Progress Report

We also have some helpful tips you can use when writing a progress report:

• Adapt the structure – While the structure outlined above will work for most projects, you can adapt it to suit your requirements. For instance, for a complex project with multiple goals, you may need to break it down into sections, detailing the progress, problems, and plans for each objective.
• Choose an appropriate frequency – For ongoing progress reports, think about whether to schedule daily, weekly, or monthly updates.
• Write clearly – Make sure to write clearly and concisely . Keep your sentences simple, straightforward, and easy to understand.
• Know your audience – If you’re writing a report for someone outside of your organization or team, explain any industry-specific language you use.
• Keep it professional – Make sure to use a formal tone , avoiding colloquial terms and phrases, slang, contractions, and other informal language.

Finally, to be sure your report looks and sounds professional, have it proofread. You can try our proofreading services by uploading a trial document for free today!

Example Progress Report

To see what a progress report might look like, check out our example report below:

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Date: September 24, 2021 To: J. Seymour, Head of Planning From: A. Boleyn, Planning Assistant Subject: Migration to new planning software

Since November 2016, Exemplar Inc. has used the PlanULike package to manage the company’s everyday operations. However, when we expanded to new territories in July 2021, the limitations of the software became evident, especially with regard to currency conversions when budgeting for projects in Europe. As a result, in August 2021, the decision was made to migrate to new planning software. This report covers the progress in this project made up until September 24, 2021.

Work Completed

• August 30 – Research completed into available planning software packages. The PlanZone software is selected based on its flexible budgeting capabilities.
• September 6 – A timeline is developed for installation and implementation of the new software package, with an initial deadline of September 30.
• September 10 – Head of Human Resources, Jack Thacker, begins developing in-house instructional materials for the new software.
• September 18 – Software is acquired and installed. Provisional version of internal training program is developed and tested with key staff members.
• September 21 – IT department identifies software compatibility problems with older hardware in operations department. New equipment purchased.
• September 24 – New computer hardware installed. After testing, training program is extended to heads of department in planning and operations.

Problems Encountered

The key problem encountered thus far has been a compatibility issue between the new software and some of the company’s existing hardware. Head of IT, Simon Robinson, reports that this was due to PlanZone including graphical features that Exemplar Inc. does not use and had not been factored into the initial planning.

Due to speedy delivery and installation of new hardware, this has not significantly affected the timeframe for the migration. But the unexpected expense does mean that the project is now significantly over budget.

In addition, the testing of the in-house training program took longer than anticipated to complete. Key staff are now familiar with the new software, but the deadline for company-wide training has been extended to November 15, 2021.

Future Plans

The improved training program will continue until November 15, 2021, when all relevant staff are expected to be familiar with the new software, after which all operational planning will use PlanZone, and the PlanULike systems will be deprecated by November 30, 2021. Due to exceeding the budget allocated for this project, a meeting will be scheduled for heads of department to discuss how the extra expenses may impact budgeting for other projects.

The company has acquired and installed new planning software (PlanZone), which is projected to enhance project planning and ease operations in new territories. However, unexpected hardware and training issues have slowed progress. Deadlines for the migration have thus been extended. Meanwhile, implications of the extra expenses will be factored into budgeting for upcoming projects.

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• How To Write a Progress Report (With a Free Template)

Writing a progress report is one of those tasks that sounds simpler in theory than it is in practice. Your goal is self-explanatory — to update the reader on, well, your progress! But in practice, you need to find a balance between including all relevant information and excluding distracting, extraneous details. That’s not always easy to do, and it can be especially tough if writing isn’t typically part of your job. 

Progress reports vary a lot based on the specifics of your work. That said, there are still some guiding principles that will help you make your report helpful, accessible, and informative. 

Keep reading as we break down what a progress report is, why it matters, and how to write one. When you’re done, you’ll be ready to write an exceptional progress report, and we’ll even give you a free template you can use to nail it every time.

What is a progress report?

A progress report is a formalized way to keep people updated on your work. Usually, they’re intended for an audience that wasn’t part of your work but is still connected to it in some way. This could be someone supervising you — like your manager — or an external stakeholder. Progress reports can be written daily, weekly, quarterly, or even annually.

These reports can also be issued as part of general updates on company performance, especially as quarterly or annual reports . Obviously, they provide information about your progress, but they also discuss blockers, whether or not they were overcome, and how. They’ll also include important KPIs . 

Good progress reports contain detailed, specific information, not generalized statements. If you’re working on a long-term project and will be reporting at regular intervals, it might be helpful to structure all your reports from the same standardized template . This will give you a consistent frame of reference when you’re looking back at the project’s trajectory. 

In addition to keeping other people in the loop, reporting on your progress can help you and your team stay on track. It forces you to assess how far you’ve come and think critically about obstacles, both what caused them and how you solved them. It also helps you and your teammates get credit for your hard work!

Why are progress reports important?

When you’re knee-deep in your project, progress reports can sometimes feel like a waste of time. After all, you’d rather be getting the work done than writing about it! 

But in reality, progress reports are incredibly important in project management . Here are a few ways that progress reports make work better for everyone. 

They make it easier to work together

Progress reports give everyone visibility. This helps you avoid information silos, confusion, miscommunication, and inefficiency. They also promote collaboration . If multiple teams are working on a project, it’s easy to spot ways to help each other, since everyone knows exactly what’s going on.

In Unito’s Report on Reporting , 82% of people surveyed said their reports led to actionable insights at least most of the time. That can mean finding the weak spots in your workflow or just getting a better sense of how everyone collaborates.

Progress reports track individual contributions

Once a project’s completed, it can be tricky to remember exactly who handled which task. But there are many reasons why that information should be carefully documented. For example, if a problem arises later, you may need to look back and see what caused it. Did someone drop the ball? Conversely, if the project is a success, your progress report makes it easy to see who deserves to have their efforts recognized.

In either scenario, the report removes ambiguity. Who did what is crystal clear and not up for debate.

They help you reflect on success and failure

Progress reports provide value long after your project wraps up. Going past individual employees’ successes or failures, they can reveal the big-picture loopholes, oversights, and inefficiencies that impeded your progress. Many companies will also analyze progress reports in aggregate to improve all their operational processes. 

How to write a progress report

Your progress report should be clear, concise, and informative. If you’re not much of a writer, don’t worry — the point of a progress report is to share information, not show off your storytelling skills.

Here are some general best practices to follow when you’re writing your report.

Set a schedule 

Outline when regular progress reports should be delivered and make sure you get buy-in from your team. Set specific deadlines for submission or they will sink to the bottom of everyone’s to-do list and never get done. 

How often you need to write a report depends on the project’s size and complexity, but keep things realistic. Asking teams to report too frequently can lead to unhelpful, surface-level reports, while not enough reporting can lead to important milestones being missed. 

Start with the basics

Include basic information like your company, department, the name of everyone working on the project, an overview of what it entails, and your goals. This gives your manager the ability to share the report outside your team or department without amending it. 

Keep your progress report simple 

As we mentioned, progress reports should use simple, accessible language to convey information. This is not the time to emulate your college philosophy paper. Overly complicated phrasing won’t make you look smart and professional, it will confuse your reader and obscure your meaning.

That’s not to say you can’t use technical or industry-specific language — after all, in many situations, these terms are the simplest way to convey your meaning. If you do choose to use specialized terms or acronyms, you may want to define them. This depends on the audience of your report. 

Progress, plans, and problems

One technique to keep things brief and to the point is known as “progress, plans, and problems.” The idea is that unless you’re talking about an accomplishment, projected future accomplishment, or a roadblock, it doesn’t belong in your report. 

When managers, supervisors, and colleagues are aware of your progress, plans, and problems , they have a holistic view of where the project’s at and can see where their attention is needed.

Include data 

It’s not enough to just tell the reader what you accomplished — wherever possible, you should prove it, too. Use charts, tables, or graphics wherever you can to help the reader visualize your progress. Try to source data from tools you’re already using.

Progress report template

Need a hand writing your progress report? We have a free template you can use to draft your reports. Just click the link to access the Google Doc, and download the template. This template follows the pointers outlined above, as well as including a section where you can draft an executive summary.

Download the free template

Get unito’s report on reporting.

Reporting is an absolutely essential workflow for your business. But have you ever felt like it’s more difficult than it should be? We surveyed 150 knowledge workers from various industries, asking them about their reporting workflows, the tools they use, and more.

You can get the full breakdown of their answers — and our analysis — in Unito’s Report on Reporting.

Get the eBook here

Visibility, accountability, and communication.

Even when you understand their importance, writing progress reports can feel like taking valuable time away from actually doing the work. 

But reporting on your progress doesn’t need to be a hassle. If you follow these guidelines, you’ll get in the habit of writing clear, helpful progress reports that make it easy to update your colleagues, assess your performance, and keep your project on track. 

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What Is A Project Progress Report & How To Write It (+Template)

How do you tell the difference between a good project and a bad one?

Look at the project status reports.

• Bad project status reports – your team or client gets lost in pointless data, doesn’t know what work was done, and receives no insightful comments.
• Good project status reports – your team or client sees critical data summaries, easy-to-understand insights, and an overview of the work done.

Projects get complex fast, and the tasks stack up quickly. It’s challenging for PMs to keep on top of everything.

That’s where project status reports can help.

In this post, you’ll learn how to create a project status report that tells the true story of each project (template included).

Let’s get started!

What is a project status report?

Project status reports are timely updates on the progress of your projects. They are the best way to track, record, and review the ongoing status of a project. 

At a glance, this might look like time tracking , but project status reporting goes deeper. It can include the scope of the work, the challenges, the team members involved, and the financial realities of the project.

Why is a project status report important?

Having worked at an agency, I know from experience that creating project status reports isn’t something project managers spend a lot of time on.

We often found projects would face issues all the time. But there was a noticeable difference in how projects were managed when we started creating project status reports for the more complex projects.

They were the best way to keep the team and clients aligned and in the loop as projects progressed. We could course-correct the project if we spotted signs the project was at risk of going over budget or not being delivered on time.

Reports were also helpful as a reflective tool to identify what went to plan and didn’t.

Other benefits of a project status report include the following:

What should a project status report include?

Project status reports will look very different depending on your industry, team size, and target reader. 

They can be created solely for your manager, team, or client. Try to keep this in mind when introducing your project status reports. Everyone will need to be on the same page regarding their purpose.

Let’s look at the critical fundamentals of any project status report.

Let’s dive a little deeper.

Timelines and milestones

Every project is a collection of tasks that must be completed within a specific timeline. That’s why every one of those tasks, or group of tasks, can work as a project milestone — signaling if the project is on track. 

For example, let’s say you are running a YouTube marketing campaign and must create 2 videos per month. 

What do those videos involve? 

• A meeting to schedule the day of filming
• Hiring the actors

In a project management tool , every one of these tasks can become a milestone with its deadline, time, and budget allocation. Hitting project milestones help prevent projects from going over budget, keep a project on track and deliver it on time. 

You should be reporting on project progress via milestones and look to see if they are being hit on time or not. 

Project milestones can be tracked using either a project tracking spreadsheet or project task management software .

A project tracking spreadsheet is a useful visual tool to track each task’s progress against the original project timeline . The spreadsheet should include all tasks, their status, the task owner, and the project progress percentage.

Note: you can download our free project tracking spreadsheet below.

How does the spreadsheet work?

• Add your list of project tasks
• Assign a task owner for each item
• Set start and end dates for each task
• Track the progress of each task using the status dropdown menu

Once you’ve added all of your project tasks, you can start tracking how much time you or your team spend on each one via the ‘Tracker’ tab.

This will automatically update task actuals in the ‘Project’ tab and tell you if the project is over or under budget — based on the estimated hours you enter.

There is also a progress bar and percentage on the spreadsheet to let you know how close the project is to completion.

You can use a Work Breakdown Structure to better understand what tasks are required to complete for the project.

Spreadsheets are pretty good for managing projects — but only if you’re a spreadsheet wizard. 🧙

Alternatively, you can better track project milestones using project management software . Here’s how to do it using Toggl Plan .

• Click on a date in the header you wish to add a milestone to
• Add a name that’s easy to understand for everyone
• Choose a color to know what project the milestone belongs to.

This will make project milestones visible to everyone working on the project. 

The goal here is to offer easy-to-understand signals of what has been completed and what has been delayed. Giving you the information you need to make project adjustments where required.

Check out this video below to start creating and tracking project milestones in Toggl Plan.

Note: skip to 3:18 to learn how to add a project (plan).

Project financials

Getting the client to approve the project budget needed is the easy part. What’s harder is making sure you stay within budget.

This will typically mean keeping track of costs such as

• Labor costs
• Billable hours
• Project expenses

You may already be tracking similar costs using a project budget spreadsheet, or if you’re using the spreadsheet from above, you can add the ‘estimated hours’ for each task. 

This will then give you the total cost for each task based on your hourly rate.

You or your team can start tracking time spent on each task within the ‘Tracker’ tab.

This will automaticity update the ‘Actual hours’ and ‘Actual cost’ columns in the ‘Project’ tab — letting you know if the task is coming in or over budget.

Alternatively, you can ditch the spreadsheets and use time tracking software to track project financials.

Toggl Track allows you to track your billable and non-billable hours and team labor costs to assess the profitability of every project.

You can easily find your billable and non-billable hours per project by looking at the Project Dashboard and viewing the Billing Amounts chart.

The Billing Amounts chart shows the project’s progress against the Fixed fee amount set for the project. 

Below this chart, you will see a bar and a pie chart representing current data containing total clocked hours, billable hours, and remaining hours (based on the project estimate ). 

There’s a good chance your project will miss key milestones and surpass the estimated timeline if your team spends too much time on non-billable work. So catching this early can be a lifesaver.

You can also look at the Insights Dashboard to get a glimpse into the profitability of your project and team. 

You have options to view the total earnings made from each project and how your labor costs stack against that.

Reporting on this type of information will help you better understand and manage the costs associated with each project. Allowing you to make adjustments where necessary. 

Resource management is one of the most demanding challenges for project managers.

With fewer people and tighter budgets, you have very little wriggle room to ensure that projects are delivered successfully.

To help keep the project on track, you may need to ask yourself:

• Do I need more resources for this project?
• Is each employee maximizing their time on the project?

The key ingredients here are your team’s capacity and billable utilization . 

Let’s take a look at how you can get access to this type of information.

Team capacity

Knowing how many hours your team has available each day can help you to reallocate resources if someone is struggling or needs extra support.

This can be done by using a resource planning spreadsheet . Search ‘resource planning template’ on Google. You should be able to find one that works for you.

Alternatively, you can view your team’s available capacity inside Toggl Plan . 

Here’s how.

• Select your team under the Teams dropdown
• View the timeline to visualize your team’s workload capacity

This will give you a high-level view of your team and their available hours each day.

This is done by adding time estimates to each task and comparing that to the user’s daily working hours.

Note: working hours are set per day inside of workspace settings.

Billable utilization

Billable utilization measures the percentage of available hours that employees spend generating revenue. 

• Billable Utilization % = (Number of Billable Hours / Number of Available Hours) X 100%.

For example, let’s say an employee has 40 available hours to work in their week. That’s their available capacity. 

But they’re only hitting 30 hours a week.

Their resource utilization is 75%.

