Sacred PM Practices -- Project Reporting

I next considered whether project recording could be a key factor in successful execution of a large IT project. Reporting has always been a rather dry subject, but perhaps I could discover something innovative in the frequency, topics, or audience of project reporting.

Frequency of Project Reporting

Observations

• Thirty-two percent of projects reported on a monthly basis
• Two of the projects (8%) never or rarely reported to senior management

Topics in Project Reporting

Observations

• Senior management chooses to review project risks and project schedule for a significant percentage of the projects
• Senior management reviews neither the project budget nor changes in project objectives for the majority of projects

Audience in Project Reporting

Observations

• Sixty percent of the projects report that written project status reports are distributed to only those who attend status meetings
• Even though sending an electronic report to the entire project team costs essential nothing, only 24% of the project managers do so

Did you find any surprises here? I have never really understood why a project report would not be shared with all team members. I have always found my name, next to a set of tasks with dates, to be very motivating.