reporting progress during the project

reporting progress

The Prevailing Culture.
The accuracy and timeliness of the data collection procedures will also be influenced by a series of practical issues and the overall attitude of project management staff towards reporting progress. The mechanisms that the organization already has in place to support project related work may well influence the practical results of applying a 'planned' reporting structure. If a variety of suitable forms and reports are already in use then the adoption or adaptation of these may well streamline and enhance practical data collection. Project team members will almost certainly develop an individual, or even a collective, attitude towards the value and importance of the data collection and progress reporting mechanisms being applied. The more positive this is the better the implications for the quality and timeliness of future project data.

One factor that can greatly influence the project team member’s attitude towards the data collection exercise is the perceived objectivity of those staff collecting and
reporting the data. If project staff develop a mistrust of the data collection and reporting process then they may start to adjust their figures to correct for misrepresentation. Another important factor that can influence project staff attitude towards the data collection process is the way that it is acted upon by management. For example if management are viewed as heavy handed or punitive in respect of reported overruns then it will increase the likelihood that staff will attempt to disguise such occurrences in the information they report.

Key Control Measurements.
The nature and quantity of data that is to be collected will vary - project by project. However a variety of essential measures should be included as a starting point when specifying the data requirements for a forthcoming project. The plans should include an anticipated start date for the project, however the date on which the project actually starts needs to be recorded. The plans should include a planned finish date for the project, however the date on which the project actually ends needs to be recorded. This measurement should reflect a continually updated value of the proportion of planned project time remaining. The remaining duration can be expressed in a variety of ways including as a percentage of the overall planned duration of the project.

The percentage complete should be a continually updated figure that represents the percentage of overall project work that has been completed. It should be apparent that this value and the remaining duration may be monitored in parallel. The percentage incomplete should be a continually updated figure that represents the percentage of overall project work that has not been completed. This value, along with the previous two, should represent a good indication of progress against the plans. The man-hours used by a project frequently represent one of the major expenses. Furthermore human resources are often the most critical resources to secure for the project - therefore the monitoring of human resource usage, often against type of resource, is a common project monitoring device.

Projects use resources, both consumable, like money, and non-consumable, like human resources. Every project is subject to resource limits - for example, the overall budget, the availability of certain key staff, and so on. The use of all resources needs to be carefully recorded. Careful monitoring of the projects expenditure, in relation to the progress should be seen as being of the utmost importance.

Over-Reporting Illustrated.
People tend to be optimistic when measuring how far a task for which they are responsible has progressed. This can be either the result of natural optimism or used as a means of disguising the true status of a particular task. This is known as 'over-reporting' and it is essential that the project manager is aware of this common problem and seeks to minimize it.

This diagram represents a typical over-reporting scenario.
At the start of week 1, the estimated 'percentage complete' of the activity is zero.
At the start of week 2, the natural optimism that is a characteristic of most people has resulted in a report of 'progress to date' being significantly ahead of actual progress.
At the start of week 3, as the work of the project becomes more advanced a variety of factors may lead to the continued over-reporting of progress. Optimism may still be an issue as may the desire to maintain the rate of progress that was reported earlier. This latter problem is likely to be compounded if management actively encourage the reporting of rapid progress.
At the start of week 4, the team starts to realize that their progress claims have seriously over-reached the actual work completed. However it can be very difficult for them to admit that such an exaggeration has been made, and even more difficult to report negative progress.
At the start of week 5, the reported progress falters significantly as the team has no room for manoeuvre - they cannot report that the task is complete or that negative progress has been made. Over-reporting often leads to a situation where a project is ‘apparently’ 90% complete forever.

Maximize Your Objectivity.
Projects which rely on subjective reporting mechanisms often suffer from the over-reporting syndrome - where 90% of activities appear to be 90% completed 90% of the time and yet nothing is ever delivered within the parameters of the base-lined plan. It is a fact that projects suffer from delays and this is not necessarily the result of bad management. However, management may compound the over-reporting problem if they are seen to react enthusiastically to reports of progress ahead of that planned whilst reacting negatively to any progress shortfalls. The best way to avoid over-reporting is to implement objective measures and minimize the degree of monitoring that is based on subjective feedback. All project staff should be made aware that hiding delays out of fear and embarrassment can do serious damage to the project. The sooner a problem is highlighted the greater the time in which to take corrective action. The hiding of problems may result in the opportunity for solving them disappearing.

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