Project Execution and Control: A Comprehensive Status Report Analysis

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PROJ6003 PROJECT EXECUTION AND
CONTROL
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Status report.....................................................................................................................................4
Difference between the status reports provided for teams, sponsor, and steering committee.........5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
A project has many phases and in each phase, it is important for the project managers to have a
track of all the activities of the project completed in each phase. There are various risks that may
occur during the project and all those risks can be eliminated by an effective recording of the
activities taking place in the project. The project manager is obliged to prepare a progress report
or status report to track the progress report of the project. This report will lay emphasis on the
status report and its various kinds. The report will discuss the difference between the types of
status reports and also consider the challenges that are faced during the preparation of status
reports.
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Status report
Status reports are the reports critical reports that are important for effective communication and
information in the project. Templates or tables or powerpoint presentations can be used to
prepare the status reports. There are several types of status reports in a project which are as
follows:
 Current period reports: This is the project status report that is prepared for a short time
period and they are only used to have information about the recently completed activities.
The current period status reports are prepared on a weekly basis to communicate about the
activities that are completed within a week (Raydugin, 2013). The major pitfall in the current
period reports is that long terms plans cannot be drawn by the current period reports. The
most recently done activities are recorded which means that the past activities are not taken
into consideration in this type of report.
 Cumulative reports: The cumulative reports ate prepared to have information from the
beginning to the end of the project. All the key information are recorded in the cumulative
reports. It is a detailed report and is more informative than the other reports. Various change
decisions can be taken by the project manager to improve the project. The key challenge in
the cumulative report is that this report contains all the information which might create
confusion in the minds of the stakeholders and short term plans cannot be drawn on the basis
of the cumulative reports.
 Exception reports: These reports highlight the variances from the plan. Important decisions
might be taken by the management with the help of these reports. A high-level summary is
indicated in the exception reports. The key pitfall in this report is that graphs and charts are
prepared in this report which is not understandable by other stakeholders.
 Traffic light reports: The traffic light reports are colored and the colors indicate the activities
of the project. The issue in this report is that it is not so descriptive rather it is indicative so it
needs to be regularly updated. If it not updated regularly, the report can have different
indicatives (Hopkin, 2017).
 Variance report: The variance report indicates the difference between the plans and the
actual happenings of the project. Schedules and curves are made in this report to indicate the
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deviation. It has an issue as only weekly efforts are considered in this report and recent
schedules are prepared in the variance report.
Difference between the status reports provided for teams, sponsor, and
steering committee.
Status report for Team Status report for sponsor Status report for Steering
committee
A status report is
documentation which
involves the status of the
tasks done by the teams itself
with the completed tasks
identified along with the tasks
left. All this information in
the status report is about the
status expected.
For the status report of the
internal team, here all the
tasks which would be
completed in coming days
will be mentioned with the
expected time.
It will include
Status of the project
Actions which will be
taken in the coming
days.
The current progress
In the status report to the
sponsors, it would only include
all the major tasks completed,
and only those tasks which they
are sponsored for. For example,
if an organization is responsible
for only one task in the
complete project, he or she
would be given the status
report for that task or operation
only (Mackenzie, 2014).
In the status report for
sponsor following would be
included:
The current status Affect of
the actions taken.
This status report provided to
the committee has all the
important details as the
steering committee are the
ones who are monitoring the
tasks on full. The status
report to the committee has to
be specific and detailed with
all the resources used,
resources left, raw materials
used in the project and their
status along with with the
future expected requirements.
Because they are monitoring
the project, the detail of every
task completed and on progress
has to be sent to them.
Recommendations for certain
tasks in progress can also be
included in this particular status
report which will demonstrate
the Committee to make suitable
changes for the future
(Mackenzie, 2014).
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Conclusion
This report concluded and discussed the use of the status report for the various steering
committee, internal teams, and Sponsors. All these three bodies are responsible and effected by
different tasks available hence it is important to distinguish their status report and important to
know the changes they possess from each other.
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References
 Hopkin, P. (2017). Fundamentals of risk management : Understanding, evaluating and
implementing effective risk management(Fourth ed., Business professional collection)
[Fourth edition.]. New York: Kogan Page. (2017). Retrieved August 17, 2019, from:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.laureate.net.au/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=ce97cb29-
7498-4828-b92c-63f1f35df0c4%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ
%3d%3d#AN=1446715&db=nlebk
 Mackenzie, B. (2014). Wiley ifrs 2014 : Interpretation and application of international
financial reporting standards(Wiley regulatory reporting). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
(2014). Retrieved August 17, 2019
 Raydugin, Y. (2013). Project risk management : Essential methods for project teams and
decision makers(Wiley corporate f & a series). Hoboken: Wiley. (2013). Retrieved August
17, 2019, from: https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.laureate.net.au/lib/think/
detail.action?docID=1469456
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