But out of the 30 hours they work, only 10 are billable hours (client work).

Their billable utilization is 25%

What does this tell you? 

The employee is only working 75% of their total available hours. And only 25% of their available hours are spent on work that generates revenue. 

Here’s how to view a variation of billable hours utilization using Toggl Track .

• Go to the Reports Dashboard
• Filter by Team member
• Select time period

You will see a billable utilization percentage* next to the total billable hours for that team member.

*The percentage of billable hours in the screenshot above is based on the total hours worked. Not total available hours.

Reporting on your available resources will help you to

• Understand if you can allocate more work to a team member or if you need to hire more resources as your team is at maximum capacity.
• Identify areas where you can audit a team member’s time to see if you can get more billable hours out of them or if they need extra support.

Both of these will help you to make the proper adjustments to ensure the success of your project.

Toggl Plan has a native integration with Toggl Track .

The integration provides an easy way to start and stop timing your tasks from within Toggl Plan, and automatically pass the data through to your Toggl Track workspace. It’ll only take a couple of minutes to connect your accounts and get started.

Check out the video to learn more.

Changes and scope shift

Many things might cause your project to change in scope. Regardless of the why or how, documenting those changes is crucial.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Has the timeline changed?
• Has the scope changed? 

If yes, then ask yourself why. 

• Have you uncovered more work than you initially planned for?
• Has the client requested additional work outside the project’s scope? 

You’ll be better equipped to make the best decision for the client and the project by getting the answers to those questions.

• Team performance

Monitoring team performance throughout a project’s lifecycle helps keep the project on track and boost team morale.

You need to know how well your team members are doing their job. 

• Who needs help? 
• Who is performing like an absolute superstar? 

Perhaps the team member that is performing well deserves to be celebrated.

And the underperforming team member? 

Perhaps they need extra training. Or maybe you’ve chosen them for the wrong task and need to reshuffle resources if you want to get the best out of your team. 

The best way of monitoring performance is by analyzing the data first.

Some key areas to monitor include.

Keeping a close eye on this data will help you analyze your team’s performance. Giving you the information you need to make better staffing decisions for other projects.

Risk management

We often plan a project with this overly optimistic mindset. We forget to consider X — or even worse, we knowingly sweep X under the rug, thinking it won’t happen to us.

Before you know it, you’re mid-project and starting to feel the heat.

The first step is carrying out a project risk assessment before a project starts. 

But sometimes, not everything can be identified or planned for. So you may find yourself having to put out a few fires.

Reporting on any project issues will help you to better navigate through the project and help to prevent them from happening again in the future.

How to write a good project status report — the 4 N’s

The project manager’s paradox is knowing how to source and analyze data and when to ignore it.

How you report on each project is entirely up to you.

But remember to be clear on who the audience is with your project progress reports. This will help you to deliver them with the appropriate information and tone.

We’ve put together a project reporting template based on four key elements (the 4 N’s) we think you should be reporting on.

Grab it below!

Note: you will need access to the critical project metrics/data outlined above to write an effective report.

The 4 N’s of a project status report

Now let’s dive into what each one means.

Regarding numbers, there are two main elements to focus on: 

You have to focus on your expenditure for every part of the project and compare it to the costs you planned at the beginning. Then you have to do the same with your scheduling plans.

Let’s say you’re working on a marketing campaign that will last two months. 

Within the first month, you are expected to: 

• Create ten posts
• Spend 60% of your budget

Examine and monitor your project metrics and determine how they compare to the project’s planning. When you find differences, you use the narrative to explain why the changes occurred and what they mean for the project going forward.

Let the numbers grab their attention and draw their interest. Then they will pay attention to the narrative of your project report. 

You should also use charts and graphs to make the numbers more digestible. 

Considering that a project report is supposed to be full of facts and numbers, focusing on the report’s narrative might seem like a vague tip. 

But it isn’t. 

Consider this statistic: only  5%  of people attending a presentation remember statistics, but 63% of people remember stories. 

We’re not suggesting that you flex your creative muscle and go all ‘once-upon-a-time’ on your project report. But you shouldn’t overwhelm people with numbers.

In your narrative, try to provide any necessary back-story or analysis behind: 

Each of these elements depends on all the  other  elements of the project. They’re all interconnected, and that’s where narrative comes into play. 

Let us give you two examples, focusing on an Instagram marketing campaign. 

In the first, you focus only on the statistics, so you write in your project report: 

• We’ve only booked 60% of the influencers. 
• We only have 20% of the budget left.

Based on these two facts alone, it might seem like you’re not very good at your job. It might seem like the project is destined to fail. 

But now, let us show you how narrative can change the entire perception of the situation. 

We have booked 60% of the influencers because we decided to switch tactics and focus on creating content ourselves. The last option was less effective than anticipated. 

The budgetary situation considers all our costs for the project’s duration—because creating content ourselves is cheaper, we expect to complete this project 10% under budget. This money will be used to buy more sponsored ads on Instagram. 

Now, doesn’t that sound like an entirely different story?

Projects need people to succeed. So it’s worth spending time analyzing the team members chosen to bring the project to completion. 

You can identify the underperforming team members and try to determine why. But you also identify the excellent team members and celebrate their successes.

But in your project report, depending on how often you report, you should also outline if you need to reallocate resources.

Is anyone sick? Is anyone going on vacation? More importantly, does anyone  need  a vacation? 

Employees that are burnt out are of no benefit to anybody. You should take the chance to note who has been working the hardest and who will be taking a more prominent role in the project’s next stage. 

Tracking time in timesheets is an option here. But manual timesheets aren’t always the most accurate. 

Features like Toggl’s  Summary Report  can be helpful here. It can show you who’s been working the most and provide accurate weekly data on their working hours.

Features like Toggl’s Summary Report can be helpful as they can show you who’s been working the most and provide accurate data on their working hours every week.

You can also audit your teams time within this report. With a time audit , you no longer have to do a manual roll call to ensure everyone in the workspace has logged time for the week.

Note: You may want to keep reporting individual team members’ performance between yourself and your manager/team. But reporting on the other three elements for your client is a great way to build trust. 

This is the section where you tell the story that the narrative and the numbers might have missed out on. 

Which part of the picture might be missing out from the report? What kind of challenges might the team be facing that outsiders might be completely oblivious to? 

Perhaps the team detected an opportunity, and you would consider expanding the scope of work. 💰

Or perhaps there are other external challenges out of your control. For example, a client is requesting work out of scope or taking an age to get back to you with critical documents or files.

These nuances need to be included in the report because as the project progresses, project managers and team members begin stumbling into unexpected factors that might impact the project’s overall success. 

It is important to point them out, explain their causes, and suggest potential solutions to overcome those obstacles.

Project status report template

This project report template is meant to streamline the project reporting process. We want to ensure it’s used to highlight the critical elements described above. 

This will help to ensure everyone keeps on track with what they need to be doing and to help you make adjustments before it’s too late.

Note: feel free to change the headings and the report’s overall structure. You may want to only report on projects internally or with your client — which may influence what you report on.

When should you write a project status report?

Honestly? It depends. 🤷‍♀️

There are two main factors to consider: 

• The length of the project
• The size of the project

When it comes to the length of the project, we are mainly referring to the intervals at which project reporting has to be done. 

A multi-year project might only require a status report every quarter or every six months. But a project that lasts six months? Monthly reporting is probably a good cadence.

While keeping management or your client informed of the progress is essential, project reports often take time. So creating them too often might be considered wasteful. 

But then there is the second element to consider — the project’s size.

Straightforward projects like creating a one-page flyer probably don’t need much reporting. 

But something as complex as a website build, mobile app, or branding campaign may require regular updates. So writing a project report every month or quarter is worthwhile. 

But don’t go overboard with project progress reports. Too much project reporting can be problematic. You don’t want to drown yourself with admin work when your time could be better spent on profitable work. Try and apply some common sense.

Feel in control with project reporting

Don’t stress over creating project reports too much. It’s usually more straightforward than it’s thought to be. Consistent and accurate project reporting helps significantly if you regularly work on complex and lengthy projects. 

They will also help you to manage better: 

• Scope creep

Knowing how to write a project report and taking advantage of its information can be the difference between a successful project and a soul-destroying one.

Sean is a Content Marketer at Toggl. He's been involved in SEO and Content Marketing since 2017. Before working for Toggl, Sean ran SEO at a digital marketing agency—so he's all too familiar with time tracking and project management.

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8 steps to write an effective project status report

Effective project status reports are the best way to keep your stakeholders aligned and in the loop during your project progress. These high-level updates proactively let your team know if a project is on track, at risk, or off track—so you can course correct if necessary to hit your deadlines every time. Learn how to create project status reports in a few easy steps, plus check out a template you can use right away.

It’s the end of the week and here you are again: having to dig through a variety of spreadsheets, emails, and tools to patch together an update of how your project is doing. 

Instead of manually assembling this information, use a project status report template to streamline this process for you. That way, you spend less time on unnecessary data gathering and more time on work that matters. 

Whether you’re gearing up for your first ever project status report or you’re looking for a better system than the one you currently use, this article will walk you through what a progress report is, how you can build one, and how to use project status reports to hit your project deadlines on time, every time. Here’s how.

What is a project status report?

Project status reports are timely updates on the progress of your projects. Written concisely, project reports offer high-level information about project progress, so team members get at-a-glance insight into what’s happening within the project. With a timely status report, you can ensure your entire project team and cross-functional stakeholders understand what’s on track, what’s blocked, and what’s coming next. 

Regularly sharing project status reports is important because they help you keep all project stakeholders in the loop and aligned on how your project is progressing. They answer the questions everyone has before team members even have a chance to ask them. They show and tell your team that you’re on track, making you (and everyone else) feel confident.

How often you share project status reports depends on your project’s timeline. Some projects benefit from weekly reporting, while others only need to be updated once a month. Schedule your project reports as frequently as is helpful for your stakeholders. These shouldn’t be reactive reports on things going poorly—rather, effective reports keep your team updated on the project’s progress, whether the project is on track, at risk, or off track.

The benefits of effective project reporting

Reporting isn’t just something you should do for the sake of doing it. Effective reporting has a variety of benefits. When you correctly report on project status, you effectively: 

Keep track of project health

The worst thing for a project is when you arrive at the end of the timeline and realize you were off track the whole time. No one likes being blindsided—and as the project manager, you’re empowered to make sure your team is aware of your project health at all times. 

Progress reports are a way to do that without too much manual work. Because these reports mix high-level summaries with some important metrics, everyone has a sense of the project's health. And if the project is off track? You can quickly and proactively fix it—so you still hit your project deadline on time and on budget.

Summarize project progress

Project status reports are not real-time reports. These reports are summaries of what happened during the past week, two weeks, or month of project work. They’re an opportunity for your stakeholders to stay informed on how well you’re sticking to the project plan . 

If you’re looking for tips on how to report on projects in real time, check out our article on universal reporting tools for every team . 

Reduce manual work

As the project manager, you already have enough on your plate. You don’t need to also spend hours every week or month grabbing data from different places. Project reporting tools make it easy to find all of this information in one place, and create a project status report with the click of a button. 

Share next steps and action items

Project status reports should go out to your project team, project sponsor, important stakeholders, and cross-functional team members. Because these are high-level reports, they’re appropriate for anyone who wants to stay informed about project progress. 

This is the optimal way to let everyone know what’s happening without getting into the details. If there are important project next steps or action items, share them here so everyone knows what to expect. 

Proactively identify blockers

If your project isn’t on track, your status report lets others know what the delay is and what you’re doing to resolve any blockers, allowing you to show off your proactive approach to getting things back to where they should be. Similar to the project risk management process , proactive status reporting helps you identify and overcome issues before they impact your project timeline.

Say goodbye to status meetings

The day of the status meeting is over. We now know these aren’t effective ways to spend your time. Unlike face-to-face meetings, project status reports are shared in a central tool that team members can check asynchronously when they want to. They can refer back to the information, or dig deeper into the project if necessary. Save your face-to-face meeting time for valuable meetings like brainstormings or all hands. 

Before you report: Combine reporting with effective project management

The biggest benefit of project status reporting is that it reduces your manual work, centralizes information, and makes it easy to keep everyone up to date. If your information is scattered across multiple tools, you can’t effectively use project reporting templates—you still need to manually open this Excel spreadsheet and that team email to gather your information. 

Instead, make sure you’re using project management software as your central source of truth. With project management software you:

Have a central source of truth so team members can see who’s doing what by when. 

Can easily visualize project information in a Gantt chart , Kanban board , calendar, or spreadsheet-style list view. 

Create status reports with the click of a button. 

Offer a place for team members who read the status report and want more details to look and find the information they need. 

Have access to additional project information, like your project plan, communication plan , project goals, milestones, deliverables , and more.

Naturally, we think Asana is a great option. Asana is a work management tool your entire team can use. Your cross-functional collaborators need a way to view past status reports. Your key stakeholders need a bird’s eye view of the entire program or project portfolio management progress. And your team members need a way to track individual work throughout the project lifecycle.

8 steps to write a great project status report

So, how do you go about doing project status reports? Be sure to create a clear structure you can use consistently for all future status reports. You should also make sure it matches with your project brief to keep your report on topic.

Follow this guide to understand what to include in your project status report, and watch as we put each step into practice with an example of an Employee Satisfaction project.

1. Build your report where work lives

Before you build your report, make sure you’re already tracking your work information in a project management tool. That way, you don’t have to manually grab information from a host of sources—instead, you can reduce manual work and create a report with a few clicks. 

Starting off with a project management tool makes it easy to capture dependencies and note upcoming tasks so you’re never blindsided about your project health.

2. Name your report

A great option is to simply use the project name for clarity. If you’re reporting on this project regularly, you should also include a date or timestamp.

Example project report title: February 2020 - Employee satisfaction initiative

3. Indicate project health

The project health is the current status of the project. Project health may change from report to report, especially if you run into blockers or unblock big project risks. Look for a project management tool that allows you to communicate the project’s status and whether or not it’s on track. One way to do this is to use a color coding system (green = on track, yellow = at risk, red = off track).

Example project health update: Project status is on track.

4. Quickly summarize the status report

Your project status report summary should be brief—about 2-3 sentences. The goal here is to give readers who may not have time to read the entire report a quick TL;DR of the most important facts. 

This is the first section of your report, so it’s the best place to: 

Include highlights

Flag major blockers

Note unexpected project risks

Example status report summary: Our survey results are in and being reviewed. At first glance, we’re seeing 80% employee satisfaction, up 3 points from the last survey. The Engagement Committee is working with the Executive team on what new engagement initiatives to implement in our key target areas, which include career growth and transparency.

5. Add a high-level overview of each key area

Depending on your project, your key areas may vary from report to report, or they may stay consistent. For example, in an Agile project that’s continuously improving, you’d likely use dynamic key areas that cover the things your team worked on during the last sprint. Alternatively, for an event planning project, there are a set number of key areas that you always want to touch on, like promotion, signups, and speakers. 

For each key area in the status report, add a few bullet points that give an update on progress, accomplishments, and upcoming work.

Example high-level overview of a key area: Survey results

70% of employees took the satisfaction survey.

Our overall satisfaction rating is 80%.

Only 57% of employees report having a clear path towards career advancement, down 5% since the last survey. 

