12.4 Progress Reports

You write a progress report to inform a supervisor, associate, or customer about progress you’ve made on a project over a certain period of time. The project can be the design, construction, or repair of something, the study or research of a problem or question, or the gathering of information on a technical subject. You write progress reports when it takes well over three or four months to complete a project.

Contents and Functions of Progress Reports

In the progress report, you explain any or all of the following:

• How much of the work is complete
• What part of the work is currently in progress
• What work remains to be done
• What problems or unexpected issues, if any, have arisen
• How the project is going in general

Progress reports have several important functions:

• Reassure recipients that you are making progress, that the project is going smoothly, and that it will be completed by the expected date.
• Provide recipients with a brief look at some of the findings or some of the work of the project.
• Give recipients a chance to evaluate your work on the project and to request changes.
• Give you a chance to discuss problems in the project and thus to forewarn recipients.
• Force you to establish a work schedule so that you’ll complete the project on time.
• Project a sense of professionalism to your work and your organization.

Timing and Format of Progress Reports

In a year-long project, there are customarily three progress reports, one after three, six, and nine months. Depending on the size of the progress report, the length and importance of the project, and the recipient, the progress report can take the following forms:

• Memo: A short, informal report to someone within your organization
• Letter: A short, informal report sent to someone outside your organization
• Formal Report: A formal report sent to someone outside your organization

Organizational Patterns for Progress Reports

In your progress report, you need (a) an introduction that reviews the purpose and scope of the project, (b) a detailed description of your project and its history, and (c) an overall appraisal of the project to date, which usually acts as the conclusion. Activity 12.4 provides an example of a progress report.

^{Activity 12.4 | Progress Letter Report}

Introduction

In the introduction, review the details of your project’s purpose, scope, and activities. This will aid recipients who are unfamiliar with the project, who do not remember certain details, or who want to doublecheck your approach to the project. The introduction can contain the following:

• Purpose of the project
• Specific objectives of the project
• Scope, or limits, of the project
• Date the project began; date the project is scheduled to be completed
• People or organization working on the project
• People or organization for whom the project is being done
• Overview of the contents of the progress report

Project Description

The project description usually summarizes work within each of the following:

• Work accomplished in the preceding period(s)
• Work currently being performed
• Work planned for the next period(s)

Conclusion

The final paragraph or section usually reassures audiences that all is going well and on schedule. It can also alert recipients to unexpected changes or problems in the project.

Revision Checklist for Progress Reports

As you reread and revise your progress report, keep in mind the following:

• Make sure you use the right format. Remember, the memo format is for internal progress reports; the business-letter format is for progress reports written from one external organization to another.
• Write a good introduction—in it, state that this is a progress report, and provide an overview of the contents of the progress report.
• Make sure to include a description of the final completed project.
• Use headings to mark off the different parts of your progress report, particularly the different parts of your summary of work done on the project.
• Use lists as appropriate.
• Provide specifics—avoid relying on vague, overly general statements about the work you’ve done on the final report project.
• Make sure the report is written in language accessible to your audience.
• Proofread and revise for grammar, mechanics and style