Project Management

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Project reporting for small organisations 

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Anonymous

Hi, I recently ran a survey asking staff members to provide their feedback on the project reporting process. The main bit of feedback was that it felt too much like an overhead. Digging a bit deeper into the feedback there were some comments about the cadence being too frequent and that the verbal updates were just repetition of the written updates which most people in the organisation said they either sometimes read them/didn't read them at all. It was also felt like time was wasted in putting together the reports as the audience who should be reading them were not doing so. 



We are a very young organisation of only 4 years so project maturity is still in its early stages. When I started there were no project processes, almost 3 years down the line, there are processes but some staff members are resistant. I am now wondering whether I have introduced processes too quickly and scaling down the areas to be reported on and perhaps the cadence of the reporting (currently 2 weeks) would be a good idea. The problem with the former is that I think we're only reporting on the basics as it is (Phase, RAG (against time, resources, quality and scope), risks and issues and a written narrative) and reducing any further would compromise the value. Has anyone been in this position before and have any thoughts about how I can gain more buy into the process?

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Abolfazl Yousefi Darestani Manager, Quality and Continuous Improvement| Hörmann-TNR Industrial Doors Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Communicate the values of the process/project effectively.
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1 reply by Fabian Crosa
Jun 14, 2024 4:18 PM
Fabian Crosa
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that is the main thing of the reports
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Tope Ladejobi London, United Kingdom
I wish this was the answer. They're all able to articulate the value and understand it but unfortunately, it doesn't change the situation which we are in
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1 reply by Frank Junior Harry
Jun 14, 2024 7:28 PM
Frank Junior Harry
...

Firstly, having this survey means the problem is halved. I’ll suggest you have a brainstorming session with the team to also gain deeper feedback and creative ideas into what needs the reports should entail and the frequency - doing this together will increase their interest to read them consistently. To add, you’ll want to look at the mode of communication; interactive dashboard accessible to staff based on their need etc. Also note that, with time the suggestions from the brainstorming session may have to be revisited as the expected goals change.



 
 

Again, you could share the pros of building the project processes and how it’ll bode well for the team as the organization grows. I believe it could be in the form of a mini-benefit statement and I believe the resistant staff members may start loosening up.

Finally, you could share the performance metrics as the reports pinpoints possible inefficiencies and delays to help improve team performance. This will help build buy-in amongst the team.

avatar
Rami Kaibni
Community Champion
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten Associates New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Reporting is important but it has to be the right reporting, at the right time, for the right people. What I recommend you do is first, create a communication and stakeholders engagement plans. Those will inform you what the stakeholders expecations are in terms of communication, the cadence, and for whom to send. Based on that, you can discuss this with the team and set expectations and goals.

You can also consider doing reporting automated (if possible) by using online dashboard and this way it will be automatically updated and visible to everyone.
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1 reply by Tope Ladejobi
Jun 14, 2024 11:05 AM
Tope Ladejobi
...
Thank you, this is really valuable, I will think about this for sure.
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Aaron Porter
Community Champion
IT Director| Blade HQ Payson, UT, United States
I'm not saying you're doing this, but it's easy to get into the mentality of, "As the project manager, I need everyone to understand the details of what is going on with (all) the project(s)." I know I've spent a lot of time crafting detailed reports that nobody read. (Nobody wants to search for the one detail that might apply to them). I tried introducing the One Page Project Manager template, once. Other PMs liked it, but that was about it. I think we sometimes fall into the trap of too much reporting because it makes it look like we're doing something - maybe our manager or director has specific reporting requirements, and they're the only people checking them on a regular basis. I've been on capital projects that had specific reporting requirements. I'm pretty sure that the only people who read them, regularly, were the internal auditors, and they weren't part of the project.

You have different audience members with different requirements. What do they need to make informed decisions? I've worked places where leadership only wanted to know when something was wrong. I had a COO who seemed paranoid about watermelon status (green on the outside, red on the inside) and would ask questions about each project until he was satisfied. Unless he was in a hurry. There were several times when there were details that I thought were important that he wasn't interested in.

A lot of your project team members may only care about what impacts them directly. Their perspective may be that they're busy trying to get work done and don't have time to read reports; they feel like meetings are a waste of time, too, but they know that if they need to know something it should come up in the meeting.

What is the cadence for decision-makers, who are affected by the projects, to make decisions about strategy or direction? What information do they need and how frequently do they need it? Can you simplify the report, giving the basics that your major stakeholders need, and have it link back to more detailed information for those who are interested? Tell people it's an experiment and that you can add more detail to the report, upon request; that the detail will all be available through the links in the report in the meantime.  Or, send everything but have a summary with the highlights on the first page, followed by greater detail.  That way it's all in one report.  What makes sense for your audience?
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1 reply by Tope Ladejobi
Jun 14, 2024 11:06 AM
Tope Ladejobi
...
Super helpful, thank you. Given me lots to think about here.
avatar
Tope Ladejobi London, United Kingdom
Jun 14, 2024 10:51 AM
Replying to Rami Kaibni
...
Reporting is important but it has to be the right reporting, at the right time, for the right people. What I recommend you do is first, create a communication and stakeholders engagement plans. Those will inform you what the stakeholders expecations are in terms of communication, the cadence, and for whom to send. Based on that, you can discuss this with the team and set expectations and goals.