41% of employees listed transparency as the number one improvement they’d like to see.

6. Add links to other documents or resources

While you shouldn’t include every little detail about how your project is going, some people will want to know more. For stakeholders who are looking for more in-depth information, provide links to documents or resources. This can include more specific project information, like links to specific project milestones , or the broader impacts of the project, like a reference to the business goals the project is contributing to.

Example: Include a link to the employee satisfaction survey , as well as to the larger company OKR around increasing employee engagement over the course of the fiscal year.

7. Flag any blockers the project has run into

All projects run into roadblocks. These can come in the form of project risks , unexpected increases to the budget , or delays that impact the project timeline . Keeping stakeholders in the loop when issues arise will help everyone adjust accordingly to stay on track. 

Example roadblock: The executive team wants to look at results before the engagement committee meets again, but won’t be able to do so for another three weeks. This will delay our overall project timeline.

8. Highlight next steps

These could include a list of next steps, kudos you want to give someone, or anything else you want to highlight.

Example: Thank you Sarah A. for sending out multiple communications to employees encouraging them to participate in the survey!

Template for creating your project status report

To quickly put everything you learned in the previous section to use, write your next project status report using this easy-to-fill-out template:

Report name:

Name your report. This can be as simple as the project name and the date of the report.

Project health:

Is the project on track, at risk, or delayed?

Include a short description of the most important takeaways from your project status report here. Keep in mind that busy stakeholders may only look at this section, so include any highlights or blockers the entire team needs to know about

Key area 1: High-level overview

Specific details about progress, accomplishments, and upcoming work.

Key area 2: High-level overview

Key area 3: High-level overview

Additional information and links: 

Link to relevant project details or higher-level project information that stakeholders might be curious about. This section is a chance for team members to dig deeper on specifics, or understand how the project initiative fits into your larger strategic goals . 

Are there any challenges you’re facing? How will you resolve them?

Additional notes or highlights:

Are there any additional things your team needs to know? What are the main next steps? 

Example project status report

While a how-to guide on writing project status reports is helpful, sometimes seeing a real-life example allows you to really see what your own update could look like, right? We thought you might agree, so here’s an example you may find useful:

Report name: Ebook launch

Project status: On track

Great progress this week! We are still in the concept phase, but Avery Lomax will be choosing a topic this week. Content and Design teams are standing by and ready to get started once we give the go ahead.

Planning team met to discuss an overall topic

We have three final ideas and will choose one on Friday

A brief is due to the Content team the following Thursday

The Content team is ready to start writing copy as soon as our idea is finalized

They are gathering pertinent company information that should be included

Design reviewed five ebook examples to determine the style they liked

They will be choosing a template by next Tuesday

Jen is out of the office all next week so please direct any content questions to Joy

Thank you to Henry for curating a huge list of topics for us to choose from!

Issues/challenges:

The e-book’s deadline is tight, as we all know. It’s critical that we’re all working in our project management tool to keep everyone organized and on track. Thanks!

Streamline reporting with a work management tool

The above report is clear and easy to follow. By building this report in a work management tool like Asana, you can automatically fill each section but the summary. Here’s what the above report looks like in Asana:

Project status reporting best practices

Now you know what to include in your project status report, but you may still have a few additional questions. As you’re creating status reports for your project, these best practices will help you formulate a winning update.

How often should you report out?

The frequency with which you send project updates depends on the type of project you’re running. If your project has a short timeframe, or if things are moving quickly, aim to send weekly project status reports. Alternatively, if the initiative you’re reporting on is a long-term project, you probably only need to send biweekly or even monthly reports. The most important thing is making sure your project stakeholders are up to date. 

When you use a project reporting tool, you can set a task for yourself to always send status reports on a certain day each week. These recurring reminders make it easy to keep stakeholders informed, whether you're sending weekly status updates or monthly progress reports. Either way, stakeholders will begin to expect your updates, which means less frequent check-ins from them (plus they’ll appreciate always being in the loop).

By sending regular reports, you can avoid multiple meetings related to a project (we all know unnecessary meetings have their own reputation ). Skip the check-in meetings and save your time for more important work.

Who should you include?

It depends on the project and who is involved, but typically plan to send an update to any stakeholders working on your project. You should have created a stakeholder analysis—outlining all stakeholders, sponsors, and team members—during the project planning process, but refer to your project plan if you aren’t sure.

Even if that week’s status report doesn’t affect a particular team member, you should still share it with everyone. It’s important for everyone to have a high-level overview. Team members who don’t need to review the report in depth can quickly skim your summary section, while others who are more involved can dive into the details you’ve provided. 

How detailed should you get?

A project status report shouldn’t offer every little detail. Let the work tell the story—you’re simply curating information and adding a little color. Think of a project status report as a top line message—just the most important pieces of your project that affect most of stakeholders should be included.

You should always indicate whether the project is on track, at risk, or off track, give a quick summary of what’s complete and what’s upcoming, then link out to other resources for people who want more details.

Where should you write your project status report?

The best way to draft and share status updates is with a work management tool . Look for a tool that offers an overview of your project, so your team has a central source of truth for all project-related work. That way, instead of managing projects in spreadsheets , you can keep it all—status updates, project briefs, key deliverables, and important project milestones—in one place. Your reports will be easily shareable, and stakeholders can look back on previous reports at any time, avoiding email overload on your end.

Wrapping your project up: summarizing your work

The status reports we’ve been talking about are always sent during a project to keep everyone in the loop. However, once the project is finished, it’s smart to send out a final summary report. Think of this as the executive summary for your project. This is your chance to offer stakeholders a wrap-up to the project. Use it to officially close it out.

Again, it’s a high-level overview, but instead of including updates and statuses, you’ll provide a summary of how the overall project went. Here are a few questions to answer in a project summary report:

What were the goals of this project and were they met?

Was the project completed on time and on budget (if applicable)?

What successes should be highlighted?

What challenges did we run into?

What can we learn from this project to help us on future projects?

Keep every stakeholder on track with status reports that write themselves

If you’re looking to over-deliver on your next project, try sending project status updates. They keep you productive, efficient, and accountable, while giving everyone else a quick (and engaging) look into what’s been happening. 

Use the resources we’ve provided to create reports that give just enough information without diving into too much detail. Find a project management solution like Asana that has features designed specifically to help with status reports. You’ll save time and be as organized as possible.

Related resources

How Asana uses work management for employee onboarding

6 ways to develop adaptability in the workplace and embrace change

4 ways to establish roles and responsibilities for team success

9 tips for taking better meeting notes

Progress report: What it is and how to write a progress report

Create beautiful charts & infographics get started, 10.08.2021 by infogram.

Every project manager with several large-scale projects should know what is a progress report and how important it is in staying aligned with your team and stakeholders.

Messaging through email often becomes a messy way to share progress, whereas weekly meetings take too much time. If you just want to provide an update on your project, the most effective way to do so is with asynchronous communication.

This is where progress reports come in. A wisely planned reporting process and a well-structured report template can make a huge difference. How? You’ll see.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• What is a progress report
• Seven reasons why progress report is important
• How to write a progress report: Tips and templates

Keep reading to the end to discover free progress report templates from Infogram that’ll help you get started.

What is a progress report?

A progress report is a part of project documentation that confirms how far the team has progressed toward its goal. In other words, it answers questions – what have we done so far? Where are we? What are the next steps?

The progress report provides executives, managers, teams, or clients with project details like:

• Current status of the project
• Completed tasks
• Reached milestones
• Roles and responsibilities
• Unexpected issues or obstacles faced during the project
• Priorities and next steps
• Other performance metrics and relevant data

The regularity of progress reporting usually depends on your project’s scope, difficulty, and communication plan. When planning a project, remember to set specific timing requirements for the report – daily, weekly, monthly, or after achieving a milestone.

Why is a progress report important in project management?

1. Same project, same page

Perhaps the most important benefit of reporting is bringing everyone on the same page. Writing a progress report may not always seem necessary, as you’re likely already communicating with the director of the project regularly. But it’s not only the management that should get a comprehensive view of your project.

Everyone who receives the report is aware of the project’s current state. No miscommunication and no overcommunication – that’s the beauty of progress reports.

2. Fostering team collaboration

Since everyone receiving the progress report is on the same page, it’s easier to foster collaboration . It’s especially crucial when different teams are working on the same project.

Progress reports eliminate the silo effect within teams and allow them to help each other with their knowledge, experience, or assets. It also prevents different people from doing the same thing and reduces redundancy, as everyone knows who’s done what.

To facilitate collaboration and help your team create visually compelling and professionally looking reports, you can add your whole team to the Infogram editor for teams .

3. Asynchronous communication = fewer meetings

A progress report is one of the examples of how teams and organizations can implement the principles of asynchronous communication.

Instead of running weekly status meetings, you can share weekly progress reports instead. Nowadays, when our calendars are overstuffed with meetings, an asynchronous report is a great way to save time and let everyone check progress whenever it works best for them.

4. Accountability and motivating the team

Discipline 3 is about keeping a compelling scoreboard. “What’s the point?” you might wonder.

Individuals get more engaged and motivated to reach goals (and “ win the game ”) when they can visually see their progress. And that’s where a report can factor in. When your team can see how productive their teammates are, a healthy dose of gamification and competition can boost their motivation and sense of accountability.

Choose one of the dashboard templates or create your own dashboard with charts, graphs, images, GIFs, and other handy assets . Next, publish the visualization or embed the dashboard in the team’s intranet or shared resource. Let the games begin!

5. Transparency within the project lifecycle

Submitting a progress report is like clicking a “save” button on a shared document. If you review the history of your report, you’ll see who had done what, when they did it, and how it looked before the last updates.

Reporting provides transparency within the project execution process and creates a paper (or rather, digital) trail . If something goes wrong you can prove when and who executed the tasks and what problems were faced during the project.

6. Project analysis and overview

Progress reports, along with other project documentation, can be useful in any project. You can use these reports to explore previous performance, including success stories, areas of improvement, and things you should avoid moving forward.

Reviewing reports can help project managers to clarify loopholes, systematic issues, and identify internal and external factors affecting a team’s or individual’s productivity.

7. Insights for future planning

All the factors explored in progress reports should be used to improve team or process efficiency.

A project manager should pay close attention to their team’s answer to the question “ What’s holding you back? ” Add these insights to a knowledge base containing best practices on managing and executing projects.

How to write a progress report?

The answer to how to write a progress report is pretty simple: It’s up to you .

There are situations when progress report formatting might be set in stone, like when governmental organizations or international foundations are involved. Otherwise, you can be flexible and align your report in any way that’s convenient for you. Here are the best practices for creating a progress report.

1. Don’t overdo it – stay simple

A progress report is not an essay or a super detailed, technical description of everything that’s happened. Keep it short.

Even if your project team consists of highly skilled engineers using a lot of technical vocabulary, try to use plain language. Keep it simple.

2. Q&A as progress report format

There is no one correct format for how to write a progress report. But keep in mind that your report should provide answers to all the questions that might pop into the head of your manager, client, or any other involved person.

Though it could be a fun idea, you don’t need to create a progress report in the form of an interview. Instead, make a list of all potential questions and structure your answers in three parts:

• Progress : What have you done since the last report? What tasks and milestones did you achieve?
• Problems : Are there any blockers affecting progress? What external or internal issues have you identified?
• Plans : What are the next steps? What are short-term and long-term goals for the team? What are the priorities?

3. Give your progress report meaning

One crucial aspect of progress reporting is quality. Two main things might affect quality: Frequency of reporting and accuracy of answers.

To address frequency, be prudent about the reporting schedule. If you’re on a long-term project, daily progress reports could become a bureaucratic nightmare. Choose reporting frequency wisely so that you don’t lose sight of the initial goal of a report.

Most importantly, encourage specific answers when defining how to write a progress report. Instead of generic and vague answers, use KPIs and progress metrics to provide more meaningful information. Specific data makes it easier for everyone to track progress.

4. Go beyond traditional documentation

There’s nothing wrong with creating a report as a traditional text document, but if you want to create a professional-looking and interactive report (that motivates your team), challenge yourself to try something new.

What if you visualize your data? Reports have shown that presentations containing visual aids are 43% more effective in persuading audience members of your point.

Your progress report probably consists of data. Here at Infogram, we love data. Coincidence? Maybe.

However, we have a lot of progress report templates that are ready to serve your needs. Change colors and fonts, and add timelines, charts, graphs, tables, text, images, video, and anything else that might make your report more engaging.

Report templates from Infogram

Here are just a few of our report templates that you can fully adjust and design to fit your project’s or team’s needs. Explore our template library here .

With that being said, good luck to you and your team with projects! We encourage you to not think about progress reports as something that you have to do, but make the most of it instead.

Interested in discovering how Infogram can enhance your team’s work? Join a brief Zoom session with our Infogram representative to explore key features, get answers to your questions, and understand how we can assist. It’s quick, informative, and just like a coffee break chat. Schedule your call now!

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Exploring different types of reports, how to prepare for a meeting: a comprehensive guide for effective meeting prep, empowering women entrepreneurs: an interview with startup program manager, alise gurenko.

How to Write a Progress Report (Sample Template)

• PPP - Plans, Progress, Problems

With over 10 years of experience, Weekdone has provided tens of thousands of teams from startups to Fortune 500 with a simple goal-setting, status updates and progress reporting tool . This is why we developed  Weekdone .

Weekdone is your solution for connecting managers and employees through real-time updates, e-mail reports and social newsfeed.   Tr y it here ! It’s free forever for small teams and offers a free trial for larger ones! Read about the benefits here .

Falling efficiency, lack of focus, no drive. Said the team leader who doesn’t have good reporting software

The perceived negative qualities listed above come and go in companies over time. But shouldn’t we try to avoid them? Or, at the very least, take control in situations where we have the ability to do so? I think so!

Just like our bodies need to fight spring fever with the right mix of nutrients, we should give our organizations proper treatment when productivity falls below a critical level.

We’re not so arrogant, calling our service a ‘company doctor’ – but there is a simple cure out there for those of you looking to save your organization from this lack of efficiency. The cure is of course, the reason you’re here – progress reports!

Imagine if you were able to automate the process of transferring weekly status updates into a combined report at each week’s end. Sounds awesome, right? Weekdone helps you do that and so much more. It’s a status reporting tool for teams and a software that automates some of your most time-consuming management tasks.

The information in these reports help managers track team and individual’s progress while observing both company and team goals.

However, not many are familiar with the benefits of progress reporting.

So, let’s fix that too!

Progress reports used by teams encourage engagement and transparency. It’s been said that having a specific place to check in your progress increases the probability of meeting a goal by 95%.

For managers, progress reports offer concrete information about your employees’ contributions. It encourages the exchange of ideas and opinions. Truthfully, it is a very simple form of two-way communication. With some guidelines and basic understanding of the format, everyone can file an excellent report on their own.

Progress Report – The Basics

The foundation of every good progress report is a “PPP methodology”, something the  Weekdone is built on. This stands for Progress, Plans and Problems. It may seem overly simplistic, but there is a deep framework hidden underneath.

PPP is “rich in stuff, low in fluff”. Cleve Gibbon

Gibbon’s thought is shared by the likes of Emi Gal (CEO of Brainient) and Colin Nederkoorn (CEO of Customer.io), both of whom use PPP to organize and streamline their respective enterprises.

