Project Reports
This section introduces the five main reports commonly used
for project control and reporting. The sequence of reports is represented in the flow chart below.
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The Project Brief is generally the first document. It is
produced when the project is initiated by the Project Sponsor
following a Project Proposal stage. It should establish for the
project manager:
- What the project is to achieve, by when, and within what
resources.
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The Project Plan (sometimes called project
initiation document or project scoping report)
is the second document. It is produced by the Project
Manager following a brief Project Scoping Study. It should build
on the Project Brief developing it to establish:
- What the project is to achieve
- A detailed time schedule for carrying out the project
- Details of the resources required - people, money,
sections
- Who is to be involved in the project
- What the risks and implementation issues are.
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The Project Progress Report is produced by the Project
Manager in agreement with the Project Sponsor. It should
establish:
- What progress has been made, what work is left
remaining, and what the issues are.
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The Post Project Evaluation is not produced for all
projects. When it is, it is produced by the Project Manager at
the request of the Project Sponsor. It should establish:
- How did the project progress and what were the issues we
should be aware of for future projects.
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Key points are:
Some reports are more specific than others. The structure for the
Project Plan is the most
specific as this document will be used for central coordination
of the organisations projects. Others are less specific in that
their content may need to vary from project to project. For
these the content should be agreed between project manager and
project sponsor.
The reports are progressive, for example, information in the
Project Brief provides the basis for similar information in the
Project Plan.
Regarding timing of the reports, it is generally best
practice to produce them at a natural end-of-stage rather than at regular
intervals.