Project status reporting has given continuous updates to stakeholders to inform them of project progress and identifying any risks or issues. The project summary report has a different purpose; it is to summarise the project, identify what was achieved, the major changes that happened and what is still outstanding. Given project closure, the responsibility for what is outstanding should be agreed and ideally transferred.
Content of Project Summary Report
Project reports should be formally approved documents that the project manager writes. The audience for this report is usually senior management but it is part of the project documentation set so typically it is available to all internal stakeholders. Key content should include:
- Executive summary - concise summation that allows senior management to understand very quickly the key facts about the project
- Objectives - how have the original objectives been met that were identified during project initiation? Have changes eliminated, added to or modified the objectives?
- Scope - what scope changes have occurred, if any, that have influenced what was done for the business community and who was impacted?
- Cost - what was the final cost of the project and how does that relate to the original cost expectations?
- Time - what was the final schedule and in particular key delivery dates? How does the final schedule relate to the original project schedule?
- Project deliverables - were all of the project deliverables delivered as expected? What significant changes have happened to the solution, if any? In summary, what project documentation was produced and were there any significant changes? Do any of those changes impact the original quality management expectations?
- Risks - what significant risks were managed successfully and what key risks became issues that adversely impacted the project?
- What is outstanding? What project tasks have not been completed? Of those tasks outstanding what still needs to be done and what can be safely ignored? For those tasks outstanding what is the plan? Who will take ownership of these tasks after project closure? Can the project be closed with these items outstanding? Who has agreed that the project can be closed if there are project tasks that still need to be completed?
This project appraisal may include lessons learnt if the project has had the time prior to its close to do that assessment but it is not necessary for this document and can be done separately.
Project Reports
Many project reports will be produced during the course of a project, in particular project status reports. The project summary report is a special final document that must accurately and completely reflect the practical realities of the project and the final status prior to project closure.
Roger Lever - Early career was in Treasury Banking and this led to my interest in financial investment, especially the stockmarket. Enjoy reading widely ...