Even companies like Skype, Ebay, and Facebook picked up on the benefits of PPP.

So, what does PPP mean exactly?

• Progress. Progress lists employee’s accomplishments, finished items, and closed tasks. This category gives a good assessment of how much work has been done.
• Plans are the tasks you plan to accomplish over the course of one week. At Weekdone, we recommend setting these 3-7 plans on the Friday prior to “their work week”. All of the items listed under Plans are potential items of Progress. However, leave room for changes and accept that your Plans are not set in stone. Also consider, that these should ultimately help drive your Quarterly team goals forward.
• Problems. Problems lay out challenges and pitfalls. Some people leave correcting mistakes for last, but it is highly recommended to do this throughout the project.

When you keep in mind these three things, you already have what it takes to write a simple report. Should you choose to try Weekdone for free , these 3 categories are the ones in the default weekly status update form. *Which you can change and customize the titles of, if something else resonates more to you 🙂

Who, How and What of Progress Reports

Furthermore, if you really want to succeed in communicating the details and nuances of progress reports, you should always have these three questions in the back of your mind: who, how, and what?

The key part of progress reports is your team. Michele Puccio, Sales Director of Arrow,  says that they helped him “stay connected with the team”. This is why your immediate focus should be on your colleagues and team dynamics.

Reports need to be concise and focused, so you should understand what your colleagues want. To help yourself with this task, ask a few questions:

• How are the readers connected to the project?
• Do they know the details and goals of the project?
• Are the readers comfortable with technical language?

Next, consider the tone of writing. Managers and executives may not understand the intricacies of employees’ conversational style. Use longer, comprehensible sentences but also try to refrain from writing essays. Ideally, there should be 5-7 keywords per sentence.

Take a look at a sample report for further guidelines and inspiration. Remember that the modern world is metrics-driven, so figures are more important than descriptions.

Instead of: “ we need to increase the output ” Try: “ we need to increase the output by X% ”.

Concrete goals are more inspirational and, at the same time, more attainable.

The one mistake people tend to make when writing a progress report is avoiding writing about mistakes altogether. The purpose of progress reports is to objectively identify key difficulties and concerns and help them along the way. Even if the problem was already addressed, it needs to be put into writing to help avoid making the same kind of mistake in the future.

Secondly, keep in mind the relevance of your writing. Explain how every individual item connects and compares to Progress.

Keep It Simple

Even when progress seems small and changes are minimal, keep updating your reports. It enables transparency on all levels and can help assess challenges so you can plan your next actions accordingly.

Going back to our interview with IT distribution company, Arrow , Michele Puccio shares this example of how progress report influence your performance:

“In the beginning of the week, you decide to call 5 new customers. You write it down and have it under your nose. By the end of the week, you will call 5 new customers. You have made the commitment, communicated it to the rest of the team, and now need to honor this.” Michele Puccio

Progress report templates are made to save time for everyone, so it is illogical to spend most of your workday on writing them. This can be easily aided by reporting tools. Many teams use Google docs or emails to do this.

That being said, it is better to use tools that are specifically developed with progress reports in mind and allow you to automate the process of writing them. Availability and accessibility are key for an excellent progress report .

The key to progress reports is regularity. Progress reports need to be done at least on a monthly basis, though weekly is encouraged. With a notification system integrated in Weekdone, you ensure that everybody remembers to send their reports in time.

Try Team Compass for automated weekly progress reports.

Implementing Progress Reports

1. make sure to explain benefits to employees.

This one seems a bit obvious, but going ahead without explaining employee benefits risks employee buy-in later. You need to explain the ‘whys’ to everyone. Some easy benefits to sell include: employees having a voice within the organization, and raised productivity and focus on new plans. To find out more about selling the benefits to your team, we recommend drawing from this infographic .

2. Make sure that communication goes both ways

Create a culture that allows discussions to be held from both sides and allow team members to provide feedback to their superiors as well as the other way around. Making a culture that encourages feedback as the default model improves overall company communication and makes progress reports more meaningful to employees and managers alike.

3. Spend less time in meetings by using progress reports as a substitute

Use progress reports (and other tools like our Weekdone ) to decrease the amount of time wasted at meetings by encouraging frequent updating through the web and mobile-based services. If your status meetings stay in one place, you’ll save countless hours every month by writing instead of speaking.

4. Sign up with an online tool that offers you ready-made solutions

It may sound a little promotional, but online tools can make the implementation process so much easier. Progress reporting can be done via e-mail, word document or spreadsheet, but the challenges are far greater and you risk not having all of your information in one, easily accessible place. Combing through Google docs and emails is a colossal waste of time,  after all.  One of the advantages online tools have is that they automatically remind your team to fill their form, compile the received information, and then present it to you in a way that’s both appealing and fun.

Implementing progress reports with a tool

1. make the progress report meet your needs.

Using a ready-made template does not mean that you have to adjust to its specifications. Actually, these tools are flexible enough to meet your standards and needs. What is more, they provide you with even better ideas that might have been missed otherwise.

2. Write down Objectives and Key Results

Before inviting your whole team, make sure you have set up Objectives. The goals that need to be reached in a certain period and key results that help the team achieve these. Try this management technique used by LinkedIn, Twitter and Google. For a more in depth understanding of OKRs, feel free to check the Weekdone step-by-step guide to OKRs .

3. Invite your team

After you have set up all crucial information, it is time to invite your team. Send them an automatic e-mail to sign up.

4. Contacting product support to give a quick demo for everyone

Explaining this new tool to everyone on the team might be a challenge. Especially when you are not too familiar with it. No worries, that is exactly why product support people are here for. Remember, there is no such thing as a dumb question. There are only dumb answers. Don’t be afraid to contact the support for additional materials, demo or whatever is on your mind.

Sign up for free Weekdone team management software trial to implement best practice based progress reporting in your team. Set structured goals to align activities throughout your organization via leading OKR software . Track weekly plans and progress. Provide feedback and move everyone in a unified direction. Try it now !

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Progress reporting 101: how to review your projects in 5 steps

Projects tend to take on a life of their own—twisting and turning with each new development, milestone, and lesson. 

But as you collaborate with more stakeholders and journey further into the heart of a project, the details can become overwhelming, and you may begin to lose sight of where you’ve been and where you need to go. This is where progress reports have a vital role to play.

Last updated

Reading time.

This guide teaches you what a progress report is, and when and how to create one, so you can update stakeholders, solve problems, plan your next steps, and learn from past projects .

Add insights to your progress reporting

Use Hotjar to understand how customers interact with your website and product to add detail and direction to your progress report.

What is progress reporting?

Progress reporting is an ongoing study into the development of a project, usually for the team members involved. It focuses on events and tactical details, like progress drivers and anticipated roadblocks, to assess what your project has achieved and where you’ll take it next. 

For example, imagine a design manager creating a progress report for a homepage redesign project. They’ll use the progress report document to share insights from the product management team and summarize recent discussions to give everyone the same context moving forward.

A status report is another performance reporting type that the design manager could use, but it isn’t interchangeable with a progress report. While a progress report is an ongoing study of the project for the team, a status report is a snapshot of current progress for stakeholders.  For example, while the homepage redesign progress report contains hands-on details for the design team, a status report for this project would tell the C-suite that the team completed its first two milestones ahead of schedule. 

Progress reporting is vital for project management because it consolidates information and identifies the next steps. The benefits of progress reporting include:

When to create a progress report

If progress reporting is an ongoing look at your project, when and how often should you create a progress document? There are two options. 

Create a progress report at regular intervals

Regular progress reporting—like weekly for shorter projects or monthly for more significant initiatives—helps when you have many stakeholders or the project moves quickly. For example, cross-functional collaboration benefits from a regular recap and check-in since not every person will be in every meeting or work session. 

Create a progress report after milestones

Alternatively, projects with smaller teams benefit from progress reporting after milestones rather than on a consistent cadence. For example, a one-person social media team would check in with their marketing manager as they complete phases of a new campaign or feature launch.

How to create a progress report in 5 simple steps

While progress reporting benefits a wide range of roles and projects, the basic structure is always the same. Here’s a 5-step progress report template to follow. 

Step 1: clarify goals and timeline

First, you need to briefly explain the project to give context to the rest of the report. Clarifying project goals and timelines brings priorities to the surface to make it easier for stakeholders reading the report to catch up.

Details to include:

Project summary: a brief overview of the project

Product objective: your immediate product goals and the long-term initiative they support. Think of these as objectives and key results (OKRs).

Milestones: the main tasks you've already completed or still need to complete for a high-level understanding of the project scope

Timeline: the progress you've made in the project’s reporting period

To illustrate the first step in progress reporting, let’s use the homepage redesign example from earlier. The design manager leading the project says their team is updating the website’s homepage to reflect rebranding and increase engagement. Then, the manager lists the major milestones, including wireframing, prototyping, and testing over a 3-month period, which they’re halfway through. 

Step 2: consider stakeholders

Reading a progress report that has nothing to do with you is confusing at best and boring at worst—so be sure to tailor your document to its audience. 

Determining who’s going to see and use the report influences what details you need to include. For example, a C-suite leader cares more about customer activation progress than a debate over whether the homepage banner should be cerulean or cyan. 

Project owner: who’s in charge of the project

Team: who’s on the team, and their role in the project

Report prepared for: who will read the report and if they had a particular motivation, question, or concern

Definitions: stakeholders might not know certain cross-functional terms. For example, your graphic designers probably haven’t reviewed a Google Analytics glossary in a while.

In our example homepage redesign project, the design team needs effective cross-functional collaboration . Throughout the project, they’ll work with the product team to test design effectiveness and with the marketing team to create copy and imagery for their target audience. Since the design manager knows this, the progress report needs to have insights across groups and summarize discussions different functions may miss. 

All together now! 👯

Effective collaboration and communication can make or break a project, whether you work with one other person or five other functions. Asynchronous communication in a shared document for project updates or new ideas is a must. Here at Hotjar, we’ve also established rules for what gets a meeting.

Every meeting requires an owner (usually the organizer) whose duties include the following:

Establishing a clear objective and agenda: what’s the purpose of the call, who’s attending, and why?

Listing relevant data and required reading so all participants can prepare

Documenting the meeting’s output and actions to share with the team on an agreed-upon channel (e.g. email, Trello, Discourse).

Learn more about our strategies and tools for better collaboration .

Step 3: share recent updates 

Progress reporting is an ongoing process, so you need to reference developments about questions or concerns stakeholders brought up in the previous report. If this is your first progress report, compare progress to any assumptions you had. 

Problem resolutions: any prior issues you resolved and how you did it

Answers to questions: queries from previous progress reports that need to be addressed

New insights: an overview of new data, metrics, priorities, or lessons that impact the project

Testing results: results and learnings from A/B tests or customer interviews  

For example, the design manager would include a screenshot of their data dashboard to provide a summary of how the first prototype of the homepage redesign performs. The progress report would also have notes from a cross-functional meeting that answered a previous question about the customer journey .

Hotjar’s Dashboard presents key sessions and user behavior data in charts and graphs so you don’t have to switch between multiple analytics sources

Step 4: identify drivers and blockers

Your progress report is the place to consolidate all your important Slack messages, meeting outcomes, and personal notes as you work through the project. 

Documenting what’s helping and hindering the project gets everyone on the same page, helps you prioritize the next steps, and creates a record you can learn from and reference in the future. 

Product experience (PX) insights: data that reveals how customers interact with your product or website to understand the project’s impact

Delays: anything that slows the project down

Questions: team questions or unknowns

Progress drivers: details that positively impact the project (so you know what to do more of next time!)

Upcoming events and milestones: what you’ll work on next

Let’s go back to our homepage redesign project. In this step, the design manager reminds the team they’ll be out on vacation next week and that there’s an upcoming meeting of designers, product managers, and marketing folks to watch customer recordings together . The meeting’s goal is to get new perspectives on the response to the new page design, and the team needs to document the results to include in the next progress report.

Bring your progress reports to life with product experience insights

PX insights help you break out of your team silo and get an outside perspective from the people you’re trying to help—your customers. 

Hotjar (hi, that’s us! 👋) is a product experience insights platform that adds data-informed decision-making to your progress report. Hotjar gives you:

Heatmaps (free forever) to uncover where website visitors pay the most attention

Recordings to see exactly how customers interact with your product

Surveys to learn what customers love and hate about your product

Feedback to get real-time thoughts on your design

Interviews to hear how customers describe their goals and preferences

Funnels to learn where and why customers drop off

Plus, adding context to your progress report with PX insights increases stakeholder buy-in with tangible results, gets new team members up to speed, and creates a knowledge base of your efforts to reference in the future .

Hotjar's tools give you a new perspective on your customers’ experiences

Step 5: list the next steps

Your progress report becomes actionable when you summarize what you’ve learned and create an action plan. 

As you create subsequent progress reports for a project, you can assess whether the tasks you'd initially set out to do were indeed the ones that took up your time. This information lets you rework future planning or rein in a project that’s straying off course. 

Tasks: deliverables needed, timeframes, and who’s responsible for what

Follow-ups: meetings to schedule or stakeholders to loop in

For example, with the progress report, the design team recognizes the need to follow up with the marketing team for the homepage’s new copy. They also need to review comments the website development team left on the first version of their homepage wireframe.

If you’re only ever focused on implementation, you’ll waste time and budget on tactics without knowing if they actually delivered growth or not. You should be constantly evaluating performance data, both qualitative and quantitative, to inform your efforts. Then, by packaging this data up in monthly, quarterly, or annual performance insights, you can use the reports to increase your organizational impact.

Use customer insights to support your progress reports

Progress reporting supports projects by clarifying what has happened and what will happen. But you need the right insights to understand project progress and decide what to do next. 

As much as confident teammates and company veterans may think they know what’s best, you need to learn from customers to create for customers . When you prioritize customer empathy and curiosity, you create an accurate and impactful progress report.

Rather than relying on assumptions or guesses, teams need to use customer and PX insights—information that helps you test and correct as you work through a project. This customer-driven data helps you focus on what matters and get results, preventing you from going too far down a path to nowhere.

Progress reporting FAQs

Progress reporting is an ongoing study into the development of a project, usually for the team members involved. It focuses on events and tactical details like progress drivers and anticipated roadblocks. The goal of a progress report is to assess where the project has been and where you’ll take it next. 

For example, imagine a design manager creates a progress report for a home page redesign project. They update the design team on insights from the product management team and summarize recent discussions to give everyone the same context moving forward. 

What are the benefits of a progress report?

A progress report lets you: 

Consolidate the main takeaways from recent collaboration , which means everyone is on the same page

Review project and product planning regularly to make continuous adjustments that keep you close to your customers and goals

Work through issues and questions with your teammates and stakeholders

When should you use a progress report?

There are two scenarios you can use a progress report:

At regular intervals , like weekly or daily progress reports for short projects or a monthly progress report for larger initiatives. Use this method if you have a lot of stakeholders or the project moves quickly. For example, a cross-functional collaboration benefits from a regular recap and check-in.

After milestones , like when the team is stuck or after you complete a significant task. Use this method if the project has fewer stakeholders, like a one-person team checking in with their boss as they complete phases of the project or as part of a product roadmap .

How do you create a progress report?

Clarify goals and timeline : what is the project and when will you work on it?

