Status Reports

Almost everything in business (and life) is a status report. Ok, maybe a little over stated.

But you should still know how to do a good status report.

• Status Reports
• The Anatomy of a Status Report
  • The Plan
  • Where Are We Today
  • Are We On Plan
  • The Projection
  • Action Items
• Some Plans
  • A List
  • Table Complete
  • Earned Value
• Appendix
  • Version History

Last updated: Mon 10-Aug-2026 afternoon

The Anatomy of a Status Report

A status report consists of only a few parts:

• What was the plan?
• Where are we today?
• Are we on-plan, ahead or behind?
• What is the projection?
• What are the action items?

The Plan

Capture the plan in some manner.

This could be in any format that makes sense for the work that you are doing.

Some examples

• A List
  • Just a simple list of takes that you can check off as done
• A List With Properties
  • Add properties to the above list, like
    • Owner
    • Size
    • Category
    • Due Date
    • etc.
• A Set of Jiras
  • Basically a fancy list with lots of properties that multiple people can edit
• An Earned Value or BurnDown Chart
  • A list with a plan as to when tasks should be done presented in a tabular or graphical format

Where Are We Today

Based on your plan you should be able to see what was done or not.

This can be as simple as checking things off as done.

Are We On Plan

Your plan said that on this date you should have had so much done.

• Do you?
• Or are you ahead or behind schedule?

Here is where how you structured the plan becomes more of a concern. Is your plan made in such a way to allow you to easily determine if you are on plan or not?

The Projection

So now that you know

• the plan
• where you are
• are you on, ahead or behind plan

Then you need to be able to predict the future.

• Given all that you now today, what does the rest of the future look like?
• Are you on plan and the remaining looks good?
• Will you be off (likely meaning late) for the rest of the plan?

Action Items

Given all that you now know, what are the needed action items?

If you are behind plan, what do you need to do to get back on plan.

If you are ahead of plan, do you need to make any adjustments to match the new plan?

Some Plans

Here are some ideas on how to do plans.

A List

Create a list in something

• Excel
• Google Keep
• Paper on the ridge

Check off items as they are done.

This may be all that you need if it is appropriate to the plan that you need to maintain.

Table Complete

See Table Complete for details on this

Earned Value

See Earned Value for details on this

Appendix

Version History

	Date	Notes
01	Mon 10-Aug-2026	Initial version