writing a project summary report

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How to Write a Project Summary (Free Template Included)

There’s a lot of work involved in getting a project approved. You need to convince stakeholders or clients that the project is worthwhile. This should be done upfront and is usually accomplished via the project summary.

That’s a lot of responsibility for a project summary, which by definition is a short overview of the project. Therefore, nothing can be wasted. Every word must count towards proving that the project is viable and will deliver a return on investment.

What Is a Project Summary?

To start, let’s define the term. A project summary is a document or part of a larger document that’s comprehensive but concise in providing an overview of the proposed project, including key details. It also outlines the project’s objectives, background information to place it in context, requirements, problems, analysis and ends with a conclusion.

While the project summary can be a standalone document or a preface to other types of project documentation, it is most commonly used as the introduction for the project proposal. As noted, a project summary has to hook the reader. Like an opening sentence in a book that keeps you reading, the project summary must capture your attention and pull you through the project proposal.

If done right, the project summary will lead the client through the project proposal and once they’re done, they’ll approve the work. It’s good to have all that documentation in project management software so you can easily turn the project summary into a project plan. ProjectManager is online project management software with unlimited file storage to act as the hub for your project documentation. If you collect the project proposal in our list view, it’s easy to toggle to the Gantt chart where you can create a visual schedule on a timeline. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

When Should You Use a Project Summary?

The project summary is created during the project pitch. It provides a big-picture view of the project, including a brief description and the essential parts. This is where you’ll start to define the project’s goals, the schedule of tasks that must be executed to deliver the project, an estimation of its budget, etc. to ensure everyone understands the basic plan.

The project summary might be the most important part of your project proposal as it’s the first time the reader will be exposed to the project and why you believe it’s worth executing. Make sure to conduct thorough research to create a well-rounded project summary. This can help convince a client or stakeholder of the value of the project.

Even though a project proposal opens with the project summary, it’s not uncommon for this to be the last section that’s written. If you’re thoroughly researching the topic, you’ll be addressing issues that come up in other sections of the project proposal. Therefore, when you complete the proposal, you’ll have all the information you need to properly create an executive summary .

What Should Be Included In a Project Summary?

A project summary should be short, but you don’t want to shortchange the project and not give the summary enough room to sell the project to the stakeholder or client. You’ll want to avoid jargon and proprietary or confidential information, such as trade secrets. Write in plain, easy-to-understand sentences. The project summary shouldn’t be difficult to comprehend.

Project Information

You’ll begin by outlining high-level information about the project, including:

• Project name
• Project manager
• Project sponsor

You can add the project team if they’ve been assembled at this point. It’s also a good idea to provide a brief overview of the project, goals and objectives , benefits, etc. Note what it is you’re going to accomplish and how. Plus, when dealing with projects outside of your organization, a background is advisable.

Project Schedule

The project schedule is a chronological timeline that charts the project from beginning to end. On that timeline are the activities and tasks that must be executed to achieve the final project deliverable. This includes dates, duration, milestones and all deliverables. You don’t have to be as thorough as when planning your project plan, but a brief outline is necessary.

Project Budget

The budget is often included in the project schedule and isn’t a detailed forecast of costs, but it’s still an important component and should be included. You’ll want to have some financial projections to show how much the project will cost and what sort of return is expected. A budget baseline is also helpful.

Resource Plan

To further help stakeholders understand the project you want to include a list of resources. Resources are anything you need to complete the project. This includes the project team, materials, equipment, etc.

Risk Management Overview

Every project has inherent risks. Stakeholders want to know what risks you identify as potentially occurring in the project, their impact and how you’ll mitigate them. This includes roadblocks and challenges—anything that will impact the scope, cost and time of the project. Briefly outline your risk management plan . You can go into detail if the project is approved.

How to Write a Project Summary

We’ve gone over the basic components of a project summary. Now let’s look at how to write one. While the project summary is brief by definition, the research is extensive. Follow these steps to make sure you do a thorough job.

1. Talk to Your Team

No single person is equipped to tackle the challenges of a project summary. You need to bring together your project team . They’re the ones who will be executing the project on the front lines, so to speak. They have the expertise and knowledge. Use them as a resource as you research the project.

2. Know Your Audience

The research is one part of convincing stakeholders of the value of the project. How you present it is the other. You need to speak the language of the stakeholders. The tone, word choices and more are all going to change whether you’re speaking to a client or a stakeholder. This is especially true in terms of industry. You’ll address construction differently than manufacturing or IT.

3. Define Your Objectives

You’ll want to make it clear what the objective of the project is and what indicates that the project has been successfully completed. That requires sharing the metrics you’ll use to measure the project. You also need to know the project intent, similar to its mission statement .

4. Write Your Project Summary

Work with your team to write a clear and concise project summary. Make sure you’ve included all the components we’ve mentioned above. Don’t forget to proofread the project summary as nothing looks more unprofessional than bad grammar or misspellings.

Project Summary Template

Writing a project summary takes a lot of preparation. One thing you shouldn’t have to worry about is the format. Use our free project summary template for Word and you’ll simply have to fill in the blank fields. Everything you need is there and the project summary template is customizable so you can add your logo and edit the document to suit the specific needs of the project you’re proposing.

Other Project Management Templates to Help Create a Project Summary

The project summary is one of the dozens of free project management templates we have for both Excel and Word. There are templates for every phase of a project. Here are a few that relate to the project summary.

Budget Proposal Template

You can estimate the cost of a project with our free budget proposal template for Excel. It shows potential stakeholders how much the project will cost, from salaries to materials and equipment. There’s also space to add travel, communications and other direct and indirect costs.

Project Timeline Template

A project summary needs to include a brief project timeline. The free project timeline template for Excel can help. It has a column on the left-hand side where you can add tasks, start and end dates, as well as duration, which then automatically populates a visual timeline to the right.

Project Proposal Template

The project summary is part of the larger project proposal. You need to have one to get a project approved and funded. Our free project proposal template for Word includes everything from a summary to the solution, implementation to deliverables.

ProjectManager Is Ideal for Keeping Track of Your Project

Templates can help you organize your ideas and deliver a great project summary and proposal, but once it’s approved you’ll need project management software to plan, manage and track the work. ProjectManager is online software that empowers teams to work more efficiently while giving managers tools to monitor their work in real time.

Track Progress With Real-Time Dashboards

Once you have your project schedule on our robust Gantt chart , you can set a baseline, which makes it possible for you to track the planned effort against the actual effort in real time. This data also feeds into our real-time dashboard and is displayed in easy-to-read graphs and charts. You get a high-level view of the progress and performance of your project whenever you want. Unlike competing software products, there’s no time-consuming configuration. It’s ready when you are.

Get Deeper Into the Data With Customizable Reports

When you want to get more detail than a dashboard can provide, generate a report . You can do it with a couple of keystrokes and then customize each to show only the data you want to see. Get status and portfolio reports as well as variance, workload and more. All reports can be easily shared in a variety of formats with stakeholders to keep them updated.

Of course, you need to do more than monitor and track your project in real time to deliver your project on time and within budget. That’s why we have features to help you manage risk, tasks and resources. Our tool makes it fast and easy to onboard your team and helps them collaborate, add comments to tasks and share files. We help you turn a project summary into project success.

ProjectManager is award-winning software that gives you the tools to achieve your project goals and objectives. Get real-time data to help you make more insightful decisions and give your teams a collaborative platform that lets them work better together. Join the teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our tool. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

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• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on November 23, 2020 by Shona McCombes . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Summarizing , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

• Read the text
• Break it down into sections
• Identify the key points in each section
• Write the summary
• Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or evaluating the source . You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

Table of contents

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about summarizing.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarize an article or other source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
• To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
• To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyze or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarizing is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

• Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
• Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
• Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

• Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
• Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
• Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organized into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction , methods , results , and discussion .

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarize this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Davis et al. (2015) set out to empirically test the popular saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples are often used to represent a healthy lifestyle, and research has shown their nutritional properties could be beneficial for various aspects of health. The authors’ unique approach is to take the saying literally and ask: do people who eat apples use healthcare services less frequently? If there is indeed such a relationship, they suggest, promoting apple consumption could help reduce healthcare costs.

The study used publicly available cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were categorized as either apple eaters or non-apple eaters based on their self-reported apple consumption in an average 24-hour period. They were also categorized as either avoiding or not avoiding the use of healthcare services in the past year. The data was statistically analyzed to test whether there was an association between apple consumption and several dependent variables: physician visits, hospital stays, use of mental health services, and use of prescription medication.

Although apple eaters were slightly more likely to have avoided physician visits, this relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting for various relevant factors. No association was found between apple consumption and hospital stays or mental health service use. However, apple eaters were found to be slightly more likely to have avoided using prescription medication. Based on these results, the authors conclude that an apple a day does not keep the doctor away, but it may keep the pharmacist away. They suggest that this finding could have implications for reducing healthcare costs, considering the high annual costs of prescription medication and the inexpensiveness of apples.