Consider the stakeholders : who’s involved?

Share recent updates : what have you done so far?

Identify drivers and blockers : what’s helping and hindering the project?

List next steps : what will you do next?

Trend report

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Status report

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Best Progress Report: How-to’s + Free Samples [The Complete List]

By archtc on October 13, 2022 — 2 minutes to read

A progress report is prepared to show an individual’s progress towards developing the right set of competencies and skills he is supposed to have. It may also be a documentation of how a particular project or tasks are being carried out and completed.

• Types of Progress Reports Part 1
• Samples and Templates: Free Download Part 2
• Additional Sources Part 3
• How to dramatically reduce the time you spend creating reports Part 4

Progress report for an individual is usually written to document how a student, an intern, or an employee are gradually learning and how they were able to apply the knowledge and skills they acquired in executing tasks and solving problems. The main types of these reports are:

Internship/Student Progress Reports

An internship progress report discusses learnings and accomplishments made by the intern. It basically outlines a description of the intern’s job, identifies the skills and knowledge he used to perform the necessary tasks during his internship, and a discussion on how the trainee performed the duties and how he was able to apply his knowledge and show his capabilities.

It includes a short introduction to the organization or the company where the internship was performed, the period covered by the report, and a summary of the activities and tasks he performed, as well as his first job responsibilities and how his job scope changed throughout the internship period.

Click Here to Download Internship/Student Report DOC

Click Here to Download Internship/Student Report 2 DOC

Click Here to Download Internship/Student Report 3 DOC

Employee Progress Report

Employee’s progress report presents employee’s developments in terms of acquiring skills, competencies, and mastery necessary to perform his job. Most of the time, this type of report is made by an employee who is on a probationary status. When someone has been appointed as an employee on a probationary status, he is considered to be capable of meeting the standard performance, given sufficient time to learn and be exposed to the job. Therefore, he is expected to completely acquire the required level of competencies for his job during his probationary period, and his developments are recorded through this report.

Click Here to Download Employee Progress Report Template

More types of progress reports, best practices and free templates:

Daily Progress Report: Best practices and free templates

Weekly Progress Report: Download free templates

Monthly Progress Report: Helpful tips and free samples

Quarterly Progress Report: How to write it + free template

Business Progress Report: A guide to business progress reports with free sample

Project Progress Report: All about project progress reports

Employee Status Report: How-to’s, free samples and templates

Download Section

Templates and samples:.

Click Here to Download Employee Report Template

Click Here to Download Project Report DOCX

Click Here to Download Monthly Report DOC

Click Here to Download Quarterly Report DOC

Click Here to Download Internship Report DOC

Click Here to Download Internship Report 2 DOC

Click Here to Download Internship Report 3 DOC

Additional Sources

• Awesome Weekly Status Report Templates
• Writing a Daily Work Log (+ Free Templates)
• Best Status Reports: The Complete List With 25+ Free Downloads 

How to Write a Project Report In 5 Easy Steps (Template Included)

Written by samantha ferguson.

Last updated on 9th May 2024

The reasons why projects fail are plentiful but it typically comes back to poor planning or a lack of organisation. 

A solid project report can eliminate these issues and ensure you stay on track to complete your goals.

So, let’s take a look at how to write a project report in 5 easy steps…

What is a project report?

A project report is a document that contains helpful information so that teams can ensure their project stays on track, runs successfully, and completes on time. 

There are different types of project reports that are used at different periods throughout a project’s lifespan, but they all contain similar data that covers things like progress, tasks, roadblocks, stakeholders, and financial information. 

Why is a project report important?

Project reports are important for many reasons. A project report gives your project a sense of direction that can help you maintain consistency throughout the project, even as it passes between different people and teams. Your project report will also be a great document to refer back to if things get difficult, so you can stay on track. 

Even in the first instance, before your project kicks off, a project report can help you to manage your budget, workload, and any foreseen risks. It can also give stakeholders insight into the specifics of the project to help manage expectations from the start. 

Types of project report

There are many different types of project reports that will help you manage different aspects of your project. For example, a resource report will help you to understand the resources you’ll need for the project, how much resource you have at your disposal, and will also help you to predict when your resources will need to be replenished. Other examples include:

Now, let’s dive into 3 of the biggest, most important types of project reports.

1. General project report

This is your first project report. It should cover predictions and plans for how you expect the project to go, and give you a clear sense of direction when it comes to things like budget , timelines, and everything else you need to keep track of in order for your project to be considered a success. 

2. Progress report

A progress report – as you may have guessed – comes in the middle and helps you document your progress. It’s important to keep reassessing your project to see if you are where you expect to be and to help you make adjustments along the way. 

3. Project completion report

As you wrap up your project, a project completion report can be a great way to reflect on what went well and what went wrong. This can not only help you wrap up the current project neatly, it can also inform future projects and ensure you don’t make the same mistakes twice.

How to write a project report in only 5 steps

There are many different types of project reports. So, of course, the writing of each one will differ slightly depending on who they are aimed at and what the content of the project report is. 

However, there are still some core steps to follow for each. Let’s take a look at how to write a project report in 5 steps. 

1. Start with the basics

At the very top of your project report should be a simple table that includes all of the core information for the project. Here’s an example: 

The table for your project will probably vary slightly to this, but hopefully this gives you an idea of the most important top-level information to include. 

Underneath this table you should have a short summary of the project. This can be just a couple of sentences that sum up the objectives and goals. Think of this kind of like an elevator pitch for the project. 

2. Cover your objectives

Now it’s time to go into more detail. List out each objective for the project, including what you need to do to achieve each one. 

For example, let’s pretend our project is to create a brand video. There are many objectives, such as: 

Each objective will need to be completed in order to go on to the next. And each objective requires different resources and skill sets. All of this should be recorded, in detail, in your project report. 

3. List your obstacles

Next, list any predicted obstacles or risks. This may feel like a waste of time because of course you’re going to be avoiding risks and obstacles as often as you can. However, it’s important to be aware of the potential roadblocks that might appear so that you are prepared to handle them without slowing down. 

Some example obstacles for the brand video project could be: 

Next to each obstacle, jot down a quick plan for how you would solve this issue if it happened. For example, for “weather ruins a shoot” your potential solution could be to “choose a backup location”.

4. Create a project timeline

With any project, it’s important to know how long everything’s going to take. This is the best way to estimate how much time, money, and resource is required. 

A project timeline will help plot a path forward. To create a project timeline all you need to do is break down each objective into tasks and add a deadline for each task. It also helps to add an owner to each task, so you know who the point of contact is for each section of the timeline. 

This can be tricky to manage but becomes so much easier with a project management tool, like Project.co . When you create a project on Project.co, all of your clients and team members can see everything that goes on with the project in one centralised place. This includes tasks that can be allocated to team members, assigned a date, and a status – so everyone involved in the project can see how it’s progressing: 

You can also add comments, attachments, priority tags, and more. 

Plus, it’s easy to keep track of several tasks at once by using the calendar view: 

Other views available are kanban, list, and scheduler. 

5. Cover project communication

Somewhere on your project report you should include a link to your communication guidelines . This will help everyone involved on the project to understand what’s expected of them when it comes to communication, for example what tools to use and how to communicate. 

This can help your project run more smoothly and create a better result for everyone. According to our Communication Statistics 2022 , 94% of people feel that the businesses they deal with could improve when it comes to communication and project management . 

Writing a project report: 7 top tips 

1. be clear.

The perfect project report is clear and concise. Try your best to leave no room for errors or misunderstandings, and write in short definitive sentences. 

Being clear is especially important when it comes to timelines and targets. It can be helpful to plot out your tasks in a visual way, like a kanban view . This will make your project timeline easy to scan and understand.  

2. Be thorough

While it’s important to be clear and concise, it’s equally important to be thorough. Try to include as much relevant information in your project reports as possible.

One of the main functions of project reports, particularly project status reports, is to inform stakeholders on the progress of the project. So the more thorough you can be, the better. 

3. Be appropriate

A project report is an internal document that’s likely going to be shared between many different departments or teams in your business, so it’s important to make sure your language is appropriate. 

Keep the culture of the business in mind when writing your report. Use the same kind of tone and language that you would in other internal communication documents. This is especially important when you consider more than a third (35%) of businesses have lost an employee because of poor internal communication . 

4. Be honest

Your project report is not the place to sugarcoat anything. You should be honest, and brutally so. This means giving accurate and realistic figures, deliverables and deadlines. 

A project report should be a factual account so that everyone has a clear understanding of the data and knows exactly what to expect from the project. 

5. Be quick

It may seem contradictory to tell you to be thorough and quick with your project reports, but this just means don’t overload people with unnecessary information. Be succinct and to-the-point with every aspect of the report, from points of contact to resources and any potential roadblocks. 

The idea is for your project reports to be as easy to digest as possible, especially if you’re supplying busy stakeholders with a steady stream of ongoing status reports. 

6. Be prepared

No project runs perfectly, so it can be helpful to be prepared for bumps in the road. You might want to leave an ‘other’ or ‘notes’ section at the bottom of your report where you can jot down anything that’s changed along the way. 

It can also help to leave room for slight adjustments in your timeline. Just a couple of buffer days here and there can really reduce stress for your teams, and also help ensure your deadlines are more realistic. 

7. Be proud

When you’re carefully documenting things like risks and problems, your project report can become pretty gloomy. So it’s important to even it out by also celebrating your team’s achievements. 

Every project has ups and downs, and by giving as much attention to the ‘ups’ as you do the ‘downs’ you can boost team morale and this can be reflected back on your project. 

Free project report template

As promised, here is your free project report template ! 

Final thoughts

A solid project report can act almost like a map that clearly directs you towards your end goal, helping you to avoid risks along the way and take the best route to success.

In addition to a project report, a project management platform can also help you to maintain your focus and manage your project with ease, thanks to centralised communication and complete visibility of all your work. Click here to get started for free .

⭐️ All your work in one place

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How to write a project report: [templates + guide] 

Writing a project report is an essential but often overlooked contributor to your project’s health.  However, without the use of automation and templates, it can be a little time-consuming to collect and organize the relevant data that the project generates.

In this post, we’ll explore the basics of project reporting. We’ve included some useful templates and tips to create clear and helpful project reports in less time.

If you want to start creating better project reports using monday.com, sign up today.

What is a project report?

A project report is a document where you share details about different areas of your project. Depending on the report type , your audience, and your intention, the details you showcase might differ.

Project reports can be broken down by time— daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly— or a number of other factors like risk, budget, and project management style. Bottom line? They simplify the process of gathering and disseminating information about key information on the project. For instance, a typical report might include:

• Resources you’ve used so far
• How project time is being spent
• How you’re doing against key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Workload and team availability

What is the purpose of project reporting?

Reporting gives you, your team, and your stakeholders the ability to track project progress against the original plan. The main goal of a project report is to improve decision-making, to help you make sense of your project data, and decide what your next steps should be. This in turn can impact your budget, timeliness, and project success.

It also plays a vital role in your stakeholder engagement strategy, as it keeps everyone informed on the progress of projects they’re interested in. Those are just a few of the reasons why project reporting has become the most common activity among PMOs (Project Management Offices).

( Image Source )

5 steps to create a useful project report

Project reports can be useful – or they can end up as a 20-page PDF that lives in a drawer somewhere. To put together a report that your project stakeholders can use to gain insights, make decisions and optimize processes, take the following systematic approach to writing your project reports:

1. Define the purpose and scope: Clearly establish the goals, objectives, target audience, and information needs of your project report. 2. Gather and organize data: Collect and organize all relevant data, ensuring its accuracy and reliability. 3. Structure and outline: Create a clear and logical structure for your report and outline the key points you want to cover. 4. Present information effectively: Use clear and concise language and visual aids like graphs or charts to present the information in an easily understandable, visually appealing manner. 5. Review and revise: Proofread your report for any errors or inconsistencies, ensure that it addresses the defined purpose and scope, and revise as necessary to improve clarity.

The different types of project management reports [with templates]

You can split project reports into different types and categories. Here are five different types of project mangement reports, with monday.com templates you can customize for your unique project and team set-up.

1. Project status report

Probably the most frequently used, a project status report offers a general overview of the current status of your projects. A project status report answers the question: “How likely is it that we’ll complete this project on time without overrunning costs?”

These reports analyze whether you’re meeting project goals and key performance indicators. With our single project template , creating a status report is easier than ever.

2. Resource workload report

Resource workload reports help you visualize what your team’s working on, when they’re working on it, and how much work is left. These also reports help you understand how your assets are being used and make sure your actions are aligned with the overall objective.

Our resource management template helps you organize all your assets, locations, and people into one place and track every action with accuracy. You can also manage your resource allocation initiatives and make sure you don’t assign the same resource twice in multiple tasks.

3. Portfolio report

Portfolio reports take a look at all your projects and consolidate all the data into a single document. These reports capture high-level milestones, status, progress, and highlights of your portfolio strategy.

With our portfolio management template , you can track unlimited projects on a single board and get a quick snapshot of their health and profitability.

4. Task list/Time-tracking report

Time-tracking reports, also known as timesheets, help you measure how your team is spending their time and spot potential bottlenecks.

With our team task list template , you can bring in your entire organization, assign tasks to peers, track time and measure the project progress at a glance.

5. Expense report

A project might seem healthy – until everyone starts reporting expenses  at the end of the time period. With our expense tracking template , you can proactively manage your cash flow regardless of your accounting skills (or lack thereof!)

Want to try out these templates – and much more? Check out monday.com today.

FAQs about Project Reports

What are the benefits of a project report.

A project report provides a comprehensive overview of a project’s objectives, progress, and outcomes, serving as a valuable documentation and communication tool. It allows stakeholders to assess your project’s effectiveness, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions based on reliable data.

What are the main types of project reports?

The most commonly used types of project reports include:

• Progress reports
• Resource management reports
• Project portfolio reports
• Time-tracking reports
• Evaluation reports
• Final reports

What are the main components of a project report?

This will depend on the project and the type of report you’re using, but project reports might include:

• Project objective
• Project scope
• Project milestones
• Project expenses or budget
• Project schedule and timeline
• Project progress
• Resource management
• Risk assessment
• Stakeholder communication
• Financial summary

How to create insightful project reports with monday.com

monday.com makes it easy to create effective project reports. Try it for yourself and see:

Here’s why monday.com can make your project reporting better:

• Track project data in a centralized location, so you have all the information you need to make useful reports.
• Use monday.com’s customized visualization tools to visualize and summarize project data the way you want to see it.
• Set up dashboards to see all of your projects at a glance.
• Take advantage of monday.com’s reporting functionality . You can choose between built-in report templates or customized reports if you have more specific requirements.
• Share your reports with project stakeholders , team members, or even clients directly from monday.com.
• Our embedded communication tools let you collaborate on your reports in real-time, gather feedback, and address any questions or concerns.

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Project Status Report - Crafting, Types, Techniques

Project status reports are crucial in keeping all stakeholders informed and up-to-date on your project's progress. When done right, these reports become essential tools for communication and assessment, helping you spot issues early and keep your project team on the same page.

In this guide, we'll explore how to write impactful project status reports, avoid common mistakes, and uncover the benefits of having a solid status report template at your disposal.

What Is a Project Status Report?

