As a project manager, project summarization is an essential skill. A function of the project summary is to inform stakeholders of the progress of the project, and what should be shown to stakeholders, especially those important stakeholders (big leaders), still needs to be pondered.
Here are a few suggestions for preparing milestone reports, which are key nodes in informing stakeholders about the project:
Don’t overwhelm your audience with tons of data
Time is limited to inform stakeholders of the progress of the project, so we cannot present all aspects of the project in the report. Too much content will only lose the focus of stakeholders, and the effectiveness of reporting will be reduced.
The content of the report is determined according to the concerns of the participating stakeholders and the actual problems faced and needs to be solved by the project.
More reviews, less information
The content of the report is supported by measurement and analysis data, but not only data, but also analysis results and conclusions based on data. This allows stakeholders to analyze the data chart on their own, and they only need to determine whether the conclusion is correct.
It can reflect both reality and predict the future
Stakeholders are not only concerned about the current state of the project, they are more concerned about the future development prospects of the project. Therefore, the measurement and analysis data in the report should include the future outlook.
Displays trends based on time
The measurement and analysis data in the report should be able to show trends based on time, which makes it more difficult to reflect the ability to control the project process, reflect potential risks, and predict the future status of the project.
Provides a framework for comparison
The data in the report should not be presented independently, making it difficult to indicate whether the data is good or bad. The quality of the data is usually compared with other data. This comparison is horizontal (compared to other projects), vertical (compared to historical data), and comparison with standard data. The comparison of these data makes it easier for stakeholders to understand the conclusions of the measurement analysis and make their own judgments.
In short, such reporting should focus the attention of stakeholders on things that need to be addressed immediately.
This is exactly:
The project summary is skillful, and the content is not much
To have a trend in evaluation, the data must be compared
Bibliography: Project Style: In-depth Understanding of Software Project Behavior Patterns, Author: (US) Tom DeMarco et al., Translator: Jin Ming, Publisher: People’s Post and Telecommunications Publishing House