However, the authors also note several limitations of the study: most importantly, that apple eaters are likely to differ from non-apple eaters in ways that may have confounded the results (for example, apple eaters may be more likely to be health-conscious). To establish any causal relationship between apple consumption and avoidance of medication, they recommend experimental research.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or meta analysis you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Using national survey data, Davis et al. (2015) tested the assertion that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and did not find statistically significant evidence to support this hypothesis. While people who consumed apples were slightly less likely to use prescription medications, the study was unable to demonstrate a causal relationship between these variables.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

• You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
• You haven’t missed any essential information
• The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarizing many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Paraphrasing

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words. Want to make your life super easy? Try our free text summarizer today!

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarizing, and on the purpose of the summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
• For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
• To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
• In a paper , to summarize or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

• Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
• Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarize the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarize a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

All can be done within seconds with our free text summarizer .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 31). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 23, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-summarize/

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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.

One platform for better teamwork

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Project Summary: What is it & How to Write it!

Every project plan or proposal has a project summary that condenses the entire project into a single page. It’s the perfect document to communicate important information to stakeholders, clients, and employees.

And since it’s the first thing that a reviewer is likely to read, it’s needless to say that it’s one of the most crucial documents in project management.

After all, a project summary is the best chance you get to capture your readers’ attention and convince them about the quality of your project.

If you’re here, then it’s likely that you want to know more about project summaries. And you have come to the right place for that!

In this blog, we will help you understand what a project summary is, why it is important, and the steps and tips to write one!

So what are you waiting for? Dive right in!

What is a Project Summary? (Definition)

A project summary is a document that contains a concise, comprehensive overview of an entire project and its key details. It usually consists of a project’s objectives , background information, requirements, problems, analysis, and conclusion.

A project summary is typically the first element written in your project proposal, but it is sometimes written last, after writing the project descriptions. This is done to avoid any inconsistencies between the two.

Since a project summary is one of the first things a person will read, it is the perfect place to grab your reader’s attention and convince them of the quality of your research. Hence, it is also one of the most important parts of a proposal.

Why Should You Create a Project Summary

A project summary is vital because it gives everyone a big-picture view of the entire project and its important points through a brief description that covers the overall project’s goals, limitations, task schedules, budget, and lots more. Doing this ensures that everyone involved in the process knows the entirety of the plan.

It is needless to say that a bad project summary can lead to a bad impression and turn off the reader because the primary goal of writing a project proposal is to sell the proposal to their reader and get them excited to read the entire proposal.

In addition to this, writing a project summary also comes with benefits that you just cannot overlook. A project summary:

1. Improves Clarity

Writing a project summary makes you compress all the pages-long information about your project into a single page, where only the most essential details and elements are highlighted. This provides you with a better understanding of your business and increases clarity to pitch your project effectively to the readers.

Read more:   Project Charter: What is it & How to Write it Perfectly? (Template Included)

2. Acts as Roadmap

A project summary will act as a roadmap to quickly guide you through the various steps and stages involved in your project. It helps keep your team updated about the project lifecycle and offers crucial updates to project stakeholders.

3. Saves Time

With a project summary in hand, you will always have a handy document to present your project to your internal or external stakeholders.

And since this document condenses all key information into a single page, it makes it easier for the readers to go through it without wasting too much time. Thus, it helps save you and your reader’s time.

What to Include in a Project Summary

A typical project summary summarizes the entire project proposal in a page or two. However, an excellent project summary covers all the important elements and information in a comprehensive and concise manner.

What are these elements to be included in the project summary? Let’s take a look!

1. Introduction

Start your project summary by introducing your project and including basic project details, such as company name, project name, project ID, project phase, current date, launch date, etc. Here, you can also indicate the project team members and their contact information as well.

2. Overview

Give a brief overview of your project, its goals and objectives, and its benefits. Describe what you are offering or seeking to accomplish with the project, why you’re doing it, and how exactly you are planning to approach it, in a crisp and concise manner. If you are using your project summary for external purposes, then you can also include a project background as well.

Read more:   10 Best Project Planning Software List with Pricing!

3. Risks and Challenges

Projects are prone to risks and challenges that are bound to surprise you along the way.

Hence, every project summary should briefly include a section addressing the potential project roadblocks, risks, and challenges that might arise during the course of the project.

4. Project Timeline

Project timeline is the chronology that a project follows. It includes all the dates, events, and important actions that provide you with an update of your project milestones and deliverables. Your project summary can include a section that briefly outlines your project’s timeline.

5. Rich Media (Optional)

Although it may be optional, your project summary is allowed to include rich media, such as graphs, charts, images, etc. to entice the reader to continue reading.

Now that you know what exactly is included in a project summary, let’s go over how exactly you write it.

Read more:   Project Management Schedule: What is it & How to Create it!

How to Write a Project Summary? Follow these steps:

Step 1. discuss with your project team.

Don’t consider writing project summaries as a solo task. Meet up, discuss, and brainstorm with your project team about what details and elements need to be included in the project summary. When you put your heads together for ideas, you can definitely create some of the best project summaries ever!

Step 2. Identify Your Audience

Who your audience determines how your project summary will look like. So it’s crucial that you identify your target audience. Are you writing for your clients? Stakeholders? Project team? Based on this, you can write a project summary that is geared towards their needs and preferences.

Step 3. Establish Objectives

Once you have your team together and have identified your audience, the next step is to establish your goals and objectives and determine your key project milestones. Make sure to include them in your project summary so that you and your team can come up with a plan of action at an early stage.

Step 4. Write the Project Summary

Now that you have established your objectives and identified your audience, collaborate with your team to write an excellent project summary. Scroll up to the previous section to see what sections need to be included and start writing.

Want to know some tips to keep in mind while writing a project summary? Scroll down right now!

Tips to Remember While Writing a Project Summary

1. avoid using jargon.

Your project summary is a document that aims to provide information in a crisp manner, so the readers are able to skim through it and understand quickly. So the last thing you want is to include technical terms and jargon that readers might struggle to comprehend. Therefore, at all costs steer clear from the use of jargon.

2. Keep Crisp and Concise

Remember that your project summary is just a summary and not a full report. And summaries are supposed to be crisp and to the point. So, avoid getting into specific details of your project and its features, and try to keep it concise.

3. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.

It goes without saying that no document should ever be left without proofreading. The last thing your readers want is to be confused with typos, grammar mistakes, and spelling errors. That’s why it’s extremely crucial that you review and proofread your project summary before sending it out. Just to be double sure, make a colleague proofread as well.

… there you have it! You are now officially equipped to start writing your project summary.

Before you go, we’d like to introduce you to a proficient tool that can help you create, share, and collaborate with stakeholders on project summaries and get work done efficiently.

Curious to know what we’re talking about? Then keep on reading to find out more!

Write Project Summaries the Right Way with Bit.ai!

Writing a project summary involves brainstorming, storing data, and sharing information. Though it might not seem like a lot of work, it requires the combined effort of a team.

What you need is a platform to store information and collaborate with your project team to create amazing project summaries. This is where Bit comes in!

If you’re wondering how bit can help you in creating a project summary, then check out these amazing features:

Ready-made Templates : Bit has an extensive template gallery that offers over  70+ professionally designed templates  from which you can choose your favorite one! All you have to do is fill in your customized content (in this case, a project summary) and you’ll get the whole draft ready in a few minutes!

Auto-formatting : You don’t have to waste your time trying to fix the format of your project summary because Bit will automatically format your entire document to give it a very uniform and consistent look.

Smart Workspaces : With Bit, you can create infinite workspaces and folders to help you manage and organize information related to your project.

Media Integration : If want to include rich media integrations like charts, graphs, tables, excel sheets, etc. in your project summary, then Bit helps you do just that! It allows you to embed and seamlessly add over 100 rich media integrations to help you enhance your document.

Real-time Collaboration : Want to collaborate on your project summary with your team members? Then Bit is the way to go! With Bit, you can seamlessly collaborate with your team and work together on the same document in real-time, chat privately, make inline comments, co-edit, and do so much more to ensure that you do not miss out on any important details to be included in your project outline.

Simple UI: Even though Bit is jam-packed with features, it has a simple and easy-to-understand user interface, which makes it extremely easy for new users to get on board with the platform.

The list goes on and on, but you get the point, right?

Bit is indeed the one-stop solution for all your documentation and collaboration needs! So quit waiting around and get Bit today!

With a project summary in hand, you will always have a comprehensive and efficient overview of your entire project and its crucial details.

That’s why we took it upon ourselves to guide you through the process of writing an amazing project summary. From crucial elements to steps and tips, we have given you everything you need.

Now all you have to do is follow the steps and use these tips, and you will have a project summary ready in no time! Good luck!

Further reads:

Project Timeline: What is it & How to Create it? (Step By Step)

Project Documentation: What is it & How to Manage it?

Project Budget Plan: What is it & How to Create it?

Project Scope: What is it and How to Write it?

40+ Determination Quotes to Improve Willpower & Persistence!