A project status report is a comprehensive document that provides a snapshot of a project's current state. It typically includes details on progress, milestones achieved, challenges faced, upcoming tasks, and other relevant information essential for stakeholders to evaluate the project's status and make informed decisions.

Components of a Project Status Report

The project management status report includes progress, milestones achieved, challenges faced, upcoming tasks, and other relevant information that helps stakeholders evaluate the project's status.

• Progress Update: It outlines what has been accomplished and what remains to be done.
• Key Milestones: Highlight significant achievements or events within the project timeline that indicate progress towards the final goal.
• Risks and Issues: Identify potential risks, obstacles, or issues that could impact the project's success and propose mitigation strategies.
• Budget Utilization: Detail how project funds are allocated and spent, ensuring financial transparency and accountability.
• Resource Allocation: Specify how human and material resources are assigned and utilized to support project activities.
• Next Steps: Outline the planned actions or tasks that need to be undertaken to move the project forward.
• Action Items: Clearly define specific tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines for team members to address in the upcoming period.
• Project Overview: Provide a concise summary of the scope, objectives, and current status for easy reference.
• Communication: Describe how project updates and information are communicated to stakeholders and team members.
• Documentation: Mention any relevant documents, reports, or data sources supporting the status report's information.

How to Write a Status Report?

To create a compelling project progress report that effectively communicates the project's progress and key insights, follow these steps:

• Define the Audience: Identify who will be reading the report to tailor the content and level of detail accordingly.
• Gather Relevant Data: Collect accurate and up-to-date information on project milestones , tasks completed, challenges faced, and plans.
• Choose the Right Metrics: Select key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that align with the project goals and provide meaningful insights.
• Structure the Report: Organize the report into sections covering progress updates, milestones, risks, budget utilization, resource allocation, next steps, and action items.
• Provide Context and Analysis: Explain the data presented, highlight trends, discuss deviations from the plan, and propose strategies for improvement.
• Use Visual Aids: Incorporate graphs, charts, and visuals to enhance data presentation and make complex information more digestible.
• Review and Edit: Ensure the report is clear, concise, and error-free before sharing it with stakeholders.

Status Report Format

When formatting your project status report, consider the following structure:

• Header: Include project name, date, and reporting period.
• Introduction: Briefly summarize the status and purpose of the report.
• Key Highlights: Showcase significant achievements, milestones, or developments.
• Project Status Update: Detail the progress made on tasks and deliverables.
• Challenges and Risks: Outline any obstacles encountered and mitigation strategies in place.
• Financial Status: Provide an overview of budget utilization and any variances.
• Resource Allocation: Explain how resources are being allocated and utilized.
• Next Steps and Action Items: Clearly define upcoming tasks and responsibilities.
• Project status summary: In conclusion, summarize key points and outline the project's trajectory moving forward.

Status Report Templates

Status reports can vary in frequency and format depending on the project's needs and stakeholder requirements.

Types of Project Status Reports

Weekly status report.

The weekly status report provides a detailed update on the project's progress over the past week. It typically includes accomplishments, challenges encountered, tasks completed, and plans for the upcoming week. This template is ideal for projects requiring close monitoring and frequent updates.

Monthly Status Report

This template offers a more comprehensive view of the project's progress, summarizing achievements, challenges, and key milestones over the month. It allows for a deeper analysis of performance trends, financial status, and resource allocation, making it suitable for longer-term projects where monthly insights are sufficient for effective management.

Red-Yellow-Green (RYG) Status Report

The RYG status report simplifies project reporting by categorizing project elements into three colors: red (at risk), yellow (under caution), and green (on track). It provides a quick visual indication of the project's health, focusing on at-risk areas or needing attention. This format is particularly useful for executive-level stakeholders who prefer a high-level overview over detailed reports.

How to Present Project Progress?

Presenting project progress effectively is essential for maintaining stakeholder engagement and ensuring project alignment.

• Start with a Clear Objective: Begin your presentation by stating the project's objectives and how the current status aligns with these goals.
• Use a Structured Format: Organize your presentation into clear sections - such as Introduction, Achievements, Challenges, Next Steps, and Q&A - to ensure a logical flow of information.
• Highlight Key Achievements: Focus on major milestones, completed tasks, and wins since the last update. Use visuals like charts or graphs to make these achievements stand out.
• Address Challenges and Solutions: Discuss any obstacles encountered, their impact on the project, and the strategies implemented to overcome them. Be transparent, but also emphasize problem-solving efforts.
• Showcase Upcoming Milestones: Outline the next steps and immediate goals, providing clear timelines and expectations.
• Visual Aids: Leverage visual aids such as Gantt charts, dashboards, and progress bars to convey complex information simply and effectively.
• Invite Feedback and Questions: Engage your audience by inviting questions and feedback. This not only increases interaction but can also provide valuable insights for project improvement.
• Summarize and Reflect: Conclude with a summary of the key points discussed and reflect on the overall project trajectory toward achieving its objectives.

Status Report Examples

HealthTrack Mobile Application Project Status Report

Date: February 5, 2024

Reporting Period: January 5, 2024 – February 5, 2024

Project Overview

• Project Name: HealthTrack Mobile Application Development
• Project Manager: Alex Thompson
• Report Date: February 5, 2024
• Overall Project Health: Green

Key Achievements This Week

• Completed the user login and registration module.
• Successfully integrated the step-tracking API.
• Conducted initial user interface (UI) testing with positive feedback.

Challenges Encountered

• Experienced minor delays in the backend development due to unforeseen technical challenges.
• Third-party API for dietary tracking is pending approval, which may impact the project timeline.

Mitigation Strategies

• Deployed additional resources to accelerate backend development.
• Initiated backup plans to source an alternative dietary tracking API if approval does not come through within the week.

Financial Summary

• Budget Utilization: 45% of the allocated budget has been utilized.
• Forecast: Currently on budget, but closely monitoring potential impacts due to API approval delays.
• Finalize the fitness challenge feature by February 12, 2024.
• Start development on the community forum module.
• Schedule the next round of UI/UX testing focusing on new features.

Risks and Issues

Risk: Delay in third-party API approval. Mitigation: Exploring alternative APIs and preparing to adjust project scope if necessary.

Status reporting tools

For efficient status reporting, several tools stand out for their effectiveness and ease of use. ActiveCollab is noteworthy for offering unique features to suit various project needs. Here's a brief overview focusing on ActiveCollab's status reporting:

ActiveCollab, as a status reporting tool, offers comprehensive project tracking features in a user-friendly interface. It allows teams to create detailed reports on project progress, resource allocation, and budget spending. With its task management capabilities, users can quickly update statuses, ensuring stakeholders are always informed about the latest developments. Additionally, its integrated time tracking and collaboration features make it easy to monitor efforts and communicate updates in real time.

Advantages of Project Status Reports

Project status reports are essential for successful project management. Here's an overview of their key benefits:

• Improved Decision Making: Status reports provide a concise overview of the project's current state, enabling managers and stakeholders to make informed decisions based on the latest data.
• Enhanced Communication: They serve as a communication bridge between team members, management, and stakeholders, ensuring everyone is on the same page regarding project progress and expectations.
• Increased Accountability: Regular reporting creates a sense of responsibility among team members to meet their deadlines and contribute to the project's success, as their efforts are documented and recognized.
• Early Issue Identification: Frequent updates help identify potential problems early, allowing the team to address issues before they escalate into major setbacks.
• Stakeholder Engagement : Status reports keep stakeholders informed about the project's progress, challenges, and successes, fostering a sense of involvement and support for the project's objectives.
• Resource Optimization: By tracking the allocation and utilization of resources, status reports help identify areas where resources may be overutilized, allowing for timely adjustments.
• Risk Mitigation: Detailed insights into project progress and potential roadblocks allow teams to develop strategies to mitigate risks proactively.
• Transparency: Regular status reports promote transparency within the project team and with stakeholders, building trust and confidence in the project's management.
• Alignment with Objectives: They ensure that all project activities and progress are aligned with the overall project objectives, keeping the project focused and on track.
• Continuous Improvement: Analyzing status reports over time can highlight trends and patterns in project management and execution, providing valuable insights for continuous improvement in future projects.

Disadvantages of Project Status Report

While project progress reports are essential for monitoring and communication in project management, they may also present some drawbacks:

• Time-Consuming: Preparing detailed reports can be time-intensive, potentially diverting resources from project tasks.
• Information Overload: Excessive detail may overwhelm stakeholders, obscuring critical insights.
• Outdated Information: In fast-paced projects, information can quickly become outdated, leading to decisions based on old data.
• Misinterpretation: Data can be misinterpreted without clear presentation, leading to incorrect conclusions.
• Focus on Negativity: Reports often highlight issues or delays, which can demotivate team members if not balanced with positive achievements.
• Dependence: Over-reliance on written reports may reduce direct communication, leading to a lack of engagement among team members.
• Cost: The tools and systems for creating comprehensive reports can be costly for complex projects.
• False Sense of Security: Regular positive reports might lead to complacency, overshadowing underlying issues.

Project Manager Roles and Responsibilities Cheat Sheet

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• Report Writing

How to Write a Progress Report

Last Updated: May 11, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Ksenia Derouin . Ksenia Derouin is a Business Strategy Specialist, OBM, and Artist based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. With over ten years of professional experience, Ksenia works with wellness and social impact sector solopreneurs and organizations to support their business strategy, operations, marketing, and program development. Her mission is to support business owners in building thriving businesses and creating impact so that they can achieve a sense of purpose, career fulfillment, and financial independence. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 439,950 times.

Progress reports are an important part of project management, whether it's your dissertation or a project at work. You'll need to use these to keep your supervisors, your colleagues, or your clients updated about the project you're working on. You'll be focusing on what you've accomplished and what still needs to be done.

Beginning the Process

• Progress report for a research program or project is going to be slightly different than for a project at work. In this case you are more likely to need to cite information and are less likely to need to consider things like cost (although not always).
• A work report for a client is going to read somewhat differently than for a superior at work. You'll need to consider why you're writing this report for them.

• How are your readers connected to the project? How will the outcome of the project affect them? (The connection and how they're affected is going to be different for your superior than for the client, for example.)
• Consider what decision your readers are going to need to make after reading the progress report (what support, money, time are they investing, for example.
• Consider the information your reader is going to need to know to oversee and participate in the project effectively. What technical aspects of the project will they need to know. Are they comfortable with technical jargon?

• A progress report could be a brief oral report at weekly or monthly staff meetings.
• It could be periodic emails to colleagues.
• It could be formal or informal memos to supervisors.
• It can also be formal reports for clients or government agencies.

• When it comes to information for a client or government agency, or thesis review board, you err on the side of formality.
• No matter the formality or informality of your tone you want it to be clear, focused, and honest.

Writing Your Report

• You might choose to do a bulleted list. It's a very clear way to present the material and it's easy to skim and still get the needed information. However, it can be a slightly less formal way of writing a progress report so it might be better to use it for memos to supervisors and emails to colleagues.
• You may also consider adding in graphs or tables. This might be especially good if you're writing a progress report for a project in which you're trying to get funding, or show why you deserve the funding you've been given.

• Adding subheadings to your can make this even clearer, because it lets your readers or audience know what to expect in each subsection. If there is material that they are particularly interested in they'll be able to jump right to that part.

• The heading should include the date, when the report was submitted, the name and the position of the recipient, the writer’s name and position, and the subject of the report.

• Make sure to include: the purpose of the report, introduce the project, remind that this is an update on the progress of the project.

• Specify tasks that have been accomplished since the last report and what tasks are ongoing.
• Discuss problems that you’ve encountered, issues that need to be addressed, and potential solutions for those problems and issues.
• Address changes that have happened and why they needed to be made.
• You can also include things like personnel changes, difficulty in obtaining material, what cost overruns you may have encountered, any delays or problems with technology or security.
• It also helps to provide a timeline of the project with any relevant due dates.

• You really do want to make sure say whether the deadline for the project has changed or not.
• Avoid sugarcoating any problems for your audience, but don’t alarm them unnecessarily or promise anything you can’t deliver.

Avoiding Common Difficulties

• For example: if your project is about reigniting a local, nonprofit arts organization, it might be tempting to go off into a discussion of the deplorable state of arts funding, but it won't really help detail how your project is coming along.

• Depending on who you're writing the report for you might be cut down to a specific page limit. A good rule of thumb is to keep it as short as possible, while making sure that you fit in the appropriate information.

Community Q&A

• Try to judge your supervisor's style. She may have a preference for the types of reports she likes to see. Some may want to see more lists or bulleted information; others will like to know as little as possible to get by. Still others may prefer as much information as possible, no matter how many pages it takes. Thanks Helpful 36 Not Helpful 10
• Be specific throughout the progress summary, but try not to be overly wordy. Thanks Helpful 18 Not Helpful 6

• In order not to be caught unprepared when it's time for a progress report, it's a good idea to record information as you go along so it's easy to put all the information together. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 6

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about improving your business, check out our in-depth interview with Ksenia Derouin .

• ↑ https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/chapter/progressreports/
• ↑ https://pressbooks.pub/coccoer/chapter/progress-reports/
• ↑ https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/feptechcomm/chapter/2-audience/
• ↑ https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/chapter/figurestables/
• ↑ https://www.e-education.psu.edu/styleforstudents/c6_p10.html

About This Article

To write a progress report, start by deciding how you want to present your info, like with a bulleted list or a graph. You can also add subsections to your report, which can help keep things clear and easy to follow. Then, write your heading across the top of the paper and include relevant details like the date and subject of the report. Below that, add an introduction using italics to give a brief overview of the report. Next, include details in the body, like specific tasks you worked on, and conclude it by addressing what’s next for your project. To learn why considering your audience can help you write a progress report, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Project Plan Examples: How to Write an Effective Plan (2024)

Key takeaways What is a project plan? A project plan outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule; it details what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The plan includes significant deliverables, methods to achieve them, team roles, stakeholder feedback, and milestones. This transparency makes sure everyone involved understands their role and how it…

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Key takeaways

• A project plan is a vital document in project management that outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule.
• Effective project planning enhances resource management, mitigates risks, and improves project implementation and success.
• Project plans can vary in format, such as Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Gantt charts, and mind maps for brainstorming.

Jan. 8, 2024: Irene Casucian reviewed the information on this page for accuracy, refined the page layout, and added elements to improve the visual flow of information. She also created a downloadable project plan template.

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What is a project plan.

A project plan outlines the project’s scope, objectives, and schedule; it details what needs to be done, when, and by whom. The plan includes significant deliverables, methods to achieve them, team roles, stakeholder feedback, and milestones. This transparency makes sure everyone involved understands their role and how it contributes to the overall goal.

A project plan is the tangible output of the second phase of project management , project planning . This phase involves identifying and arranging each task necessary to cover the project’s scope, achieve deliverables, and meet the project’s goals. A comprehensive project plan developed in this phase is instrumental in tracking dependencies, staying updated on the status, and maintaining productivity throughout the project.

What are the key elements of an effective project plan?

A well-prepared project plan requires several key elements that will outline the project’s goals and define the stakeholders ‘ individual roles. Incorporating these key elements into a project plan is essential for effective project management and a higher success rate.

How do you create a project plan?

Step 1: define the project’s overall goals and objectives.

