Reporting progress

It is all too easy when taking forward a new initiative to forget that other people need to know about your progress and that of others involved. The different aspects of developing new initiatives are often intricate and interdependent. There must be clarity over the way that progress is reported. There are many project management tools on the market but most share the following aspects:

• an outline of the Projects Aims and Objectives
• a list of Milestones that indicate progress stages towards an agreed goal
• timeline – shows the dates by which key activities will be achieved
• activities – the actions and activities that will be required to achieve the Milestones. These are a combination of inputs, what you will do and when and outputs, the result of your actions.
• Human Resources – How many people hours will be required to complete the tasks that will achieve the goals?  Over what timescale will the people hours be performed?
• budget – A log of planned spend against actual.

Project managers need to know whether progress is going according to plan and will need feedback at regular stages. Those responsible for leading or being an agent of change usually report progress at regular intervals.

It is up to the project manager to define and agree with participants how and when reporting will occur. There are many tools to help manage projects and some offer free trial downloads.