Template format for Project status report

Project managers need to communicate regularly with stakeholders to inform them of the current status of a project and to manage their expectations for a project. Problems may surface if these key people are not well informed of a project’s progress, particularly if shareholders have different expectations. In fact, the source of many project conflicts arise not because of actual problems, but because a customer or a stakeholder was surprised by a project’s outcome.
This project status report template shows one format you can use to effectively communicate a project’s status to clients, customers, and other stakeholders. The template contains the following fields:
• Project name: The name of the project.
• Period ending: The date range covered by the report.
• Project manager: The project manager assigned to the project.
• Business unit/customer: The client(s) who commissioned the project.
• Project description: A brief description (two or three lines) of the project to remind the reader the major purpose of the effort. This information can be reused in all subsequent reports.
• Overall status at a glance: This section allows the reader to quickly gauge the overall health of the project. The questions are worded so that all answers should be answered Yes for a project that has no problems. Any questions marked No will alert readers that they should look for more information about a problem.
• Explanation of items checked No: An explanation should accompany any status summary lines that were checked No.
• Significant accomplishments this period: A list of major accomplishments from the previous reporting period.
• Planned accomplishments next period: A list of major planned accomplishments for the next reporting period.
• Additional accomplishments or highlights not reflected above: Any items regarding the project that would be of interest to the reader but that were not mentioned previously.
• Attachments: Attach any report, log, or relative statistic that would be of interest to the reader. Examples of attachments are included in the template.

(Name of project) Project Status Report
Period ending:
Project manager:
Business unit/customer:
Project description:
Yes
No
Overall status at a glance
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Will the project be completed on time?
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Will the project be completed within budget?
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Will the project deliverables be completed within acceptable quality levels?
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Are scope change requests being managed successfully?
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Are project issues being addressed successfully?
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Are project risks being successfully mitigated?
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Are all customer concerns being addressed successfully?
Explanation of items above checked No:
Significant accomplishments this period:
Planned accomplishments next period:
Additional comments or highlights not reflected above: