Project Status Report Template
Fill in the overall status, status by area, what got done, what is next, milestones, risks, decisions you need and the budget. The report lays itself out as you type, as a full report or a one-page executive summary, and next week's report starts from this one. Load an example to see a finished report.
What goes in a project status report
A reader should know in ten seconds whether the project is on track and what you need from them. Everything else is detail for the people who want it.
Overall status
One colour and one sentence on why. If it is amber or red, the sentence says what would bring it back.
Status by area
Scope, schedule, budget, resources and quality, each with its own colour and a short note. Rename or remove areas that do not fit your project.
Executive summary
Three to five sentences: where things stand, what changed since the last report and what you need. The builder counts the words for you.
Done and planned
What got done this period and what is planned for the next one, as short lines. Next week's report keeps the plan so you can check it against what happened.
Milestones
The dates the sponsor cares about, each with a status. The executive summary shows only the ones still open.
Risks and issues
A risk might happen; an issue already has. Give each an impact, an owner and what is being done about it. Open, high-impact items print first.
Decisions needed
What you need someone else to decide, who decides and by when. This is often the reason the report gets read.
Budget
Planned, spent to date and forecast at completion. The builder works out the variance and how much of the plan is spent.
Weekly status report template
Pick Weekly as the period and the headings change to "Done this week" and "Planned next week". Send it on the same day every week so people know when to look for it, and keep it short enough to read on a phone.
When the week is over, press "Start next report". The new report keeps the project details, the areas and their status, open milestones, open risks and issues, pending decisions and the budget. It clears the summary and the done list and moves the date forward a week, so you only write what changed.
Copy as email gives you a plain version with a subject line, the overall status, open items and decisions, ready to paste into a message to your sponsor or director.
How to set RAG status
RAG stands for red, amber, green. Agree what each colour means with your sponsor once, then use it the same way every week. The builder suggests the overall status from the worst area; you decide.
Green: on track. No help needed; the plan, dates and budget hold.
Amber: at risk. Something is slipping but the team has a plan to recover; say what it is and when you will know.
Red: off track. The date, budget or scope will not hold without a decision or help from outside the team; say exactly what you need.
A weekly status report for sales managers
Directors want the same few things every week: pipeline, forecast, wins, blockers and the approvals you need. Load the weekly sales status to start with the areas Pipeline, Forecast, Activity and Team, wins under "Done this week", and discount or hiring approvals under "Decisions needed".
Keep the forecast line honest: if a large deal slipped, say so in the overall status rather than in the last line of the report.
When the project ends, run a lessons learned session instead of a final status report.
For who owns each task, keep a RACI chart next to the report.
Write up the meetings the report draws on with the meeting minutes generator.
More on running the work behind the report: meeting cadence, tracking action items, all-hands meetings, field sales management.
Your status report is already in this week's meetings.
The stand-ups, client calls and steering meeting are where the progress, risks and decisions came up. Record them with ParrotNotes and you get a summary and the action items for each, so writing the report means pulling from what was said rather than from memory. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.
Get ParrotNotes freeRelated tools
- Lessons Learned TemplateRun a lessons learned or after action review session: what was planned, what happened, why, and what to keep or change, with owners and dates.Open the tool
- RACI Chart TemplateBuild a RACI chart for a project: list the tasks and people, mark who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed, then print it.Open the tool
- Retrospective TemplateRun a team retrospective with a ready format (start/stop/continue, 4Ls, mad/sad/glad), collect items, vote, assign actions and print the result.Open the tool
- One Pager TemplateFill in a sales one pager with the problem, your solution, proof and next step, then print it or save it as a PDF to send after a meeting.Open the tool
- AI Meeting Minutes GeneratorPaste rough notes or a transcript and get minutes with a summary, decisions and action items; agenda mode plans the next meeting. Free with a ParrotNotes account.Open the tool