Progress report for a research program or project is going to be slightly different than for a project at work. In this case you are more likely to need to cite information and are less likely to need to consider things like cost (although not always). A work report for a client is going to read somewhat differently than for a superior at work. You’ll need to consider why you’re writing this report for them.
How are your readers connected to the project? How will the outcome of the project affect them? (The connection and how they’re affected is going to be different for your superior than for the client, for example. ) Consider what decision your readers are going to need to make after reading the progress report (what support, money, time are they investing, for example. Consider the information your reader is going to need to know to oversee and participate in the project effectively. What technical aspects of the project will they need to know. Are they comfortable with technical jargon?
A progress report could be a brief oral report at weekly or monthly staff meetings. It could be periodic emails to colleagues. It could be formal or informal memos to supervisors. It can also be formal reports for clients or government agencies.
When it comes to information for a client or government agency, or thesis review board, you err on the side of formality. No matter the formality or informality of your tone you want it to be clear, focused, and honest.
You might choose to do a bulleted list. It’s a very clear way to present the material and it’s easy to skim and still get the needed information. However, it can be a slightly less formal way of writing a progress report so it might be better to use it for memos to supervisors and emails to colleagues. You may also consider adding in graphs or tables. This might be especially good if you’re writing a progress report for a project in which you’re trying to get funding, or show why you deserve the funding you’ve been given.
Adding subheadings to your can make this even clearer, because it lets your readers or audience know what to expect in each subsection. If there is material that they are particularly interested in they’ll be able to jump right to that part.
The heading should include the date, when the report was submitted, the name and the position of the recipient, the writer’s name and position, and the subject of the report.
Make sure to include: the purpose of the report, introduce the project, remind that this is an update on the progress of the project.
Specify tasks that have been accomplished since the last report and what tasks are ongoing. Discuss problems that you’ve encountered, issues that need to be addressed, and potential solutions for those problems and issues. Address changes that have happened and why they needed to be made. You can also include things like personnel changes, difficulty in obtaining material, what cost overruns you may have encountered, any delays or problems with technology or security.
You really do want to make sure say whether the deadline for the project has changed or not. Avoid sugarcoating any problems for your audience, but don’t alarm them unnecessarily or promise anything you can’t deliver.
For example: if your project is about reigniting a local, nonprofit arts organization, it might be tempting to go off into a discussion of the deplorable state of arts funding, but it won’t really help detail how your project is coming along.
Depending on who you’re writing the report for you might be cut down to a specific page limit. A good rule of thumb is to keep it as short as possible, while making sure that you fit in the appropriate information.
