Progress Report

Introduction

In the workplace, you will be asked to update your supervisor about the projects in which you are involved. Your supervisor will want to know how many hours you have worked on each project, what progress you have made since the last reporting period, and what you are planning to accomplish during the next reporting period. The duration of the reporting period will vary from job to job (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly) and from project to project. Progress reports serve as a record of your accomplishments as well as an update informing the team supervisor of your activities.

A progress report is a highly structured document that provides details about the following elements:

• An overview of the work you have completed

• A discussion of the project's current status

• A discussion of any problems you had, are currently experiencing, or anticipate

• A forecast of the plans to complete the project

The completed work section details elements of the project you have finished and offers preliminary results from your research. This section demonstrates to your audience that you have made progress and are diligently working toward completing the project on time. Keep in mind that the information you present in this section may be used in the final report, so the more information you are able to convey in this section, the more you demonstrate to your audience that your project is well underway.

In addition to discussing completed research and writing, your audience also wants to know the project's current status. Where does the project stand in relation to the timeline you estimated in your proposal? Are you ahead of schedule? Behind schedule? Your audience needs to know the current state of this project. Furthemorer, your progress report must contain an updated task schedule (Gantt chart) reflecting your original estimated schedule and the actual schedule you have followed (see Anderson for an example). This section should also contain information about your proposed budget. Your audience wants to know if you are over budget, under budget, or on budget. Provide a comparison of the estimated budget (from the proposal) and explain your expenditures to date.

After you have updated your audience about the work you have completed and the current work in progress, you must now estimate the next phase of your project and what tasks you need to perform to complete this report on time. This section explains the unfinished parts of the final report and explains how you plan to finish these tasks and submit the report by the deadline.

Reading Assignment

Anderson. Progress Reports

Study Questions

Writing Assignment -- Progress Report (5%)

This is an individual assignment.

Content. Prepare a progress report in which you update your about the research project (for the final report) you are developing. Be sure to include all of the elements discussed in the introduction to this lesson.

Length. 2 to 3 single-spaced pages

Format. Memo.