Project Outline: What is it & How to Create it for Your Business?

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About Bit.ai

Bit.ai is the essential next-gen workplace and document collaboration platform. that helps teams share knowledge by connecting any type of digital content. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, anyone can work visually and collaborate in real-time while creating internal notes, team projects, knowledge bases, client-facing content, and more.

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How to Write a Project Summary? (Examples & Templates)

The importance of a project summary.

Externally, a project summary is used as a brief to present or provide updates to the project stakeholders, and can be helpful in obtaining funding or support for future projects. For this purpose, the document resembles a set of project proposals to give the reader a quick impression of the nature, status, and overall context of the project.

How to title a project summary

Project summary subject line examples, how to write a project summary, what to include in a project summary, project summary examples and templates, [project name]: project summary – [current date], [project id]: marketing strategy for [product name] launch, project status report template:, [project id]: [product name] launch update – [current date], [project name] – new software implementation, [project id]: customer service improvement – [current date], executive summary template:, business plan executive summary for [project name], business proposal template:, [project name] – business proposal, project proposal template:, project summary good practices.

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Project Summary Reports: Steps, Structure & Example

Table of Contents

Taking charge of a complex project is no small feat. Where there are many moving parts in a project, it can be hard to keep track of everything and keep everyone in the loop. For this reason, project summary reports provide valuable information to managers.

Companies use project summary reports for a wide variety of purposes. It can help point team members in the right direction, keep management up to date on progress, and ensure proper management of risks.

Let’s dive deeper into the nitty-gritty of writing project reports, from the goals and structure to some real-world examples.

5 Steps in Writing Project Summary Reports

Writing detailed reports is crucial to any project’s final review. It can be helpful for future initiatives to document the lessons learned and share them with a bigger team in an orderly fashion. The following are the seven fundamental steps in writing a project report:

1. Determine the Goal

Start by sitting down and thinking about what you want to accomplish by writing this report. Having predetermined objectives will assist you in going forward with your project report and aid your audience in grasping your position.

2. Keep Your Audience in Mind

Understanding the audience that will read your project report is crucial. Formal annual reports differ from financial reports in language, data presentation, and analysis.

3. Gather Relevant Data

Gathering relevant data will increase the likelihood of a credible report being produced. To convince others of your conclusions, data is crucial. It is also essential to provide evidence for your claims through case studies, surveys, interviews, etc.

4. Create a Report Outline

It is ideal to use specific subsections to categorize a project report. Typical sections of a project report include the following four: –

Project Summary

The project report’s summary serves as a digest for the reader, covering the same ground as the rest of the document . A project reports summary comes last since it requires knowledge of the report’s contents.

Introduction

Write an introduction that describes the report’s structure, provides background information and describes the report’s scope and methodology.

Most of the report’s information (including the report’s analysis, data, and visualizations) can be found in the report’s main body.

The project conclusion provides an overview and explanation of the entire study.

5. Revise and Check for Errors

When you have completed your project report, you should read it several times, each time giving yourself some time to digest the information. For a second opinion, you can solicit feedback from your coworkers.

What to Include in a Project Summary Report

You should expect a wealth of helpful information about your project in your report. Keeping everything organized is essential regardless of the type of report you’re writing. This allows the reader to tag along and take advantage of the vital points. Make sure your information and content are separated into easily accessible categories that everyone can use.

The following are some potential sections to include in your project report:

1. Briefing Summary

An executive summary will likely make up the opening section of your report. The summary should give the reader a solid idea of the report’s content even if they don’t have time to study the project details.

2. Progression Measures

This section of the project contains actual metrics for measuring development. It provides an overview of the project’s budget and current status while also highlighting any potential problems that have arisen. To aid in reviewing the project timeline and making necessary adjustments with project management and other stakeholders.

3. Risks and Strategies

What new dangers have emerged that may cause your project’s quality, schedule, or finances to suffer? What strategies will you employ to keep these new factors under control? Every project will run across challenges, but how you plan to deal with them is key. Incorporate a thorough evaluation of the threat, your potential remedies, and the impact of these alterations on the project.

4. Budget vs. Project

Are you comfortable with where your budget stands to the present state of the project? Do you need additional funding to accomplish your goals? Give an in-depth breakdown of how you intend spending the money, breaking down each category from raw materials to employee salaries to overhead.

5. Timelines

Think about why you’re doing this project. Where do we stand regarding the project’s timeline—are we behind, ahead, or right where we should be? If your schedule needs to be rearranged, how will it impact your ability to spend? Incorporate a summary of the work accomplished and a detailed plan for the remainder of the project’s steps.

6. Team Effort

Do members of your team work effectively together to get things done? Do any areas of knowledge or expertise require improvement? Determine if you are making progress as a team by comparing your results to your original objectives.

7. Conclusion

What should people remember after reading your report? Your report’s conclusion should summarize its main points and direct the reader toward any necessary follow-up.

Example of a Brief Project Summary Report

This summary report provides an overview of the progress made on the XYZ project to date.

The following report is a summary of the XYZ project. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a new bridge over the river ABC.

Initial findings indicated that constructing the bridge would be feasible, and preliminary designs were created based on these findings. However, due to budget constraints, it was determined that building a new bridge would not be possible at this time. Instead, it was recommended that repairs be made to the existing bridge.

Project summary reports provide a concise overview of the critical aspects of your project . This document should include an overview of your project goals and a description of how you plan to achieve them.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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FSU | Office of Research

Writing the Project Summary and Project Description

Project summary.

The project summary is a one page document that consists of separate overview, intellectual merits, and broader impacts sections. Each of these three sections is required to be present and must be clearly defined. All NSF proposals must have project summaries.

The project summary is one of the most important parts of the proposal. It is likely the first thing a reviewer will read, and is your best chance to grab their interest, and convince them of the importance, and quality, of your research before they even read the proposal.

Though it is the first proposal element in order, many applicants prefer to write the project summary last, after writing the project description. This allows the writer to better avoid any inconsistencies between the two.

Suggested Project Summary Outline

Project Description

Applicants have considerable freedom in developing the format Project Descriptions. NSF requires that CAREER Project Descriptions contain" a well-argued and specific proposal for activities that will, over a 5-year period, build a firm foundation for a lifetime of contributions to research and education in the context of the PI's organization".

Project Descriptions must include:

A description of the proposed research project, including preliminary supporting data where appropriate, specific objectives, methods, and procedures to be used, and expected significance of the results

A description of the proposed educational activities, including plans to evaluate their impact on students and other participants

A description of how the research and education activities are integrated with one another

results of prior NSF support if applicable

Successful applicants will propose creative, effective, integrated research and education plans, and indicate how they will assess these components.

While excellence in both research and education is expected, activity of an intensity that would lead to an unreasonable workload is not. In other words, make sure that what you propose to do is reasonable given your time and resources, and make sure that the proposal convinces the reviewers of this.

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Project Management Report: Examples and Writing Tips

• 1.  Project Management Basics
• 2.  Project Management Methodologies
• 3.  Project Management Life Cycle
• 4.  Project Management Software
• 5.  Team Collaboration Tips
• 6.  Agile Methodology Basics
• 7.  Agile Project Management Tools & Techniques
• 8.  Project Management Frameworks
• 9.  Resources
• 10.  Glossary
• Advanced Terminology
• Methodologies
• PM Software Features
• Basic Terminology
• Professional Development
• Agile Project Management

How to Write a Project Management Report

A project management report is a summary overview of the current status of a project. It is a formal record of the state of a project at a given time. The exact form and details may vary depending on your company and project management office requirements. Many businesses have their own project management report templates their project managers adhere to.

Depending on the size and complexity of your projects, a project management report may be required weekly or monthly. It is provided to all project stakeholders to help keep them up to date with the progress of the project and any pressing challenges it may be facing. 

Project management reports are useful for all sorts of different types of projects across a variety of industries. For example:

• A marketing project manager could provide a regular project status report to the entire organization so they can keep tabs on how the company rebrand is progressing
• A software development team might use resource reports to effectively plan a sprint and ensure they have the resources they need
• An executive might present a project risk report to the company’s board of directors to get guidance and help navigating potential issues and roadblocks
• A project manager could use a project performance report to monitor the project budget, schedule, and success metrics, and share that crucial information with leaders
• A leadership team could use a time tracking report to understand how the team’s time is being used and how the team could become more efficient

That’s only the beginning. There are numerous types of project management reports that can be used for an assortment of project goals and scenarios. 

Most project management reports are single-pagers but may have appendices or links to more information for stakeholders who wish to delve into the details. However, project reporting can be much more in-depth in some companies and circumstances.

But regardless of the specific report, the point remains the same: Project management reports are intended to provide a clearer understanding of a project — whether it’s only getting started, in progress, or just wrapped up. 

Project management reports are as unique as projects themselves.  

Whether you’re creating a one-page report or a comprehensive one, Wrike is the must-have tool for project planning, monitoring, and reporting.  

What is included in a project management report?

