Google has over 13 million pages that describe project status reports.  If you read all of them, you’d find a lot of discussions on the purpose of status reporting, key components and numerous templates.  I’ll save you the time reading 13 million pages and provide three useful formats to include in your project or program status report deck.  The key to these formats is to use visual reports to convey status rather than reading lengthy missive on this week’s project status.

My unscientific observation is people skim rather than read an entire status report or presentation.  I’m sure you’ve had the experience where an executive, customer or key stakeholder skims through the first few pages of your meticulously wordsmithed presentation only to stop at the one key slide that holds their interest.  The entire purpose of the status report is to inform the project stakeholders of project progress and have a conversation about the scope, resource and timeline concerns.  Having a conversation using paragraphs of text is difficult for both the presenter and the audience.  Visual formats help make the conversation easier.

I’ve always been a fan of a visual one page status report to convey overall project status.  Clark Campbell even wrote two books on using a one-page status report for both information technology and non-IT projects.  Be sure to check out The One-Page Project Manager: Communicate and Manage Any Project With a Single Sheet of Paper and  The One Page Project Manager for IT Projects. I’d also readily admit a one-page status format may not meet all stakeholder communication needs.  To address different communication needs, I’ve used the following one page visual reporting formats to improve the status reporting.

A Status Based Work Breakdown Structure

The figure below depicts all the reports, interfaces, conversion programs, enhancements and forms (or screens) required to be developed in a systems project.  Each deliverable in the WBS can be color coded based on progress, issues and risks.  The color blue is used to indicate a completed deliverable, yellow indicates an at-risk deliverable, red indicates a late deliverable and green indicates the task is on schedule.  A quick glance of the graphical WBS indicates the project’s interfaces and screen development have the greatest number of problems and the conversion branch is also at risk.  By adding a visual layer to quickly summarize status, project teams can focus on the issues affecting the impacted work.

Figure 1.  Status Based Work Breakdown Structure

The graphical work breakdown strucutre was developed in Mindjet MindManager.  Using MindManager, project managers can import MS Project data,  assign task start and end dates and display red and yellow indicators based on the current date. I’ve used this visual status reporting format on larger programs and found it helpful in reporting a summarized status of the complex projects within a program.

A Graphical Timeline View

Every project status report needs some type of time-phased Gantt chart to indicate progress against due dates.  Prior to MS Project 2010, Gantt chart reporting was difficult to easily depict meaningful tasks in a graphical one-page view.  Fortunately, with MS Project 2010, you can create a timeline view and add select tasks rather than adding every task or milestone in the project.  The following link contains my tutorial on how to create a timeline view in MS Project 2010.

Figure 2.  MS Project 2010 Timeline View

The timeline view is a useful view however, large scale projects and programs often have many workstreams and phases that require an integrated view.  MS Project 2010 users can create multiple timeline views and embed them in a single PowerPoint slide or a manual phased-based Gantt chart can be created in Visio, Excel or another graphic program.  The challenge with these solutions is they all require tedious graphic manipulation when the project data changes.  If you are looking for a configurable, one-page snapshot based on your project schedule, then take a look at Chronicle Graphics OnePager Pro tool.

With OnePager Pro, I can quickly develop a one-page snapshot, report baselines, critical path, % complete and add my own annotations.  If the underlying project data changes, I click a button and the graphical data is updated.  Try doing that with a complex chart in MS Powerpoint and you’ve just wasted another hour tweaking and shifting data and Gantt bars manually.

Figure 3.  Chronicle Graphics OnePager Pro

My One Page Status Report

If I had to include one slide to in a status reporting deck, I would use this format.  The format combines text and graphical indicators that include subjective sections and objective metrics like SPI and CPI.  By combining the achievements, top issues, risks and schedule, stakeholders receive a comprehensive view of the project all on one status report.

1. Title Slide with date and presenter
2. Status Based WBS (Figure 1)
3. Graphical Timeline View (Figure 2 or 3)
4. One Page Status Report (Figure 4)
5. Appendix
   1. Detailed Issue, Risk Log
   2. Summarize Project Schedule
   3. Budget Detail

P.S. If you want a copy of my one page status report template, you can get it with MS Project Tutorial #3 - Project Status Report and Tracking Software.

On March 15th, I had the opportunity to speak to the Great Lakes PMI Chapter on the topic of applying mind mapping across the project lifecycle.  For the past 5 years, I've been working with different mind mapping tools to help improve project delivery using visual thinking.  Mind mapping can be easily applied to many processes across the project management lifecycle phases.

During the discussion, I highlighted 3 tools project managers can consider for combining mind mapping and project management

1. Mindjet MindManager
2. Matchware Mindview
3. Xmind

All have free trial versions and have different price points for their professional versions.  I recommend you download each of the packages, evaluate them and create your own mind maps to support your project management delivery.

In true mind mapping fashion, I delivered the talk using a mind map instead of PowerPoint.  If you'd like to review the presentation, you can download the zip file with the PDF examples below:

Mind Mapping Across the Project Lifecycle

Feel free to recreate the mind maps included in the presentation!

If you want to learn more on how to apply mind mapping to project management using Mindjet Mind Manager, check out my Mind Mapping Project Management eBook and project management templates.  The ebook uses Mindjet Mind Manager, however, you can apply any of the aforementioned tools to the concepts.

If you delete a task, you lose all the baseline information and any work or costs associated with the task. The alternative to deleting a baselined task involved reducing the project duration to zero. Having applied this approach on past projects, it wasn't ideal as creating a zero duration task also converted the task into a milestone. This would cause some problems in milestone reporting and if the task was added back, it would cause further confusion. Fortunately, MS Project 2010 fixed a lot of these issues by adding inactive tasks to the latest release.

