Status Report Template

About the Status Report Template

A status report should ideally prove a change happened over time. Want to outline the current state of your project? That sounds like a project status report.

The status report emphasizes and maps out a project’s chain of events. If you’re a project manager, you can use this report to keep historical records of project timelines. Ideally, any project stakeholder should be able to look at a status report and answer the question, “Where are we, and how did we get here?”

This template is only a starting point. You can also customize the name of this template according to team values or behaviors you want to prioritize, such as “progress report,” or “situation report,” or “implementation report.” 

What is a status report?

A status report summarizes how your project is progressing against a projected plan or outcome. It can include a summary of your project or initiative, delivery dates, and any obstacles or outstanding action items.

It can be a quick and systematic way to:

• Encourage stakeholder buy-in

• Make project milestone progress transparent 

• Identify and correct roadblocks before they happen

When to use a status report

A status report can be weekly or monthly at a CEO- or team-level. How often you send out a status report depends on who needs to be aware of your team’s highlighted milestones and accomplishments. 

A weekly status report is usually created on short notice for a team, its manager, and a key stakeholder. 

A monthly status report can reassure high-level managers that projects remain under control. High-level information can include confidence levels, timelines, and risks or roadblocks. There should be no surprises, whether they are problems or big wins.

A CEO-level status report drives buy-in and visibility from the top level of the company. You can include a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section to demonstrate how your team proactively responds to questions. 

For busy teams handling multiple projects, a separate monthly team status report can focus on resource allocation. This approach can help managers allocate time and resources to the right people for the right projects.  

Create your own status report

Making your own status reports is easy. Miro’s infinite canvas is the perfect place to create and share them. Get started by selecting the status report template, then take the following steps to make one of your own.

1. Clarify your project goals

This includes your project themes, milestones, deliverables, and team members who will be involved. Ask questions, too: “How do we measure success? What challenges might we face? What should we try to learn from this?”

2. Set up your Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

Keep things time-boxed and be transparent when filling in the details: what are the key goals for your set time frame? If you haven’t already set up team OKRs, try our template [link to OKR template here].

3. Get your team involved

Invite your team to collaborate on the template with status and updates, depending on what they have ownership of. What's on track? What’s at risk? What tasks are complete? What’s coming up?

4. Make changes as needed together with your team

Encourage team members to share the status report with everyone. You can link out to other documents or resources for inspiration or highlight someone’s contribution with a sticky note. Once you finish the project, send a final summary report to your team.