Identifying your project’s overall objectives and goals will help you measure the project’s success and keep your team aligned with the overarching mission. In this step, you should determine the desired outcome of your project that would represent its success.

By clearly understanding what the project aims to accomplish, project managers and teams can better identify the necessary tasks and establish the project scope . 

When defining your project goals, apply the SMART standards for a solid foundation. Make your objectives specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This approach guarantees a clear, focused, and actionable framework for your project.

Step 2: Establish the project’s success criteria

To measure success effectively, align your success criteria with the project’s key deliverables and outcomes, and make sure they are based on its intended result. Confirm that these criteria are quantifiable and accurately reflect the impact and value your project aims to deliver. Such alignment is essential for accurately assessing the project’s performance and its effectiveness in achieving the intended results.

Step 3: Identify project milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables

To identify project milestones, break the project down into key tasks and outcomes and specify significant progress points or phase completions as milestones. Consider dependencies when establishing a realistic workflow. Additionally, identify potential risks that can impact task completion and define deliverables clearly as measurable results expected from each project phase.

Step 4: Assign roles and responsibilities to the team and stakeholders

Your project’s stakeholders include any individuals or groups related to the project. To assess if someone is a stakeholder in a project, determine how much they influence, impact, or have an interest in the project’s outcome. Consider if their involvement is direct, if the project’s results affect them, or if they can influence the project’s direction or success.

Examples of stakeholder groups include:

• Team members.
• Departments.
• Project sponsors.
• Contractors.

Once you have determined your stakeholders, you can define their roles and responsibilities. This can help you structure your project team, identify members who are directly responsible for its success, and make sure they are assigned the correct tasks to carry out the project appropriately.

When assigning roles and responsibilities, utilize a RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) to clarify the involvement of each stakeholder in the project. This provides clear communication and accountability and prevents overlaps or gaps in responsibilities.

Step 5: Create a schedule and set a timeline

Creating a schedule and timeline for each task can provide visibility into the execution process and keep each team member productive.

Consider how much time is required to complete each task necessary for your project milestones. You can even break down tasks into smaller subtasks to make them more manageable. However, be mindful of factors that can cause delays such as:

• Resource limitations.
• Task dependencies.
• Unforeseen risks.

When creating a project schedule, visual tools like Gantt charts and Kanban boards help you map out task dependencies and timelines. A useful project management tool you can use for this step is Trello. Trello offers an intuitive platform for creating Kanban boards. It allows easy visualization and management of tasks through customizable columns and cards for streamlined project workflow.

Step 6: Establish an estimated project budget

To generate an estimated project budget, you must consider all of the necessary project resources, including personnel, labor, materials, and equipment. Establishing a project budget will help you make wise spending decisions throughout the project execution phase to avoid overspending. 

Step 7: Plan for communication and collaboration

A communication plan should show how information is shared among stakeholders. For instance, in a software development project, the communication plan might specify that the development team shares a beta version of the software with the client for feedback every two weeks. It’s a systematic approach to making sure that the client receives consistent updates about the project’s progress. Having a communication plan in place will also outline the channels of communication and frequency to all necessary parties. 

Leverage collaboration tools , such as Slack , that integrate with your project management software to receive real-time updates and interactions among team members and stakeholders. 

Step 8: Document the project plan

Compile all related planning information and documentation as you plan your project. Some of these vital documents include: 

• Stakeholder analysis.
• Feasibility study .
• Business case.
• Work breakdown structure .

Having these reports in one place will serve as a reference during the project’s execution.

Utilize a centralized digital platform, like Sharepoint , where stakeholders can store, update, and access all project documentation. This approach serves as a reliable reference and streamlines the management and tracking of the project’s progress.

Learn more about Sharepoint and other document management tools in our video overview:

Free project plan template download

Project plan examples.

Using an appropriate project plan format is essential to keeping stakeholders well-informed. Here are some of the widely-used project plan formats: 

1.  Spreadsheets

Using spreadsheets for project planning is beneficial due to its simplicity and widespread use, especially suitable for small-scale projects with straightforward tasks. Its customizable nature is excellent for simple initiatives like office events or basic marketing plans.

However, a significant drawback of using spreadsheets in project planning is the limited visualization options. While spreadsheets can manage data, they fail to offer comprehensive visual representations essential for a holistic view of project progress. Lastly, the risk of human error in data entry and formula setup in spreadsheets is high and can lead to critical miscalculations affecting the entire project plan.

Try this software

For more complex projects, Smartsheet is an ideal upgrade. It merges the simplicity of a spreadsheet with advanced project management features such as real-time collaboration, automated workflows , and app integration. More than just a basic spreadsheet tool, Smartsheet is particularly effective for large-scale projects like detailed marketing campaigns or cross-departmental efforts, offering comprehensive task tracking and resource management in a user-friendly format.

2. Slideshow presentations

Slideshow presentations for project plans provide a visually engaging method to simplify complex information. They effectively break down project components into understandable segments, using visuals, charts, and bullet points to highlight key information and timelines for team members and stakeholders.

However, the downside is that slide shows can oversimplify complex projects and potentially leave out critical nuances. They also require significant preparation time and may not be the best medium for detailed, data-heavy projects.

Microsoft PowerPoint is an excellent choice for creating slide show presentations as part of project plans. It’s user-friendly and offers many templates and design tools. That’s why it’s suitable for beginners and seasoned professionals. PowerPoint’s ability to integrate with other Microsoft Office tools, like Excel for data representation, enhances its utility in project planning.

3. Gantt charts

Gantt charts create a clear visual timeline of a project’s schedule and progress by displaying various project elements’ start and finish dates. This approach helps identify potential bottlenecks and overlaps and facilitates better resource allocation and time management. However, Gantt charts can become cumbersome for complex projects with numerous tasks and dependencies.

Gantt charts are particularly effective in construction projects, event planning, and software development, where timelines and task dependencies are critical.

TeamGantt is an effective PM tool that creates clear visual timelines for project schedules and progress tracking. By allowing users to input various project elements, including tasks, milestones, and dependencies, and then assigning start and finish dates to each, TeamGantt generates an intuitive Gantt chart.

This chart visually represents the project timeline, displaying how different tasks and phases overlap and interconnect over the project duration. The color-coded bars and easy-to-read format make it simple to understand the sequencing of tasks and the project’s overall progress at a glance.

4.     Mind maps

Mind maps differ from other project visualization methods by showing a radial, non-linear format ideal for brainstorming and capturing the holistic view of a project. They emphasize the creative mapping of ideas and relationships. They promote the free flow of ideas and easy visualization of relationships between different aspects of a project. Mind maps can also help identify key components, dependencies, and potential challenges at the early stages of a project.

Moreover, using a mind map before presenting a Gantt chart can help ease the transition from creative brainstorming to detailed scheduling, resource allocation, and progress tracking.

Lucidchart is an excellent software solution for creating mind maps that can be converted into detailed reports. Its intuitive, drag-and-drop interface is ideal for conceptualizing project plans.

Lucidchart also stands out because it integrates with various tools like Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. This integration can facilitate the transition from a visual mind map to a comprehensive written report.

Components of project planning

Work breakdown schedule development.

Using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) in project planning offers distinct advantages and some drawbacks. The primary benefit of a WBS is its ability to break down a complex project into manageable components. It is then easier to allocate resources, assign responsibilities, and track progress. This hierarchical project decomposition guarantees that every part of the project is apparent.

However, the main disadvantage lies in its potential rigidity; a WBS can become overly prescriptive, limiting flexibility and adaptability to changes or unforeseen challenges. Additionally, creating a comprehensive WBS can be time-consuming, and if not done meticulously, it may lead to gaps or overlaps in project planning.

monday.com includes a work breakdown feature to help teams organize complex projects into manageable tasks. Each task is separated into more minor subtasks assigned to the appropriate individuals. The chart also displays additional information, such as the deliverables, end dates, and schedules based on interdependencies.

Project and documentation management 

Project and documentation management in project planning has its own advantages and disadvantages. With this process, you can make sure that all project-related documents are organized, up-to-date, and easily accessible. This approach is essential for maintaining consistency and clarity throughout the project lifecycle. Yet, the downside includes the possibility of information overload, where team members might get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of documents.

Agile teams use Jira for planning and managing their projects. Here, you can see some of the information regarding risks and dependencies compiled within Jira. This method of organizing this information can be helpful, as the platform can act as a single source of truth to keep team members updated on the status of specific tasks. It also makes it easy for teams to communicate with external stakeholders about factors impacting the project.

Benefits of creating a project plan

Effective project planning is the cornerstone of successful project execution. It involves several key aspects contributing to a project’s smooth functioning and success. Some of these benefits include:

Remember, an effective project plan is not just a document; it’s a strategic tool that integrates various critical elements to secure the project’s success.

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2024 presidential debate fact-check: how accurate were joe biden, donald trump.

From left, former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden debate June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP)

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, shared a debate stage June 27 for the first time since 2020, in a feisty confrontation that — thanks to debate rules — managed to avoid the near-constant interruptions that marred their previous meetings.

Biden, who spoke in a raspy voice at the debate’s start, struggled at times, at one point saying that his administration "finally beat Medicare." After the debate, during a stop at a Waffle House, Biden told reporters he had a sore throat, according to the pool report.

Trump, meanwhile, repeated numerous falsehoods, including that Democrats want doctors to be able to abort babies after birth.

Trump attacked Biden’s record, blaming inflation and other issues on Biden’s "insane and stupid policies." Biden questioned Trump’s conduct, noting that Trump is a convicted felon and saying he has the "morals of an alley cat."

CNN hosted the debate, which had no audience, at its Atlanta studio. CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderated. The debate format allowed CNN to mute candidates’ microphones when it wasn’t their turn to speak.

Biden and Trump clashed on the economy, immigration and abortion, and revisited discussion of their ages. Biden is 81; Trump is 78.

Read by topic: 

Immigration Abortion Inflation and economy Jobs Trump legal cases Social Security, Medicare and taxes Checking the record on Hitler comment and Charlottesville Crime Health care Foreign policy and terrorism Election denial and Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol Worst president rankings The golf moment

Trump: Biden "allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails and mental institutions."

Pants on Fire! Immigration officials arrested about 103,700 noncitizens with criminal convictions (whether in the U.S. or abroad) from fiscal years 2021 to 2024, federal data shows. That accounts for people stopped at and between ports of entry.

Not everyone was let in. The term "noncitizens" includes people who may have had legal immigration status in the U.S. but were not U.S. citizens.

The data reflects the people that the federal government knows about, but it’s inexhaustive. However, immigration experts said despite the data’s limitations, there is no evidence to support Trump’s statement.

Biden: "I've changed (the law) in the way that now you're in a situation where there are 40% fewer people coming across the border illegally."

Mostly True . The Department of Homeland Security announced that illegal immigration encounters dropped by 40%, to fewer than 2,400 each day , in the weeks after Biden announced a policy largely barring asylum access for people entering the U.S. at the southern border. The policy was announced June 4.

But immigration experts caution that it’s difficult to pinpoint a single reason for any change in border crossings. For example, other factors, such as hot weather , can affect migration patterns.

Since the policy was announced only a few weeks ago, it’s unclear whether the drop in illegal immigration will continue . 

Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, associate policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told PolitiFact the policy could have a short-term deterrent effect. But Adam Isacson, defense oversight director at the Washington Office on Latin America, a research group, told PolitiFact, that no crackdown in the past decade has had a lasting impact.  

Trump: "We had the safest border in the history of our country."

Mostly False . Illegal immigration between ports of entry at the U.S. southern border dropped in 2017,  Trump’s first year in office, compared with previous years. Apprehensions then rose, and dropped again in 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, immigration dropped drastically worldwide as governments enacted policies limiting people’s movement.

In the months before Trump left office, illegal immigration was rising again. A spike in migrants , especially unaccompanied minors , started in the spring 2020 during the Trump administration and generally continued to climb each month.

Illegal immigration during Trump’s administration was higher than under both of former President Barack Obama’s terms. 

Biden: While talking about a bipartisan border bill, "by the way, the Border Patrol endorsed me, endorsed my position."

Half True . The National Border Patrol Council — the U.S. Border Patrol’s union endorsed a bipartisan border security bill in February. But it didn’t endorse Biden.

Here's what Brandon Judd, the union’s president, said about the bill in February:

"While not perfect, the Border Act of 2024 is a step in the right direction and is far better than the current status quo. This is why the National Border Patrol Council endorses this bill and hopes for its quick passage."

Biden also supported the bill and said he would sign it into law if it passed. The bill failed in the Senate on a 49-50 vote .

However, Judd and the Border Patrol union have been critical of Biden and his immigration policies and endorsed Trump in the 2020 election.

"To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden," the National Border Patrol Council said in an X post during the debate.

Trump: Biden allowed in "18 million people."

False . Immigration officials have encountered immigrants illegally crossing the border 9.7 million times under Biden’s presidency. When accounting for "got aways" — people who aren’t stopped by border officials — the number rises to about 11.4 million. 

But encounters don’t mean admissions . Encounters represent events, so one person who tried to cross the border twice counts for two encounters. Also, not everyone encountered is let in. Many encounters result in deportations. The Department of Homeland Security estimates about 4 million encounters have led to expulsions or removals.

Trump: "The problem (Democrats) have is they're radical, because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth." False. Willfully terminating a newborn’s life is infanticide and is illegal in every U.S. state. 

Most elected Democrats who have spoken publicly about this have said they support abortion under Roe v. Wade’s standard, which provided abortion access up to fetal viability. This is typically around 24 weeks of pregnancy, when the fetus can survive outside of the womb. Many of these Democrats have also said they support abortions past this point if the treating physician deems it necessary. Medical experts say situations resulting in fetal death in the third trimester are rare — less than 1% of abortions in the U.S. occur after 21 weeks — and typically involve fatal fetal anomalies or life-threatening emergencies affecting the pregnant woman. For fetuses with very short life expectancies, doctors may induce labor and offer palliative care. Some families choose this option when facing diagnoses that limit their babies’ survival to minutes or days after delivery. Some Republicans who have made claims similar to Trump’s point to Democratic support of the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022 , citing the bill’s provisions that say providers and patients have the right to perform and receive abortion services without certain limitations or requirements that would impede access. Anti-abortion advocates say the provisions in the bill, which failed to advance 49-51, would have created a loophole that eliminated any limits to abortions later in pregnancy. Alina Salganicoff, director of KFF’s Women’s Health Policy program, said the legislation would have allowed health providers to perform abortions without obstacles such as waiting periods, medically unnecessary tests and in-person visits, or other restrictions. The bill would have allowed an abortion after viability when, "in the good-faith medical judgment of the treating health care provider, continuation of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the pregnant patient’s life or health."

Trump: "He caused this inflation. I gave him a country with … essentially no inflation. It was perfect."

Mostly False . When Biden was inaugurated, year-over-year inflation was about 1.4%. However, that was shaped by the still-weak economy during the coronavirus pandemic, which was still a serious threat when Biden was inaugurated.

As the pandemic conditions improved, the economy accelerated. Consumers were ready to buy products, but the pandemic had prompted supply chain shortages. This, combined with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which raised gasoline prices, led to inflation, peaking at 9% about a year and a half into Biden’s presidency. That was the highest in about four decades. 