The inactive tasks feature allows project managers to remove tasks from the schedule while recognizing the task existed in the original plan. The figure below depicts 5 tasks with 2 tasks in an inactive status.

To set a task to an inactive status:
1. Click on the task
2. In the Task ribbon, in the Schedule section, click on the Inactivate icon (Figure 2)
3. The task will appear grayed out with a strike-through line (Figure 1 above)

Figure 2. Inactivate a task

When a task is inactivated, the task and its associated budget, work and assigned resources are not included in the schedule calculations. This feature also allows you to do some what-if analysis when assessing a potential change to your project schedule without losing the original schedule data. Inactivating a task is easy however there are several considerations when inactivating a task.

Inactive Task Considerations

Creating an inactive task will impact the project schedule and project managers need to reassess the resource leveling and its impact to the critical path. In Figure 3 below, the original project schedule is display with properly leveled resources and the critical path identified.

Figure 3. Original Schedule

After inactivating tasks, the project schedule has over allocated resources that need to be rescheduled (Figure 4). Reallocating the resources manually or automatically, will change the start and finish dates.

Figure 4. Inactivated Tasks

Figure 5 depicts the revised schedule with inactive tasks, a new critical path and adjusted resource allocations. Project managers can also hide the inactive tasks by changing the filter to Active tasks in the View ribbon bar.

Figure 5. Resource Leveled and Inactivated Tasks

I've found this new feature useful when reassessing the critical path and considering changes to a project schedule. Instead of saving different versions as I examine what-if scenarios, I can inactivate and back out the changes as necessary. The project schedule is a model of future events and with MS Project 2010 inactive task feature, I can model changes faster without destroying my project schedule.

As people watch the ball drop, sing the Auld Lang Syne and toast to old times, thousands of new year’s resolutions will be made. As you promise to drop 20 pounds, exercise three days a week and obtain a better work/life balance, don’t forget to add a few project management best practices to your resolutions. Below are just a few resolutions that we all know are good practices--even though we might not entirely follow during project execution.

1. I will update my project schedule weekly and share the updated plan with the team.

The project schedule is one key document that needs to be revisited every week as project teams report progress. Project schedules are not intended to be cast in stone but rather serve as a forecasting tool that can adjust and incorporate re-planning. Spend 30 minutes to an hour a week updating the project schedule, reviewing it and obtain input from the team on scheduling changes.

2.  I will document meeting minutes and send them out by the end of the day.

I know we all abhor meeting minutes, and transcribing them from scribbled notes into a meaningful MS-Word format can be a challenge when the day is packed with meetings. If you don’t get your notes and key action items out by the end of the day, they will likely fall behind--and few people respond to late meeting minutes. That’s why I advise using a mind mapping tool to document your meeting minutes and send them out that day. (Consider this article, Mind Map Your Meetings, on how to incorporate just-in-time meeting minutes into your day.)

3.  I will send out my meeting materials the day prior, not five minutes before.

I will readily admit I am guilty of sending out key materials a few minutes before the meeting so everyone has the latest copy. The problem is that some documents need to be reviewed or printed before discussing them in a meeting. I’ve been in a few meetings where executives chastised the project manager for not sending them out earlier so they could review the materials. To avoid this embarrassing situation, I send out the materials the day before (maybe at 11:59 at night…but at least I’m avoiding the appearance of being unprepared as I implement just-in-time meeting materials).

4. I will ask the PMO and the quality assurance auditor how to make their job easier.

In some organizations, PMO support and the QA functions are only welcome when administrative roadblocks needs to be removed or a bureaucratic process needs to be followed. Having worked in both roles, I recognize the importance of keeping the PMO informed on project progress and ask for help. PMOs have the luxury of seeing across a portfolio of projects and can often identify solutions for similar problems. Invite them to lunch and find out how the PMO and project managers can make the project organization a better place to work.

5. I will encourage my management to conduct “skip level” meetings with my team members.

Successful project managers can’t deliver unless they are supported by a team. Project managers should recognize their team members and share the accolades within the management spotlight. One way to do this is encourage your manager to have skip level meetings with your project team members. It will give your team members some additional visibility to a manager or executive that may not know specifically how your team contributes to the organization. It also provides an opportunity for team members to provide unfiltered feedback and new ideas.

6. I’ll reward my team with a monthly team gathering.

Projects are successfully due to the relationships formed across all project stakeholders. These stakeholders include your project team! Relationships need to be developed not only in the weekly status meeting, at an all-employee meeting or in the halls. They need to be developed outside the cubicle. Managers may hold an annual holiday party as a “thank you” to the team for all their accomplishments. However, project managers should reward their teams more frequently and develop the informal relationships within their teams. I’ve found the more I invest in relationships with the team, the better I know my team members and a stronger bond of trust emerges. When a project starts to go bad, these relationships are instrumental in successfully turning the project around.
The project manager doesn’t always have to pick up the tab for the monthly gathering, but the project manager can buy a first round of drinks or appetizers. (You may find the team is the one buying you the congratulatory beer!)

7. I’ll commit to attend at least one training event this year.

Is there ever a good time for training? Nope. So you might as well schedule it and take it when planned. As project managers and continual learners, we need to remember to invest in ourselves and not just our projects. Training doesn’t necessarily need to be a boondoggle at West Coast resort or a formal structured class. Read a blog article, attend a webinar or read a chapter from a thought-provoking business book. Spending at least one hour a week on yourself to learn something new and improve your skills is a hint a colleague of mine provided several years ago. You give 40-plus hours a week, and using one of those hours each week will benefit you and the organization.
I know resolutions are hard to keep (the same 15 pounds I swore off last year are still here despite the 2010 resolution). Print this article, post it on your office wall and review these resolutions periodically. You may give up on your gym membership after a few weeks, don’t give up on these!