As you figure out how to prepare a project report, you’re bound to have one big question: What should you include?

The information you include in your project management report will largely depend on the type of project, the scope of the project, your organizational processes, as well as your goal in generating a project report in the first place. 

Understanding and appropriately allocating project resources will likely require more detail and a far more comprehensive report than providing a straightforward status update. And in general, more complex projects typically require more complex project reports. 

With that said, there are some standard elements that apply to project reports across nearly every industry, organization, and type of project. Whether you need them all or only a few, here are some key characteristics to consider when creating your own project report. 

Identifying project information

Think of this as the “basics” of your project. While it might seem like overkill to include it in every single project report you create, doing so (ideally, near the top of your report) gives people the necessary context they need about the project before reviewing the report.

You’re essentially laying the groundwork for them, which is especially important for people who might not be privy to every single report or who only need to be kept updated at a high level. They aren’t as close to the project, so they likely require regular refreshers.

• Project name: Give your project a name to quickly and easily identify it. Resist the urge to get too creative — instead, name your project something instantly recognizable and intuitive (for example, “CompanyXYZ Website Revamp”).
• Project number (if it has one): If your company uses project numbers or any other identifying code, include that on each report as well.
• Name of project manager: If and when people have questions after reviewing the report, this means they can quickly understand their best point of contact for more information. 
• Project sponsor(s): Your project sponsor is the person (or people) at the senior leadership level that’s providing resources and overall support for the project. For many people, it’s easy to confuse this person with the project manager. So, listing the sponsor on each report provides clarity about those roles.
• Start date of the project: Timing matters for projects. Including the project’s start date at the top of the report helps people instantly glean how long the project has been progressing and how much time has already been invested. 
• Expected end date: Projects don’t stretch into eternity (at least, they shouldn’t). Including the project’s anticipated end date with the start date means people can understand the overall timeframe of the project.
• Customer name and information: If you work in professional services or any industry where you’re doing work for customers, the customer’s name and other identifying details should be included on the project report. That helps ensure accuracy in reporting and also makes file management a little easier. 
• Date the project report is released: Particularly for long projects, you could generate many reports throughout the process — maybe even dozens of them. Dating each project report means you can maintain a paper trail and ensure those reports are easy to refer back to and make sense of in the future. 

Key metrics of project success

Exactly what metrics you report on will depend on the intention of your overall report. For example, a project risk report will dedicate much more space and detail to potential threats to the project while a project status report will focus far more on the tasks that have been completed and what’s still left to do. 

It’s important to include some project success metrics in each report you generate. Much like the basic identifying project information, it’s helpful context for any team members or stakeholders who review the report. Think of it almost like the project’s highlight reel. It’s a quick rundown of project performance that should be included at the beginning of your report (after the identifying information) or at the very end, depending on your report formatting. 

• Schedule progress against plan: Is the project ahead of or behind schedule? How far ahead or how far behind? This helps people understand a more realistic timeline as well as how much time is left for the project.
• Current cost versus budget: Is the project under budget or over? How much over or under? It can also be helpful to include a few notes or bullet points about how the budget or project plan will be adjusted or managed moving forward, particularly if you’ve already experienced severe overages.
• Current scope compared to plan: Has the project scope changed since the project began? If so, how? Understanding how the scope evolves throughout the project will make it easier for everyone to manage resources and expectations.
• Planned versus actual resourcing: Are any resources missing or overallocated? How will you secure or reallocate resources moving forward?
• Overview of risks: Are there any high risks that need to be managed?
• Current quality findings: Has quality testing been done? Were there any issues?

Additional information to include

• Project change management : This is usually an update of any pending and approved change requests for the project.
• Actions taken: This provides a high-level summary of key actions taken and decisions made since the last project report. It can also include accomplishments, such as milestones recently met.
• Decisions required: If there is a crucial decision that needs to be made, this is the right place to share it, whose decision it is, and when it’s due. An example could be sponsor approval for the project management plan .
• Upcoming milestones: Deliverables due soon and milestones approaching are communicated here.
• Task lists : This is a list of all the tasks to be completed to deliver the project successfully. Task lists should have the start and end dates of the included tasks.

Types of project management reports

Below is a list of the most important project management reports you may need to track and report on your project status.

Time tracking reports

Time tracking reports show what projects your team members are spending time on. This helps you improve project management and communicate adequately with stakeholders about a project ’ s progress. Time tracking reports provide useful data to improve scheduling and resource management and boost revenue, especially in professional services agencies and companies.

Project status reports

Project status reports communicate how a project is progressing within a specific period. This helps to keep stakeholders updated on the project ’ s progress and any emerging issues with cost, scope, schedules, or risks. You can easily compare a project status report to the project baseline or project plan to assess how well it is doing. Project status reports typically include the work that ’ s been completed, a summary of the project’s costs and schedule, a plan for what is to follow, and any issues and risks.

Project health reports

Project health reports provide a snapshot of the status of a project. This helps to share how well or poorly a project is doing. Project health reports show what ’ s been done, what ’ s on schedule, and what ’ s overdue. They make it easy to communicate to team members and stakeholders about the overall health of a project. A project health report makes it obvious if you ’ ve stayed on track or deviated far from the project plan. It brings to the forefront the most important tasks to tackle to get a project back on the intended path. Different teams and companies may have unique ways of organizing their own project health reports.

Project risk reports

Project risk reports identify and categorize risks in a project based on their severity and likelihood of happening. This helps prioritize issues and eliminate harmful risks before they cause irreparable damage or project failure. Project risk reports communicate problems to stakeholders so they can take action. The goal of project risk reports is to catch and identify project risks before they occur.

Variance reports

Variance reports show how a project has deviated from the project plan or baseline. This helps compare how a project is doing with the project plan and reduce any chances of project failure. With a variance report, project teams can monitor actual and planned performances and ensure they are on track with the project scope, costs, and schedules. This helps mitigate risks and implement change management procedures where necessary. Variance reports also aid in planning for future projects.

Resource reports

Resource reports are helpful for managing available resources and planning a successful project. You can use them to adjust workloads and make decisions to make the project workflow more efficient and effective. Resource reports take costs, schedule, and scope of work remaining into consideration to make the best resourcing decisions for the project and team. It’s easy to see how much team members have on their plate and redistribute work to achieve the desired results and complete the project.

How often should you report on projects as a manager?

There’s no set cadence for your project reports. However, when determining how often you should send a project report to the team or other stakeholders, here are a few important elements to think through: 

• How long is the project’s timeline? For a project that spans many months, reporting daily would be overkill. But for a project that only spans a week or two, a quick daily report could be warranted. The duration of your overall project is one of your most important considerations when figuring out how often to create and share project reports. 
• What are client or stakeholder expectations? Are you creating deliverables for clients that expect frequent communication? Or have stakeholders expressed that they’d like regular weekly updates? Keep in mind that being a project manager is ultimately a service position, so you’ll need to consider other people’s needs, expectations, and preferences in terms of reporting cadence.
• How much has the project changed? Whether the project scope has ballooned, broader organizational goals have shifted substantially, or the team recently achieved a significant project milestone, major and consequential changes to the project almost always warrant a report and an update to stakeholders — even if it’s not your “regularly scheduled” time to send one. 

If you still feel unsure about how often to report on projects, have a conversation with the project team and any relevant stakeholders to get their insights on a cadence that would keep them informed without making them feel overwhelmed.

Tips for effective project reporting

When writing a project management report, it is essential to keep the following in mind:

• Be concise and share results and outcomes: Don't focus on details your stakeholders don't need to know. Try to use bullet points, not paragraphs. If you create a 10-page document every week, no one is likely to read it. Plus, you won't have time to manage the actual project.
• Understand your audience: Make sure the project report is not too technical and avoid jargon. Otherwise, your stakeholders won't be able to understand it.
• Provide context: Don't just say a deliverable will be two weeks late. Share how it will impact the rest of the project and what actions are being taken to resolve it. Stakeholders need to know how significant the problem truly is.
• Be clear about any asks: If you require your stakeholders to do something, make sure you explicitly mention who is responsible, what they are responsible for, and when it needs to be done.
• Make it visual: Use project management software that offers project management report templates . This allows stakeholders to quickly identify which projects are struggling and what areas they are struggling with before reading further into the project report. Executives may receive dozens of project management reports (or more) every week, so making your project reports easy to read is crucial.

Project management report example

How can Wrike help you with project management reports? 

Learning how to write a management report for your projects might seem daunting, but using the right software can make all the difference in the reporting process — whether you’re reporting on a small project or are tasked with enterprise project management . 

Wrike has all of the features you need to make every type of project a success, including reports . These reports are completely customizable and make it easy to gather all of the data you need from your tasks and projects and generate a helpful summary that you, your team, and all of your stakeholders can easily understand.

No more combing through spreadsheets or scrolling through endless email threads to find and compile the information you need. Wrike will gather your project-related information right from the source and save you all of the mundane and tedious work that’s usually synonymous with reporting. 