Economists generally say Biden’s coronavirus relief plan, the American Rescue Plan, did exacerbate inflation by putting more money into consumers’ hands at a time when supplies were running short. But they do not believe that Biden caused high inflation single-handedly.

Trump: "You look at the cost of food, where it's double, triple and quadruple."

False.  Food costs have risen faster under President Joe Biden than under any of his five most recent predecessors. However, the 21% increase in food prices on Biden’s watch is well below what Trump claimed. Quadrupling food costs would be an increase of 300%, or more than 10 times larger than what Trump said.

Specific categories of food have spiked more than food prices overall. For instance, egg prices are 84% higher today than when Biden took office. But for every food category that has outrun overall food inflation, there’s another category that has risen more slowly than average.

Also, this increase was spread over three and a half years, making the annual increase about 6%, part of which has been offset by rising wages .

Biden: "Economists say (Trump’s proposed tariffs are) going to cost the average American $2,500 a year or more."

Mostly True. Most economists expect that Trump’s proposed 10% across-the-board tariff on foreign products will force consumers to pay more. The specific size of that hit is open to debate, though Biden offered a figure somewhat higher than current estimates.

Just days before the debate, the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank, projected additional costs per household of $1,700 to $2,350 annually.

The Peterson Institute of International Economics, another Washington, D.C.-based think tank, projected that such tariffs would cost a middle-income household about $1,700 extra each year.

Biden: Semiconductor jobs "to build these chips … pay over $100,000. You don’t need a college degree for them."

Mostly False . The average semiconductor industry salary is around $170,000, figures from Oxford Economics and Semiconductor Industry Association, a trade group, show. But this figure includes all jobs within the industry and doesn’t single out jobs requiring no college degree.

To earn a salary of $110,000 or higher, employees in the semiconductor industry need undergraduate or graduate-level degrees, the groups say.

The most a person would make without a four-year degree is about $70,000, according to a 2021 report from the Semiconductor Industry Association and Oxford Economics.

Biden: "Black unemployment is the lowest level it’s been in a long, long time."

Mostly True .  The record for low Black unemployment rate was set under Biden in April 2023, at 4.8%. It has risen modestly since then to 6.1% in May 2024, but that’s still lower than it was for much of the first two years under Trump. 

Overall, Trump had success on this statistic, too. When Biden set the record, the record he was breaking was Trump’s: 5.3% in August and September 2019.

Trump: "The only jobs (Biden) created are for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs, bounce-back from the COVID."

False . Since Biden took office in early 2021, the number of foreign-born Americans who are employed has risen by about 5.6 million. But over the same time period, the number of native-born Americans employed has increased by almost 7.4 million. (There are many more native-born Americans than foreign-born Americans, so on a percentage basis, the increase for foreign-born Americans is about 22%, compared with 6% for native-born Americans.)

It’s also wrong to say that all the foreign-born employment gains (much less all the employment gains) stem from migrants here illegally. The data for foreign-born Americans includes anyone born outside the U.S., including immigrants who have been in the United States legally for decades.

Employment on Biden’s watch passed its prepandemic level by June 2022, about a year and a half into his term. Since then, the U.S. economy has created an additional 6.2 million jobs.

Trump: Biden "indicted me because I was his opponent."

False . The Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into Trump’s business records began before Biden was president, but Biden was president by the time Trump was charged in 2023.

After Michael Cohen, who had been an attorney for Trump, pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018, then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. began investigating the payments, Politico reported . That was before Biden was president. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg hired a former Justice Department prosecutor in 2022. But experts told us that doesn’t prove Biden was involved.

Trump has also been indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury and two federal grand juries. Biden is not responsible for state or federal prosecutors’ decisions to present cases to grand juries.

Trump: "Social Security, he's destroying it, because millions of people are pouring into our country, and they're putting them onto Social Security. They're putting them onto Medicare, Medicaid."  

False . It’s wrong to say that immigration will destroy Social Security. Social Security’s fiscal challenges stem from a shortage of workers compared with beneficiaries. 

Immigration is far from a fiscal fix-all for Social Security’s challenges. But having more immigrants in the United States would increase the worker-to-beneficiary ratio, potentially for decades, thus extending the program’s solvency, experts say.

Most immigrants in the U.S. illegally are also ineligible for Social Security. However, people who entered the U.S. illegally and were granted humanitarian parole — a temporary permission to stay in the country — for more than one year, are eligible for Social Security. 

Immigrants in the U.S. illegally also are generally ineligible to enroll in federally funded health care coverage such as Medicare and Medicaid. (Some states provide Medicaid coverage under state-funded programs regardless of immigration status. Immigrants are eligible for emergency Medicaid regardless of status.)

Biden: Trump "wants to get rid of Social Security, he thinks there's plenty to cut in Social Security."

False . Biden went further than previous attacks to say Trump would cut the program entirely. In a March CNBC interview , Trump said of entitlement programs such as Social Security, "There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting." 

However, Trump quickly walked that statement back. Also, his campaign website says that not "a single penny" should be cut from Social Security, and he’s repeated similar lines in campaign rallies.

Before the 2024 campaign, Trump said about a half dozen times that he’s open to major overhauls of Social Security, including cuts and privatization.

Trump: "He wants to raise your taxes by four times. He wants to raise everybody's taxes by four times."

False . Biden proposed a tax increase of about 7% over the next decade, which is far lower than the 300% increase that former President Donald Trump claimed. (Doubling would be a 100% increase and tripling would be a 200% increase.)

About 83% of the proposed Biden tax increase would be borne by the top 1% of taxpayers, a level that starts at just under $1 million a year in income. 

Taxpayers earning up to $60,400 would see their yearly taxes decline on average, and taxpayers earning $60,400 to $107,300 would see an annual increase of $20 on average.

Biden: "I said I’d never raise the tax on anybody if you're making less than $400,000. I didn’t."

Mostly True . Biden has said repeatedly that he will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000, a promise he campaigned on in 2020 .

He has not raised any individual income taxes on Americans earning less than $400,000 a year. It’s always possible that individual taxpayers could see increases because of changes in their personal circumstances.

Some corporate tax increases enacted on Biden’s watch have a small projected pass-through effect on taxpayers. Economists generally allocate a portion of the tax burden from corporate taxes to shareholders and partly to consumers, who often pay higher prices as corporations factor the higher taxes into pricing of goods and services.

The White House has told PolitiFact that Biden would let the tax cuts Trump signed in 2017 expire for wealthier taxpayers, but would not let Americans making less than $400,000 see any tax increase. 

Trump: "I gave you the largest tax cut in history."

False . When it was passed in 2017, Trump’s tax cut was, in inflation-adjusted dollars, the fourth-largest since 1940. And as a percentage of gross domestic product, it ranked seventh in history, according to figures published by the Treasury Department.

Biden: Trump said, "I don't want to go in (a World War I cemetery in France), because they're a bunch of losers and suckers." 

Trump called this a "made-up quote." Both statements need context.

A September 2020 article in The Atlantic cited unnamed sources as saying that Trump called Americans who died in wars "suckers" and "losers" when he canceled a trip in 2018 to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris. 

"Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers," The Atlantic reported Trump said, citing multiple unnamed sources. In a separate conversation, also according to unnamed sources, he said U.S. Marines who lost their lives in World War I’s Battle of Belleau Wood were "suckers" for getting killed.

John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, confirmed elements of The Atlantic’s story three years later in an October 2023 statement to CNN , including that Trump referred to military members who were killed or wounded as "suckers" and "losers."

But Trump has long denied these allegations.

Biden: "This is a guy who says Hitler's done some good things." 

This is a reference to a passage in a book by CNN anchor Jim Sciutto in which Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff, described a conversation he had with Trump.

"He said, ‘Well, but Hitler did some good things,’" Kelly said . "I said, ‘Well, what?’ And he said, ‘Well, (Adolf Hitler) rebuilt the economy.’"

According to the book, Kelly also told Sciutto that Hitler had the "loyalty" of his senior staff, unlike Trump.

There is no independent verification of this conversation. Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNN in March that Kelly suffered from "a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome," but didn’t address the specific allegations. 

Biden: Trump called Nazis protesting in the crowd in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 "very fine people."

Trump vehemently denied Biden’s characterization. Here’s what happened. In comments to reporters following violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the removal of a Confederate general’s statue, Trump said of marchers who protested the removal, "You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." 

During back-and-forth remarks with reporters, Trump separately condemned the "neo-Nazis and the white nationalists."

"But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me," Trump said. "Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch."

Trump also said that counterprotesters had similar makeup of "good" and "bad" people — "some fine people" and also " troublemakers" and "bad people."

Trump: "What he's done to the Black population is horrible, including the fact that for 10 years, he called them super predators … in the 1990s."

False . In a 1993 Senate floor speech, Biden, then a U.S. senator from Delaware, spoke about doing something for young people who lacked supervision, structure or opportunities. He said the country needed to focus on them, because otherwise, a portion of them would "become the predators 15 years from now."

Biden did not single out any racial or ethnic group. In a 1998 speech at an attorneys general conference, Biden also used the term "predators." He didn’t say he was talking about Black youth.

Biden: "We brought down the price (of) prescription drug(s), which is a major issue for many people, to $15 for an insulin shot, as opposed to $400."

Half True . Biden touted his efforts to reduce prescription drug costs by referring to the $35 insulin price cap his administration instituted as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. But he flubbed the number during the debate, saying it was lowered to $15. In his closing statement, Biden corrected the number to $35.  

The price of insulin for Medicare enrollees starting in 2023 dropped to $35 a month, not $15. Drug pricing experts told PolitFact when we rated a similar claim that most Medicare enrollees were likely not paying a monthly average of $400 before the changes, although because costs vary depending on coverage phases and dosages, some might have paid that much in a given month.

Biden: Trump "wants to get rid of the ACA again."

Half True . In 2016, Trump campaigned on a promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. In the White House, Trump supported a failed effort to do just that. In the years since, he has repeatedly said he would dismantle the health care law in campaign stops and social media posts throughout 2023.

In March, however, Trump walked back this stance, writing on Truth Social that he "isn’t running to terminate" the ACA but to make it "better" and "less expensive." Trump hasn’t said how he would do this.

Trump: "I'm the one that got the insulin down for the seniors."

Mostly False . When he was president, Trump instituted the Part D Senior Savings Model , a program that capped insulin costs to $35 a month for some older Americans in drug plans that chose to participate. 

But because it was voluntary, 38% of all Medicare drug plans , including Medicare Advantage plans, participated in 2022, according to KFF. Trump’s voluntary plan also covered only one form of each dosage and insulin type. 

Biden points to the Inflation Reduction Act’s mandatory $35 insulin cap as a major achievement. This cap applies to all Medicare prescription plans. It also expanded the cap to all covered insulin types and dosages. Although Trump’s model was a start, it did not have the sweeping reach that Biden’s mandatory cap achieved. 

Biden: "I’m the only president this century that doesn't have any, this decade, that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world like he did."

False . Some U.S. service members have died in combat abroad during Biden’s presidency.

In August 2021, 13 U.S. service members were killed in an attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan under Biden’s administration. No U.S. service member deaths were reported in 2022, Defense Department data shows. Full government data for U.S. active duty military deaths is not available for 2023 or 2024. This January, three U.S. soldiers were killed in a drone strike in Jordan.

During Trump’s presidency, from January 2017 to January 2020, 65 U.S. service members were killed in combat, Defense Department data shows.

Trump: "We had no terror (attacks) under my administration."

False . During Trump’s presidency, there were several major terror attacks, some linked to extreme global jihadist ideology. 

In 2017, there were two separate attacks in New York City, which Trump himself acknowledged as "terrorist attacks" during his 2018 State of the Union address.

There was also a December 2019 mass shooting by a member of Saudi Arabia’s air force who was studying at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. Three U.S. service members were killed and eight were wounded by the gunman, who had expressed anti-American and anti-Israel sentiments on social media. Trump’s Attorney General William Barr described the shooting as "an act of terrorism."

Trump’s Justice Department also prosecuted several cases of domestic terrorism.

Excluding unsuccessful attacks and those for which officials doubt motive, there were 220 terror incidents in the United States of varying severity during Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2020, according to the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland, which tracks incidents of terrorism.

Trump: Regarding the 2020 election, "the fraud and everything else was ridiculous."

False . There is some fraud in every election, but it was not enough to change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. And some fraudulently cast ballots involved defendants who were either registered Republicans or said that they supported Trump .

Federal and state officials , including Republicans in Georgia , said the 2020 election was legitimate. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, said that he had not seen fraud on a scale that would invalidate Joe Biden’s victory. 

As Trump faced reelection in 2020, he said Biden could win only if the election was rigged. Numerous investigations, court cases and reviews yielded no evidence of widespread rigging in the 2020 presidential election.

Elections are administered in thousands of local areas nationwide, each with safeguards, making any attempt to "rig" a national election highly improbable.

Trump: Pelosi said "I take full responsibility for Jan. 6."

False . That’s not what former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said.

In a 41-second video taken on Jan. 6, 2021, Pelosi said, "I take responsibility for not having them just prepare for more," referring to U.S. Capitol security. She did not say she took responsibility for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

Records show that Pelosi approved a Jan. 6, 2021, request to seek support from the National Guard and pushed to get National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol when their deployment was delayed by hours that day.

Biden: Presidential historians "voted who was the worst president in American history. From best to worst. They said (Trump) was the worst in all of American history."

True . The 2024 Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey, released in February, collected responses from 154 presidential historians, which included current and recent members of the American Political Science Association. The survey ranked Biden as the 14th best president in U.S. history, and put Trump last.

The historians were asked to give every president a score, from zero to 100. Abraham Lincoln topped the list with an average score of 95, while Biden scored an average of 62.66. Trump averaged just under 11 points.

Somehow the presidential debate turned into a fight over who’s the better golfer. Biden said he would have a driving competition with Trump and claimed he was a 6 handicap while serving as vice president.

Trump scoffed. "He can hit a ball 50 yards."

Joe Biden is currently listed with the United States Golf Association as holding a 6.7 handicap playing out of Fieldstone Golf Club in Delaware. Biden hasn’t logged a score in the system since 2018. Scores are typically self-reported, and a handicap comes from an average of the lowest 8 of the most recent 20 posted scores.

The lower the handicap you have, the better golfer you are. Ivanka Trump, for instance, is a 20.9 handicap and Eric Trump is listed as a 13.6 (without a round since 2015). Donald Trump is in the system as a member of the prestigious Winged Foot Golf Club in New York. He lists a handicap of 2.5 but hasn’t posted a score since 2021.

PolitiFact PolitiFact Executive Director Aaron Sharockman, Chief Correspondent Louis Jacobson, Senior Correspondent Amy Sherman, Staff Writers Grace Abels, Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu, Maria Briceño, Jeff Cercone, Madison Czopek, Marta Campabadal Graus, Ranjan Jindal, Mia Penner, Samantha Putterman, Sara Swann, Maria Ramirez Uribe, Researcher Caryn Baird, KFF Health News Senior Correspondent Julie Appleby and KFF Health News Mountain States Editor Matt Volz​ contributed to this story. 

Our debate fact-checks rely on both new and previously reported work. We link to past work whenever possible. In some cases, a fact-check rating may be different tonight than in past versions. In those cases, either details of what the candidate said, or how the candidate said it, differed enough that we evaluated it anew. 

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