You can also consider doing reporting automated (if possible) by using online dashboard and this way it will be automatically updated and visible to everyone.
Thank you, this is really valuable, I will think about this for sure.
avatar
Tope Ladejobi London, United Kingdom
Jun 14, 2024 10:59 AM
Replying to Aaron Porter
...
I'm not saying you're doing this, but it's easy to get into the mentality of, "As the project manager, I need everyone to understand the details of what is going on with (all) the project(s)." I know I've spent a lot of time crafting detailed reports that nobody read. (Nobody wants to search for the one detail that might apply to them). I tried introducing the One Page Project Manager template, once. Other PMs liked it, but that was about it. I think we sometimes fall into the trap of too much reporting because it makes it look like we're doing something - maybe our manager or director has specific reporting requirements, and they're the only people checking them on a regular basis. I've been on capital projects that had specific reporting requirements. I'm pretty sure that the only people who read them, regularly, were the internal auditors, and they weren't part of the project.

You have different audience members with different requirements. What do they need to make informed decisions? I've worked places where leadership only wanted to know when something was wrong. I had a COO who seemed paranoid about watermelon status (green on the outside, red on the inside) and would ask questions about each project until he was satisfied. Unless he was in a hurry. There were several times when there were details that I thought were important that he wasn't interested in.

A lot of your project team members may only care about what impacts them directly. Their perspective may be that they're busy trying to get work done and don't have time to read reports; they feel like meetings are a waste of time, too, but they know that if they need to know something it should come up in the meeting.

What is the cadence for decision-makers, who are affected by the projects, to make decisions about strategy or direction? What information do they need and how frequently do they need it? Can you simplify the report, giving the basics that your major stakeholders need, and have it link back to more detailed information for those who are interested? Tell people it's an experiment and that you can add more detail to the report, upon request; that the detail will all be available through the links in the report in the meantime.  Or, send everything but have a summary with the highlights on the first page, followed by greater detail.  That way it's all in one report.  What makes sense for your audience?
Super helpful, thank you. Given me lots to think about here.
avatar
Keith Novak Tukwila, Wa, United States
Unfortunately, this situation never really goes away. You can create the leanest simplest reporting templates and process, and it will erode over time as stakeholders want to tweak something here or there, or some new leader wants to review it in a different forum. Virtually every group I have joined has struggled with it, and part of my job as the lead has been trying to reign in all the reporting so that my team has the bandwidth to actually do the work.

I completely agree with the previous comments that you need to focus on who is the audience, and most importantly what is the intended outcome of the reporting. I would suggest mapping that out. People will always complain that they spend too much time on status. When you can show someone all the redundancy and/or status for the sake of looking busy, it can change the situation from complaining about life in an office to re-engineering the process.
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1 reply by Tope Ladejobi
Jul 08, 2024 4:31 AM
Tope Ladejobi
...
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and reply. I wish I had used this forum before. Lots of helpful insight.
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Francisco Herrera
Community Champion
Program Manager, PPM&PMO Specialist.| Coppel, Mexico. Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico
I believe that implementing a change management process would help to understand the position of key stakeholders in the process, as well as a design thinking process to put the most relevant information in the status report for that audience. It doesn't have to be very time-consuming. I hope this helps!
avatar
Fabian Crosa
Community Champion
PMO Leader | Speaker & Mentor | Content Leader – PMOGA Latin America Hub| Catholic University of Uruguay Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
Jun 14, 2024 10:01 AM
Replying to Abolfazl Yousefi Darestani
...
Communicate the values of the process/project effectively.
that is the main thing of the reports
avatar
Frank Junior Harry Servant Leader| Inpath Technologies Ghana Limited Accra, AA, Ghana
Jun 14, 2024 10:49 AM
Replying to Tope Ladejobi
...
I wish this was the answer. They're all able to articulate the value and understand it but unfortunately, it doesn't change the situation which we are in

Firstly, having this survey means the problem is halved. I’ll suggest you have a brainstorming session with the team to also gain deeper feedback and creative ideas into what needs the reports should entail and the frequency - doing this together will increase their interest to read them consistently. To add, you’ll want to look at the mode of communication; interactive dashboard accessible to staff based on their need etc. Also note that, with time the suggestions from the brainstorming session may have to be revisited as the expected goals change.



 
 

Again, you could share the pros of building the project processes and how it’ll bode well for the team as the organization grows. I believe it could be in the form of a mini-benefit statement and I believe the resistant staff members may start loosening up.

Finally, you could share the performance metrics as the reports pinpoints possible inefficiencies and delays to help improve team performance. This will help build buy-in amongst the team.

...
2 replies by Frank Junior Harry and Tope Ladejobi
Jul 08, 2024 4:33 AM
Tope Ladejobi
...
I have actually carried out some brainstorming over the last week and it has actually been very helpful. Thank you for your comments.
Jul 08, 2024 11:47 AM
Frank Junior Harry
...
Great to hear Tope!
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