And if you’re tired of reports being lost, misfiled, or even hitting the recycling bin after a cursory glance, Wrike makes storage and management of your reports easy too. You can access and view all reports created by or shared with you by simply clicking “Reports.” It’s painless to find the information you need and you also have the peace of mind that you can always refer back to those reports in the future. 

Ready to jump in with project reporting that’s more helpful and less of a hassle? Get started with a two-week free trial of Wrike today and see how simple project management reports can be.

Further reading

7 stakeholders to consult before starting a new project, stop projects from derailing with wrike’s new report templates, what it means to be a digital project manager, how successful teams use project management software, basic project management.

• Project Charter
• Project Management Stakeholders
• What is a Project?
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Project Objectives
• Project Baseline
• Project Management Scheduling
• Project Management Work Packages
• Project Management Scope
• Scope Creep

Advanced Project Management

• What is PERT?
• Network Diagram
• Risk Management
• Cost Estimation
• Feasibility Study
• Monte Carlo Analysis
• Project Integration
• Cost Management
• PMI Project Management
• What To Do With Certification
• Certification
• Become Certified
• PMP Certification
• Best Certification

Software Features

• Critical Success Factors
• Capacity Planning
• User Role Access Permissions
• Time Tracking
• Budget Tracking
• Request Forms
• Work Assignments
• Version Control
• Dependency Managements
• Project management Milestones
• Project Management Software
• Project Management Tools
• Project Management System
• Gantt Charts

The Top 17 Free Project Report Templates For Effective Project Management

By Kate Eby | August 5, 2019 (updated August 7, 2023)

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In this article, you’ll find a comprehensive list of project report templates to support your project management efforts. These pre-built templates are free to download in a variety of formats, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF, and Google Docs.

Included on this page, you'll find many free, downloadable templates for your next project, including a project status report template , a daily project progress report template , a business project report template , and many more.

Project Status Report Template

Download Project Status Report Template

Word | PowerPoint | Smartsheet

Consistent and thorough status reporting is an essential component of effective project management. Ensure you meet project objectives by utilizing this customizable project status report template. This template provides space to summarize the project and track risks, roadblocks, milestones, accomplishments, and key takeaways. It also includes a visual project timeline to give you easy visibility into major project events.

One-Page Project Status Report Template

Download One-Page Project Status Report Template

Word | PDF | Smartsheet

This template covers all the primary elements of the project status report in a convenient one-page format. The pre-built status report provides an overview of project status by category (i.e., budget, scope, etc.), project timeline, key risks and issues, as well as issue ownership to ensure that you account for and complete all project action items on schedule. Learn how to create an effective project status report in this article .

Project Report Dashboard Template

Download Project Report Dashboard Template - Excel 

Having a clear visual of a project’s high-level metrics and overall performance enables a project manager to identify and home in on problem areas that need further attention. Download this project report dashboard template to track the status of key components of a project, including tasks, costs, and pending action items. This template also helps you support the decisions you make for future project initiatives. Check out this article to find more free Excel dashboard templates for all of your business needs .

Daily Project Progress Report Template

Download Daily Project Progress Report Template

Excel | Word | PDF

Provide stakeholders with insight into a project’s daily development using this progress report template. This template provides space to outline progression details, work completed, equipment used, workers on site, task locations, delays, incidents, and more. This report allows you to compare activity progress with the project plan to effectively maintain governance.

Performance Project Report Template

Download Performance Project Report Template

Communicate the performance of key project elements using this customizable project performance report template. Detail key activities, deadlines, work quality, risks, budgeting performance, and more to ensure you carry out major project deliverables on schedule and according to plan.

Project Summary Report Template

Download Project Summary Report Template

Effective project management requires that you keep lines of communication open (between the team and client) and ensure that the information you present is accurate and up to date. Provide all stakeholders with the current status of key projects, milestones, steering committee escalations, progress, and upcoming events using this pre-built project summary report template.

Weekly Project Status Report Template

Download Weekly Project Status Report Template

Excel | Word | Smartsheet

This customizable project status report template provides a snapshot of a project’s health on any given week. Track overall project performance and the status of each project component, including budget, resources, scope, milestones, work accomplished, roadblocks, highlights, and more. This template also comes with a pre-built visual timeline to display major project details at a glance.

Monthly Project Status Report Template

 Download Monthly Project Status Report Template

Excel | Word

This project status report template captures the status of key project elements at a monthly view. Use this downloadable template to track notable project components that are complete, in progress, on hold, or at risk and outline deadlines and details for upcoming work.

Stoplight Project Status Report Template

Download Stoplight Project Status Report Template

Stoplight project status reports are an effective way to visualize project items that require immediate attention and additional planning. Use the stoplight key to define the parameters of what constitutes a red, yellow, or green status and ensure that the client and team members are on the same page regarding these conditions. This template will help keep the process streamlined.

Business Project Report Template

Download Business Project Report Template

Word | Google Docs

A business project report is a detailed document that serves as a roadmap for a proposed project or business venture. This business project report template provides a solid basis to expand upon according to your needs. It includes space for a table of contents, an executive summary, key project activities, a marketing analysis, a SWOT analysis, recommendations, appendices, and more.

IT Project Status Report Template

Download IT Project Status Report Template

Information technology project management and operations can be complex and involve many moving parts. Between balancing the budget, making adjustments mid-project, and meeting the needs of project stakeholders, this pre-built IT project status report template will help ensure that you track and account for all the key components of your project. This template provides room for project milestones, open and closed issues, change requests, resource evaluation, and the current status of all major project categories. Learn the essential tips for successful IT project management by checking out this article .

Construction Project Report Template

Download Construction Project Report Template

Excel | Word | PDF | Google Docs

Effective reporting is a key factor in the overall success of a construction project. This pre-built construction project report template includes all major day-to-day project details, like daily progress, materials and equipment used, number of workers and work hours performed on site, progress obstructions, and official visitors. Additionally, the template includes space for the inspector to sign off on the report in order to ensure overall project compliance. For a wide variety of free construction management templates to download, visit this page .

Executive Project Report Template

Download Executive Project Report Template

An executive project report is a high-level view of the project that highlights progress, without getting into the granular details of the project. Use this customizable executive project report template to communicate the essential elements of the project, including key milestones, accomplishments, risks, issues, financial overview, and project requirements.

Final Project Report Template

Download Final Project Report Template

The purpose of the final project report is to briefly and clearly summarize the outcomes of a completed project. This final project report template contains a table of contents, as well as space for names and roles of team members, project summary, scope, costs, risks, communication strategies, learning outcomes, top-level project performance details, and more.

Project Report Template for Teams or Departments

Download Project Report Template for Teams or Departments

Teams or departments can use this project report to communicate the status of project activities: That is, they can indicate whether they have completed an activity or whether an activity is still in progress. Use this template to track key tasks, team members involved, deadlines, progress scores, issues needing attention, and other project developments to ensure teams or departments account for and complete assignments on schedule.

Project Report for Stakeholders and Partners

Download Project Report for Stakeholders and Partners

Use this project report is to provide key stakeholders and partners with high-level visibility into a project’s overall performance. Briefly summarize progress, project deliverables, start and end dates, outputs, and other major project details to keep stakeholders up to date on current project happenings.

Project Postmortem Report Template

Download Project Post-Mortem Report Template

This customizable project postmortem report template should be completed as a workshop comprised of key team members within a week of concluding the project work. This report highlights project details, such as accomplishments, problem areas, lessons learned, and more to facilitate the process of analyzing the performance of all the project’s elements. Once you’ve completed this template, the project sponsor should sign off on it to formally close out the project.

Tips on Writing a Project Report

When writing a project report, stick to the facts and back up your claims with data. Consider using a template to give structure to your report, and tailor the report to your audience. We’ve outlined top report-writing tips below:

• Know Your Audience: The type and depth of information you communicate in a report will depend on the nature of your audience. For instance, managers and clients may have a better understanding of the concepts and terminology involved in a project than do stakeholders and other personnel. Effective project reporting, therefore, requires using the appropriate tone and phraseology and knowing when to share high-level versus granular project details.  Your audience may also care about different details when viewing a year-end report  versus a project status report .
• Give Structure to Your Report: Once you’ve identified your audience and which components of the project to communicate, organize the segments of the report so the information makes sense and is helpful to the reader. For example, you should place project identification and background details near the beginning of the report; place summarizing details near the end.
• Only Provide Facts: The report should remain objective and free from personal bias, regardless of whether the project is failing or performing successfully. If an opinion is needed, it should be labeled clearly and placed in a separate segment of the report. Additionally, the charts, metrics, and other performance data you present in the report should be accurate and up to date so that such information is credible and meaningful to the reader. 
• Use a Template: Save time building out your report by using a customizable template to get you started. Templates are beneficial for standardizing processes, and you can easily adapt them to fit your needs. Use the free templates provided above for your reporting needs, and then check out this article for more project management templates .
• Use an Online Reporting Tool: Keeping a project’s development aligned with business goals is the basis of project management, and the success or failure of a project can greatly depend on the tools you use. Employ an online tool that displays data in different ways (e.g., Kanban boards, Gantt views, and dashboards), shows the real-time status of multiple projects, provides various permission levels, and allows you to set up recurring reports (such tools can automatically email these recurring reports at a set frequency to designated stakeholders, which allows project managers to shift their focus to other critical project matters). These online tools provide increased visibility into project processes and status.

