All project managers have to produce reports at one time or another, and it can sometimes be difficult to work out where to start. Here is a guide to 7 steps for easier project reporting.
Establish who to report to
First, work out who is going to receive this report. The audience for any communication is important. The type of information that you include in a report destined to be used for a strategic review of corporate projects is not the same as the detail you would include for a project progress review. Or for an auditor. Or for your finance department. The audience will also determine the language that you will use: remember not to include too much project jargon if the report is going to be used by people who are not as close to the detail and acronyms as you are.
Define expectations
What does this audience expect to see? The easiest way to find out what someone wants in a report is to ask them. Do you routinely ask the recipients of project communications what they would like to see? If not, what do you think they would say if you did ask them? OK – go ask them!
Another expectation to set is the timescale for the delivery of the report. Is it a weekly or monthly requirement, or to be produced on an ad hoc basis? Again, let your audience define this for you – there is no point producing paperwork if they do not want to read it.
Agree on the format of the report
Depending on what you are reporting, you might want to create your report in a document. A presentation might be most appropriate. You can also give verbal reports as part of a meeting, although you may want to provide the minute-taker with a paragraph of text to ensure your points are summarised effectively. Even an annotated copy of your plan or an iMindQ mindmap could be appropriate formats for reporting depending on the message you want to get across.
Also, consider how they will receive the report. If they travel a lot and use a smartphone they may need to receive the report in a format that displays well on a small screen. You could also use social media tools to communicate with your project stakeholders. You can read more about social media for project managers here.
Plan what to say
This is the step where you establish what is appropriate content for the project report. You have already worked out what level of detail is required for your audience. At this step, you want to consider what is happening on the project so you have an idea of what content is likely to be most appropriate. Also, consider what you can and can’t say at this point. For example, if there is a big, but confidential, change on the horizon you could include this in a report to your manager but not to a key external supplier.
Prepare the report
Once you know the format you will use, prepare the report. Check the content and make sure that you spend time proof-reading it for factual and grammatical errors if it is a written report. You could give it to someone else to read through if you are not confident at picking up those mistakes yourself.
Deliver your report
Send your report to the person who needs to receive it. If you are delivering your report in a meeting in the form of a presentation or verbal summary, this is the step where you do that. The morning before you are due to deliver your report, check it through again. This gives you the chance to update it with the latest facts or to make any last minute adjustments if the project has moved on.
Follow up
There are 3 ways to follow up your project reports. If your report included actions, make sure these are followed up. If you are asked to make a change or do anything else as a consequence of delivering your report, then make sure you take a note of these and follow up these actions. Finally, ask the people who received your project report for feedback. Did they get everything they needed? Was their information missing that they would have found valuable? Did you meet the expectations defined in Step 2? If your report is something you need to produce regularly, getting this type of feedback will make sure that you are targeting the content to the audience in the best possible way.