Weekly Status Reports is very important for project management and should be prepared in advance. The main aim of a weekly status report is basically to keep track of the ongoing progress of a given project and to give an insight into the day-to-day activities of all the project team members. Weekly Status Reports can contain very useful information like the status of the deliverables, current working hours etc. This data can help project managers gauge the progress and know the areas for additional effort. It also gives an idea about the resource available for project work and project planning and development. These reports are used by all stakeholders to have a clear idea of what is happening in the project and what is still to be done.
The usual format of a weekly status report sample includes a client summary report that lists the summary of the previous week’s activity on each of the deliverables. The objective of this section is to show the client what has been done and how well the work is progressing. The list of deliverables then consists of an overview of the summary report and a list of each of the individual deliverables. The next section, the inspection log form, gives a concise description of each activity of the project in terms of its priority, defects found, expected time, cost, and quality.
In order to prepare a successful weekly progress report sample, it is best to use a ready made template. There are a number of pre-formatted templates that you can choose from to help you create your report. Templates are very helpful when you have too little time to write the necessary content and want to save time. You can even modify the pre-formatted template to suit your project’s needs. These templates make it easier for you to come up with a quality report since you only need to enter the required information. The completed template will then be ready for use by all the team members.
The four sections included in the template you can use are: the summary report, the detailed report, the corrective actions taken, and the business impacts. The contents of the other two sections may be added later on if they are deemed necessary. The summary report should contain the key facts and the objectives of the project so that everyone involved can understand where the deficiencies lie. The details should also include the daily status report including the tasks and goals for the day, a summary of all the meetings held, and a list of all the people involved in the process.
The corrective actions needed to be taken should be outlined in detail. If you expect a high level of performance on a daily basis, the weekly performance progress report template will have details of all the changes that need to be made on a daily basis. On the other hand, if there is more of an emphasis on correcting the problems that occur on a weekly basis, the daily status report template will have a few bullet points to refer to so that you do not make a lot of corrections on the basis of poor performance.
The business impacts should also be outlined. If you are expecting great results, then the weekly performance report template will contain details of what you need to do in order to achieve your goals. For example, the task and goals for the day should be specified in the summary section of the template. In addition to that, the summary report should also contain a summary of what was discussed at the meeting or conference. All these things should be contained in the daily status report template so that everyone has an idea of what is expected of them.
It is important to remember that the contents of these samples weekly activity report templates will vary depending on the goal that is identified. This is why it is a good idea to determine first the main aim or mission of the weekly activities before actually using any template. If the goal pertains to the improvement of productivity, then it is advisable to use a productivity report template that outlines the main aspects that need to be improved.
The next step is to actually use the contents of the template to create a final and decent document. For this, you can simply follow some simple instructions and guidelines. You can either use Microsoft Word or a different word processing application to produce a final version of your weekly performance progress report. Finally, you can send it either electronically through e-mail or by fax. Remember, the success of your business depends on how well you know how to prepare and distribute your weekly status update.