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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.

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Writing your 1-page Project Summary

The NSF Project Summary consists of three main sections:

(1)   An  overview  includes a description of the activity that would result if the proposal were funded and a statement of objectives and methods to be employed.

• What is the knowledge gap ?
• What are the overall objectives , specific objectives and the proposed research approach ?
• What is the research goal  and how does it fit with the PI’s long-term research goals ?
• How is your proposal creative & original ?
• What is the education goal  of the proposed project and how does this goal fit with the PI’s long-term educational goals ?
• What is the educational approach ?
• How are the research and education components  integrated?

(2) A statement on the intellectual merit  of the proposed activity: should describe the potential of the proposed activity to advance knowledge and the contribution the proposed research will make to the related field and others. Some questions to think about are:

• What is the current state of knowledge in the field , and where is it headed?
• What will your research contribute to the state of knowledge  and advance the field?
• Why will your contribution be transformative ?
• What will your research do to enhance or enable  other research in this field?
• Why is your research important for the advancement of the field ?

(3) A statement on the broader impacts  of the proposed activity: should describe the potential of the proposed activity to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes.

• What are the desired societal outcomes  and how will those benefit the society at large ?
• How will activities result in advancement ?
• Does it have any Economic, environmental, social benefits ?
• Does it help with the involvement of underrepresented groups  in research and education activities?
• How will your proposal benefit your organization ?

The Project Summary should be informative to other persons working in the same or related fields, and, insofar as possible, understandable to a broad audience within the scientific domain.

Download: Project Summary Outline - Stanford login required

Watch: Your Research Idea in 1-page: Project Summary

Read: Annotated examples of successful Project Summaries ( Example 1 - Stanford login required , Example 2 - Stanford login required )

Read: Annotated 1st draft and final draft of the same Project Summary - Stanford login required

Read: Chapter 22, The Grant Application Writer’s Workbook, National Science Foundation – FastLane Version

Available NSF proposals:

• http://www.columbia.edu/~lbh3/Instructions.pdf  (here you can find two funded proposals including their “project summary”
• https://jabberwocky.weecology.org/2012/08/10/a-list-of-publicly-available-grant-proposals-in-the-biological-sciences/  (a list of publicly available grant proposals in the biological sciences)
• http://research.utsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CAREER-Workshop-Handouts-April-2015.pdf - Stanford login required  (NSF CAREER grant application with annotated project summaries – Jairo Sinova’s project summary is taken from this document)
• https://figshare.com/authors/Delia_Shelton/790116  (Successful NSF Grant Proposal, Forms, Panel Summary, and Main Grant Paperwork Examples – Delia S Shelton’s project summary is taken from here)
• https://jabunce.wordpress.com/sample-nsf-proposals/  (two funded and unfunded samples of NSF applications from John Bruce)
• https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/earlycareer/research/NSFgrants.html#career (successful NSF grants)

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More templates, project summary template.

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What is a project summary template.

A project summary template is a project management tool that helps you summarize a project's status in a time-efficient manner. They're concise, comprehensive and provide an overview of all the key details of your project.

Project summary templates can also be used as project briefs, used to present or provide updates on projects externally. In this case, they often act as project proposals and help their readers get a quick impression of a project's nature, status and overall context.

By utilizing a project summary template, project planning and execution become much more manageable, and teams can stay organized and focused on project goals.

How to write a project summary template

Identify the audience.

Consider who is reading the project summary, and tailor your language, tone, and level of data to their skill-set and what they need to know. Compare our project summary report example to our executive project summary and you'll see how you can apply different templates to different audiences.

Start with basic information

This includes fundamental project details like project name and/or project ID, project phase, planned project launch date and current date.

Remember to include an indication of current project phase and/or status . There are many ways to stylize this with Slite .

Pro Tip: It's also a good idea to indicate key project team members on your project summary, as well as their contact information. This can include the project manager, main stakeholders, key decision makers and project sponsors.

Highlight key information

After you have determined your audience, highlight the most important information that relates to the purpose of your project summary . Set up goals, key details, metrics, and milestones in a format that lets readers grasp the necessary data quickly.

Leave space for visual aids

Your project summary report template should include a section for charts, graphs, or other visual aids to help convey complex information. Visual aids make the project summary more engaging and easier to understand. With Slite, you can add visual aids like video clips, attached files, and embedded charts, presentations, slides, spreadsheets, and graphs from other apps.

Finalize the outline

After you finalize essential items for any upcoming project summaries, use our project plan summary template to create modular sections such as project description, timeline, budget, milestones, progress updates, risks, and next steps. Refer to our sample project summary above for an example of a clear, logically structured document.

• If you're using your project summary template for external purposes , it should include some project background where you address why your team is working on your chosen project, project objectives and how they are planning to approach it.
• If you're using your summary report template for internal purposes , it should include a section on recent achievements and another on current project roadblocks or challenges.

How it differs from a project executive summary template

An executive summary template for a project includes everything that management, investors and shareholders need to know before reviewing the business plan , including market analysis and financial information. A project summary is a comprehensive report on the project’s key details and its status at the time the report is written.

Save & Share

After completing your first example of a project summary template, review it for accuracy, clarity, and completeness. Make sure all information is up to date and correct. Then save it on Slite and share it with your team.

Best practices for building a Project Summary Template

There are several suggestions that you should consider when developing a project summary template:

Discuss with your project team

The best summary report templates are assembled collaboratively and with a deep understanding of the project at hand. To get things started, meet with your project team early on to brainstorm and hash out all the details that'll go into your summary.

Think about your audience

How your project recap template looks will depend on who it's being written for. Be sure to determine the key audience that will be reading your project summary and make sure it's geared towards them. If you want to keep it flexible, make sure to write a summary report template that'd be clear to any reader.

Prioritize key project milestones

While you should avoid getting bogged down in the details at this stage, make sure to prioritize your project's key milestones as if you're building a one page project summary template. This will help you and your team get oriented early on.

Create a full-fledged template for later use

A full-fledged project summary report template can be used to create a project report for many different audiences. Removing unnecessary sections is faster and easier than coming up with new ones. And a complete template ensures that you won't miss any important information when compiling your report.

Continuously revise to keep it concise

Over time and as your team's experience and mutual understanding increase, your project summary template can become leaner. Slite lets you revise old versions through its version history feature. You can go back to old documents and revise them, or create new customized versions to save time creating new documents.

Why you need a Project Summary Template

Writing and developing a project summary template is an excellent action to take as part of any project plan.

Get ready for each stage of the project

Whether you use your project summary template as a means to keep your project team up to date throughout your project's lifecycle or to present key updates to project stakeholders, it will act as a map to guide you through your project's various stages. As it progresses, your project summaries will be great resources for you to refer back to.

Increases clarity

Putting together project summaries forces project teams to put all the essential elements of their projects in writing (if you use a Slite template, they can always be updated in real-time). This facilitates clarity and transparent communication from the get-go.

Internally, project summary templates can be modified to demonstrate project progress at a moment in time or making other templates for project proposals . They provide an executive summary for project managers, team members, contractors and other service providers. They communicate project milestones, metrics and project timeline updates to keep project teams on track, help them get organized and work together efficiently.

Pro Tip: To make data even easier to understand, elements of project summaries are sometimes stylized as Gantt charts or other visual graphs.

Having a project summary template handy is convenient for all kinds of project management needs. Whenever you find yourself needing to present your project to someone, internal or external, you'll have a document ready to share with ease.

Related templates

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RACI Template

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Questions & answers, what is a template, how do i duplicate a slite template, where do i find templates in my workspace, can i create a template in my workspace, how can i re-use the same template for recurring events, how can i share my templates with the slite community.

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How to Write a Project Management Report

Last Updated: April 28, 2023 References Approved

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. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 185,976 times.

A project management report is a document that describes a business project and the steps a team should take to complete it. The report is shared with the project's key players. When everyone is on the same page, everyone can work together to complete the project's goal. The report typically contains the project plan, the team's responsibilities, a projected timeline, and a budget. With organization, clarity, and the input of your team members, you can easily create an effective project management report and work toward completing its goals.

Collecting the Information

• Ask yourself, “How will this help my company, our client, or our community? Will this project possibly have a positive impact in other areas?”
• Understanding the overall scope may help you appreciate how this project may be useful to you and others.

• Some audiences may not be familiar with the language, terms, and jargon often used in your working environment.
• If you are writing a report for a client, for example, avoid using technical jargon that requires lengthy explanations.
• Instead, plan to write in a voice that easily describes your project scope and timeline. [1] X Research source

• Perhaps an investor is reading the report to review the budget. Showing where the budget is in the table of contents will help them find what they need fast.

