7 Great Ways To Improve Your Project Reporting

Project Reporting

Every project manager likes to receive new insights on what makes a project successful and what are the pitfalls that need to be avoided. More specifically, since time management and project reporting form such an important part of project management, it is important to know how to improve project reporting.

Here are seven great ways in which you can improve project reporting

1. Scope – Before beginning a project, it is essential to define the scope of the project clearly. As the project progresses, project reporting should monitor that the scope of the project remains unchanged. The costs of any change in the scope should be clearly conveyed and only added when absolutely necessary.

2. Time and Cost – Previous project reporting data should be used to estimate the time and cost required for every project. Project reporting should track and analyze, time and cost information so that they can be kept under control at all times.

3. Quality – Project reporting should provide information on the quality of the work at various levels. It is important that efforts be made to avoid errors and if any errors are found to eliminate them at the earliest. Time should be allowed for enough retesting and rework so that all errors can be eliminated and no new ones introduced.

4. Human Resources – It is important that employees with the right skills be chosen for the project. They should be given the training and assistance needed to complete the project on time. Further, the importance of accurate timesheet reporting and project reporting should be conveyed to them.

5. Communication – The status of the project should be communicated through project reporting to all the parties concerned. This will allow them to take appropriate decisions. Status information as received through the project reporting should be used to create status reports.

6. Corrective Measures – Based on the status reports, project managers can decide what and if any corrective measures need to be taken. Any change in scope that could change the schedule of the project has to be included in the project reporting so that the necessity of the change can be analyzed. Once project reporting indicates that corrective measures have to be taken, it is important that firm and decisive steps are taken immediately.

7. Effective Tool – All the above steps can be achieved easily if there is an effective project reporting tool on hand. Many project managers fall into the trap of looking for fancy tools that will help them in project reporting while employees are looking for simple timesheet reporting solutions. One such software that is both a great project reporting tool and timesheet reporting tool is TimeSheet Reporter. Since TimeSheet Reporter simply builds on Outlook calendar, employees do not have to spend time learning any new timesheet reporting tool. They can continue to use their Outlook calendar as before and submit their timesheets using the calendar once they are done with any task. In addition, TimeSheet Reporter generates standard project reports that can be used to gauge the status of the project and run it more efficiently.