• Your supervisor may also explain how long the report should be and if there are particular formats that your company requires for these types of reports.
• Ask your supervisor about what to include in the report. Your supervisor will appreciate the opportunity to give you feedback early in the process.

Formatting and Writing the Report

• Concisely summarize the importance of the project and its main objective. “This project will expand our client's impact in their market by fulfilling this unmet need in this field.”

• Be as succinct as possible without sacrificing necessary details. Try to convey your message in a couple of sentences or bullet points instead of lengthy paragraphs. [3] X Research source
• If you are publishing a book, for example, list significant information such as “book tour slated to begin in September” and "holiday sales expected to increase by 15%."

• If your project goal is to help a company open a fashion store in a particular area, for example, provide data that describes the nearby competition.
• Data on the market and competition can help the reader understand that there is an opportunity to meet a particular need.
• If necessary, attach documents or other resources that might be useful to interpret the report information.

• If you are in the middle of a project, include a percentage that describes the project's completion and whether or not you are ahead of schedule. [5] X Research source

• If there is an anticipated delay, state it in this section.
• You might say, “Construction on the new building may slow significantly during January as the frigid temperatures may create unsafe working conditions.”
• Let your reader know that you have adjusted the timeline to account for such anticipated delays.

• Remind your reader what is needed going forward.
• You could write, “With the timely support of our donors, the project should be completed on time and under budget by next May.”
• Highlighting the needs can help ensure that the project is completed on time.

Polishing Your Report

• Save the reader some time and place the figures alongside relevant portions of the text instead of at the end of the report.
• The reader will be able to easily review both the text and the chart without having flip through the pages. [6] X Research source

• Revise the report to include contributions from team members. Use your judgment regarding which details to include.

Community Q&A

• Discuss the project with your teammates as you write the report. Considering the perspectives and views of others, their needs, and their targets may help influence some of the details that you choose to include in your project management report. [8] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If your company has a particular format or template for project management reports, be sure to adhere to those guidelines. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about writing a project management report, check out our in-depth interview with Ksenia Derouin .

• ↑ http://www.brighthubpm.com/monitoring-projects/6034-typical-project-management-reports/
• ↑ http://www.brighthubpm.com/templates-forms/93013-ten-tips-for-creating-effective-project-reports/
• ↑ https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/how-to-report-status-on-a-project.php
• ↑ https://www.teamgantt.com/guide-to-project-management/how-to-plan-a-project/

About This Article

A project management report describes a project and the steps your team should take to complete it. Start your report by outlining the purpose of the project and what it seeks to achieve. You’ll then need to list the resources needed to finish the project, including manpower, tools, and products. Provide a projected budget to show how much it will cost and if you need to secure any extra funding. Include a timeline to show how long the project will last and when you’re likely to hit major milestones. You should also detail any challenges the project is likely to face and how you will solve those problems. When you’ve finished drafting your report, ask for feedback from your major team members in case there’s anything significant it’s missing. For more tips, including how to format your project management report, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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19+ Project Summary Examples – PDF | DOC

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10 Free Project Summary Templates in ClickUp & Excel

ClickUp Contributor

June 8, 2023

Sometimes, even the most complex projects, processes, and meetings need a simple summary. That’s when you look for a project summary report. 

Whether it’s a general ledger or a summary of financial statements, the right report can make all the difference in helping you streamline your project management. They empower you to reduce complex concepts into simple synopses that keep your project team and other stakeholders in the loop without taking too much time out of their day.

But of course, you don’t want to create every project summary from scratch. You need project management structures that allow you to spend as much time as possible on the actual work, and as little time as needed on reporting out—all while still making those reports look great and helpful.

Does that sound like an impossible task? Not with a project summary template that meets your needs and project type! Let’s dig in.

What is a Project Summary Template?

What makes a good project summary report template, 1. clickup project summary template, 2. clickup summary report template, 3. clickup program summary template, 4. clickup payroll summary report template, 5. clickup summary of financial accounts template, 6. clickup project documentation template, 7. clickup whiteboard executive summary template, 8. clickup board report template, 9. ms word project status summary template, 10. google docs project executive summary template.

A project summary template is a report with fill-in-the-blank spots to quickly summarize the project details and current status of the work to all project stakeholders. It’s condensed to the most specific details required, typically involving only a single page or screen—so project team members see exactly what they need to know at a glance.

At the same time, your project summary template needs to be flexible and customizable for all sorts of project managers or team leads. Project summaries—or project proposals—recap the most critical details like project milestones and timelines without over-explaining processes.

This sort of document should also be tailored to your target audience.

Does your client really need the nitty-gritty details? Or does your legal team require a more thorough explanation?

Your project summary template can change depending on the stage of the project. So you’ll likely want to include a project executive summary in your overall project proposal , but you should know that those details could shift your project deliverables once the actual work begins.

Because project summary reports have to be flexible, the templates they’re built on have to follow suit. There is no one-size-fits-all “best” project summary template, simply because different types of projects and audiences will require a unique approach. 

With that in mind, the best project summary report templates do share a few common features:

• A simple overview section that allows the creator or project manager to summarize the project in a few words or sentences
• An overview of project milestones, timelines, budgets, and any other tangible resources that act as guardrails for the work
• A prominent spot to list the project owner for any reader to reach out to with questions or notes
• An overview of project management KPIs and the progress the project has made toward them
• A section for clear, short, and actionable takeaways that outlines the next steps needed for the project team

Beyond that, it’s all about finding the right project summary report template for your needs. Review a few of the popular options in the list below before you make your pick.

10 Project Summary Templates to Use in 2023

Not sure where to start? Not to worry—we’ve found the right templates for you. Check out our favorites in this list of 10 free project summary templates to track progress, give financial information, or a simple summary of the project details.

No matter your industry, we’re confident you’ll find one or more templates on this list that work for you.

We’ll start with a template that’s as simple as it’s powerful. The Executive Project Summary Template by ClickUp conveys all the information you need to get across quickly, in an easy-to-complete format.

Like most executive summary templates , this report includes an overview section along with a product/service description , market analysis, and financial summary. Combined, the fields in these sections are designed to summarize a full business plan. However, this summary report template can easily be adjusted to recap a product plan as well.

For the word-challenged among us, color coding makes the project summary template easy to follow. So does an easy conclusion section that includes recommendations and contact info fields. Put it all together, and this project summary report template is so user-friendly and thorough.

Time to get a bit more in-depth. The Summary Report Template by ClickUp still stays high level but digs into some of the details your stakeholders and project team are always bugging you about. 

Beyond the top introduction section, you’ll find a few expandable fields that help you include information like:

• Project risks and issues
• Proposed resolutions for those issues
• Other findings
• Action items
• Recommendations moving forward

Best of all, project summaries like this put all that complex information into a simple and skimmable format. It works perfectly alongside a progress report template that goes into more detail on the timeline of the project. And if the two reports both live on the same platform that integration becomes even better.

There’s nothing like a simple solution to summarize a complex issue. The Program Summary Template by ClickUp is specifically designed for that versatility, helping you create a quick overview of a larger business or project plan .

It’s difficult to overstate just how simple this project summary template truly is. Start with a summary of the problem for which the project is needed in the first place, then go into the high notes on how the project solves it.

As a bonus, you can brand the header with not just your company name, but also your logo and contact information. Think of the program summary template as a cover sheet.

If your target audience gets just these few details, they’ll still know exactly why the project exists and how it solves the issue it’s designed to solve. And at its core, isn’t that what project management is all about anyway?

Don’t we all just love payroll? The truth is that some of the more delicate financial calculations and communications can actually be simplified quite a bit with the right project summary report template. The Payroll Summary Report Template by ClickUp can become that project summary template for your business.

Download this payroll template , and you’ll get fillable fields that create an easy overview of the payroll-related information for all of your employees, including:

• Basic employee information
• Payments and deductions
• Year-to-date activity
• Paid time off credits
• Net pay summary
• Additional comments and remarks

Because it all happens in ClickUp, you can also track who owns each project summary report, who contributed, and the date of the last update. That way, you’re always looking at the latest information as you calculate, evaluate, and share important payroll information.

Speaking of finances: budgets get complex quickly, and without the right report, it’s easy to lose track of individual expenses. That’s where the Summary of Financial Accounts Template by ClickUp comes into play.

It’s a simple project summary report based on two dimensions: individual accounts and account groups. The default view focuses on the accounts as line items, allowing you to track line items like cash, furniture, accounts receivable, store equipment, and more. 

Meanwhile, the account groups create overarching categories, such as cash, equipment, and receivables, that will be important to the overall project proposal.

But that’s just the beginning. Once you create the summary, you can also view a list-based or notes-based view for the account groups, or add custom fields like the type of account, credit versus debit, and more. No matter what view or custom fields you choose, the overview stays simple, helping you and your team stay on top of budgets at any point.

Bonus: Try out these bookkeeping templates !

Sometimes, you just need some good project documentation to help everyone stay on track and keep justifying the work to external stakeholders. The Project Documentation Template by ClickUp is a perfect opportunity to keep that record.

It’s an especially useful template for your own project team. Highlight key team members, along with their roles and responsibilities in the project. Outline the actions, methods, and guidelines everyone on the project needs to keep it moving. You can even link to or summarize the project plan, timeline, and budget.

Sound complex? This template makes sure it doesn’t have to be. You just fill in a few fields, then it’s ready to share with everyone who wants to know what the project is all about and how the work will get done.

Just like the first project summary template on this list, the Whiteboard Executive Summary Template by ClickUp helps you create an executive summary. But here’s the kicker: this one uses ClickUp’s Whiteboard, making it even more flexible as a result.

You might already know ClickUp’s Whiteboard solution as an intuitive, visual communication tool. Teams can use it to work together, brainstorm, and visualize complex ideas. Now, imagine how powerful an executive summary that uses the same basic concepts could be.

To be sure, your executive summary probably needs to come from a single input. Still, the same drag-and-drop functionality that makes ClickUp’s Whiteboard feature so compelling can help you here as well, building flexible summaries to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Ah, board meetings. We all need them, and we all (sometimes) dread them. Imagine the difference you can make with a simple, streamlined report that provides the board with all the information they need at a glance. That’s what the Board Report Template by ClickUp can do.

Start with your basic company branding and report highlights. From there, you can go into your revenue reports, productivity reports, and other key areas of focus. Sales performance and KPI reporting, along with an honest assessment of any challenges and roadblocks, all have their own section.

Of course, you can also link to longer reports that go beyond the highlights. For example, your board may be interested in a productivity plan designed to address current roadblocks. As long as it’s all created in ClickUp, the links are natural and intuitive.

If you just need a quick narrative overview of a project’s status, this Project Status Summary Template might just be right for you. It includes four basic sections, each designed to take up a single paragraph:

• An overview of the project, including the start date, purpose, and any KPIs. This section should stay consistent with each report
• A list of administrators, which are the key leads, stakeholders, and companies involved in bringing the project to completion
• The status of the project , with room to add as many details as possible about the progress toward the goal and any other key highlights
• A bulleted list of issues that may prevent the project from succeeding if left unaddressed

As with many templates on this list, the beauty of this option is its simplicity. You just need Microsoft Word to create a compelling, skimmable project status summary each time you need it.

This Project Executive Summary Template is similar to the MS Word version above, though it does contain some nuances beyond being designed specifically for Google Docs:

• A section for project benefits, outlining in more detail just why the project needs to be completed
• Project scope, allowing you to highlight exactly what can and cannot be accomplished, and what resources are needed
• Project operation, designed to provide context on how the project will be executed

The template is easily printable and downloadable, making it a great fit for quickly sharing core information about any project with any external or secondary stakeholders. 

Summarizing the Best Project Summary Templates

What good is a template if it doesn’t make your work easier? And what good is a project summary template if it doesn’t help you quickly summarize your project? 

As you can see, we’ve got you covered. Choose any of the above templates to start streamlining your project communication. All of these templates can help you build those quick reports your core stakeholders need to stay in the loop.

And if you need to take it even further, why not optimize your entire project management system?

Use ClickUp as the productivity app to end all productivity apps. It’s more than just project and task management: it’s whiteboards, dashboards, chat functionality, goal setting, and much more. And, yes, that also includes all the project summary templates you need to succeed in any industry, and for any audience.

ClickUp’s project summaries and Docs are only the beginning. Our template library is home to countless other templates, from accounting to design and sales to support. With a free account version that includes 100MB of free storage, unlimited tasks and members, and more than 1,000 integrations, it’s tough to find a reason not to sign up.

Start your ClickUp journey today .

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Project Summary Report

Online Help  > Project Summary Report

What does the “Project Summary” report do? 

The "Project Summary" report displays a summary of the project dates, durations, costs, work and task status.

How do I create a Project Summary report? 

In order to generate the Project Summary report, go to menu Report – Overview - Project Summary . 

How do I export the Project Summary report?

In order to export the Project Summary report, go to Report – Overview - select the Project Summary report – click Export – select the exporting format (Excel, Word, XML, PDF or image) and the location where you want to save it and click Save .

What does the “Help” button inside the “Choose Report” dialog do?

The “ Help ” button inside the “ Choose Report ” dialog redirects us to the “ Custom Reports ” article in our Online Help page.

Where are the Overview reports?

In order to access the overview reports, click on the "Report" menu - Overview.

Step by step on how to generate the Project Summary report:

1. Open the desired MPP file.

2. Go to menu  Report  - Overview.

3. Select Project Summary  and click on the Select button.

4. The Project Summary report has been created.

The Project Summary report will contain the information listed below:

Start - field shows the date when an assigned resource is scheduled to begin working on a task.

Baseline Start - field shows the planned start date for a task or assignment at the time that you saved a baseline

Actual Start - field shows the date and time that a task or an assignment actually began, based on progress information that you entered.

Start Variance - field contains the time that represents the difference between a baseline start date of a task or assignment and its currently scheduled start date

Baseline Finish - field shows the planned completion date for a task or assignment at the time that you saved a baseline.

Actual Finish - field shows the date and time when a task or assignment was completed.

Finish Variance - field contains the time that represents the difference between the baseline finish date of a task or assignment and its current finish date.

Baseline Duration - field shows the original span of time planned to complete a task.

Scheduled Duration - field shows the total span of active working time for a task as entered or as calculated based on start date, finish date, calendars, and other scheduling factors.

Duration Variance - field contains the difference between the baseline duration of a task and the total duration (current estimate) of a task.

Remaining Duration - field shows the time that is required to complete the unfinished part of a task.

Actual   Duration - field shows the span of actual working time for a task to this point, based on the scheduled duration and current remaining work or percent complete.

Percent complete - contains the current status of a task, expressed as the percentage of the task's duration that has been completed.

Scheduled   Work - field shows the total time scheduled on a task for all assigned resources, the total time to which a resource is scheduled on all assigned tasks, or the total amount of time scheduled for a resource on a task.

Baseline Work - field shows the total planned person-hours scheduled for a task, resource, or assignment.

Work Variance   - field contains the difference between baseline work of a task, resource, or assignment and the currently scheduled work

Remaining   Work - field shows the time, such as person-hours or days, still required to complete a task or set of tasks.

Actual   Work - field shows the amount of work that has already been done by resources assigned to tasks. The time phased versions of these fields show values distributed over time.

Percent complete - contains the current status of a task, resource, or assignment, expressed as the percentage of work that has been completed.

Scheduled Cost  - field shows the total scheduled or projected cost for a task, resource, or assignment, based on costs already incurred for work performed by resources assigned to the tasks, in addition to the costs planned for the remaining work

Baseline Cost  - field shows the total planned cost for a task, a resource for all assigned tasks, or for work to be performed by a resource on a task.

Cost Variance  - assignment field shows the difference between the baseline cost and total cost for a task, resource, or assignment.

Remaining Cost - field shows the remaining scheduled expense that will be incurred in completing the remaining scheduled work.

Actual Cost  - field shows costs incurred for work already performed by resources on their tasks, together with any other recorded costs associated with the task.

Percent complete

Task Status

Tasks not yet started - number of tasks not started.

Tasks in progress - number of tasks in progress (% complete <>0).

Tasks completed - number of tasks completed (% complete =100).

Total tasks - number of tasks from plan.

Resource Status

Work resources - number of work resources.

Overallocated work resources - number of overallocated resources.

Material resources - number of material resources.

Total resources - number of resources from plan.

1 Very Handy Project Summary Report Template | Free Download

By archtc on December 26, 2017 — 2 minutes to read

• 4 Tips on the Project Summary Part 1
• Project Summary Report: Template Download Part 2
• Additional Resources Part 3
• How to Dramatically Reduce Time You Spend Creating Reports Part 4

Writing a Good Project Summary Report (+ Free Download)

A project summary report contains a brief discussion of the progress of a project during the reporting period. It is helpful in maintaining and handling all the data related to the project in a way that is easy to understand and manage. What matters most is that these project summary reports reflect the real status of the project and also effectively convey its intended message to its readers.

Here are the main points to keep in mind when writing project summary reports:

Write the report with the readers in mind., support the report with data., overview the sections., plan for the future..

In the minds of management, a project is just as good as how it was in a project summary report – this is especially true if they do not have a physical access to the project itself and have no other means of getting updated about the project aside from the reports they are getting from the project team.

Make the report speak for the project by making it brief, concise, transparent, and also as comprehensive as possible.

Project Summary Report: Free Download Section

Click Here to Download Project Summary Report DOCX

—————————————————————————-

You can also use the following templates on ProsperForms :

Edit and use this template

Additional Sources

• How to Write a Project Management Report + Free Template Download
• How to Write a Project Status Report + Free Template Download
• How to Build a Smart Project Progress Report + Free Template Download