Performance Reports

Management and project sponsors are always interested in knowing how the work is progressing, and a performance report is a great tool to show them. After reviewing project performance reports, management can see whether the project is going in the right direction or needs course correction.

In project management, reporting performance is key to project success. If you are into project management or interested in growing your career in project management, you must understand performance reports in detail.

What Are Performance Reports?

Performance reports are project management tools that provide stakeholders with valuable information on the project. This information can include current status, progress reports, and forecasting analysis.

With performance reports, stakeholders can see if the project is progressing as planned or deviates from its baselines, including schedule, cost, scope baseline, etc. The performance report consists of many reports, including visual elements, texts, charts, and graphs.

Definition: Performance reports represent work status and progress to be provided to management for information or to make decisions. Performance reports can be in electronic or physical form.

A performance report is sometimes known as a “work-performance report,” and it can be a part of a business’s monthly, quarterly, or annual report.

Performance reports can be one of five types:

  1. Status Reports
  2. Progress Reports
  3. Trend Reports
  4. Forecasting Reports
  5. Variance Reports

#1. Status Reports

Status reports provide the current status of the project. The information in this report can include actual cost spent, completed work, and earned value from the completed work. This report can include issues, risks the project faces, milestones achieved, etc.

#2. Progress Reports

A progress report shows how much you have completed and whether the work is balanced. Stakeholders can see the project schedule and cost performance. Progress reports are generally prepared using earned-value analysis.

These reports compare actual progress with planned progress and provide actual performance to stakeholders.

#3. Trend Reports

This report shows the project’s performance over time. The stakeholders can see if the trend is positive or negative.

You can see the direction the project is heading. This report helps find the recurring issues, and the stakeholders can see how smoothly the project progresses. The trend report shows project performance over time, and you can see if the performance is improving or degrading. A run chart is mostly used to show the trend report.

#4. Forecasting Reports

This report shows the forecasting analysis. Here, stakeholders can see the progress and the future outcome if the project progresses with the same performance. Estimate to complete, estimate at completion, and to complete performance index are a few parameters you can include in this report.

Using this analysis, stakeholders will know if they need to approve a new budget, extend the deadline, etc.

#5. Variance Reports

This report shows the difference between actual and planned progress. It includes schedule variance, cost variance, etc.

Here, you can see the monetary variance between planned and actual progress.

What is the Importance of Work Performance Reports?

Performance reports are a tool for project managers to communicate project status and progress with stakeholders. These reports are vital in project management because stakeholders can see if the project is going in the right direction and decide the future course of action.

Work performance reports record the essence of all project activities and let stakeholders know whether the project will achieve all objectives within the approved budget and schedule. They can also identify the project’s strengths and weaknesses.

Management can review the project status and progress and decide the future course of action.

Project managers use performance reports for the following reasons:

  • Monitoring Performance: Management or project sponsors look at project performance. If it is not going as planned, they can take corrective action to bring progress back on track.
  • Benchmarking: Management uses benchmarking for competitive purposes. They compare their performance with the best performer in the industry, find gaps, and improve their performance to gain a competitive advantage.
  • Communication: Performance reports are good tools for communicating project performance to your stakeholders.
  • External Reports: Many regulatory authorities and clients require updates and information. Performance reports help create these external reports.
  • Improving Performance: Status reports provide a clear picture of progress, thus allowing stakeholders to make the right decision at the right time and improving performance.
  • Transparency: Performance reports provide the correct project status, and stakeholders can see what is happening in the project. Performance reports provide complete transparency and keep all stakeholders on the same page.

Performance reports depend on work performance data and work performance information.

Work performance data is the raw data of the project status. It is the current (“as of now”) status of project parameters (e.g., completed work, spent cost, time elapsed, etc.).

Work performance information is derived from work performance data (e.g., progress status, forecast estimates, etc.).

After preparing the work performance information, you will compare planned performance with actual performance and prepare a performance report for management review. This report can also include a forecast analysis.

Performance reports show stakeholders the project status and performance against various project baselines.

What is Included in Performance Reports?

The content of performance reports includes but is not limited to:

  • A percentage of the work completed during the reporting period
  • The balance work to be completed
  • Costs incurred during the reporting period
  • The balance of funds available
  • The balance of time available
  • Significant risks that have occurred or passed without occurring
  • The major remaining identified risks
  • Variance analysis (e.g., schedule variance and cost variance)
  • Performance indexes (e.g., schedule-performance index and cost-performance index)
  • The forecasted funds required to complete the remaining work (ETC)
  • The forecasted time needed to complete the remaining work
  • A summary of major approved change requests made during the reporting period

How to Create a Work-Performance Report

You can follow the following steps to create a performance report:

#1. Identify Requirements and Collect Project-Status Data

Find the requirements for your performance reports. You must know what information and data the report should contain. You should know the target audience of the performance reports and their expectations.

To prepare the project performance reports, you must have work performance data, performance measurements, earned value analysis, and forecasting analysis. With these data, you can prepare the project-performance reports.

#2. Select Performance Report Structure

Here, you will define your performance reports’ key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics, report format, and structure.

Every organization has a template for performance reports; sometimes, the project sponsor can suggest a structure for performance reports. You can refer to your communication management plan to learn the stakeholders’ communication requirements and format of performance reports.

#3. Prepare Performance Report

Now, you will prepare the performance report as follows: 

  • Collect Work Performance Data: This is the key step. You must collect the project status with precise data (e.g., spent funds, completed tasks, elapsed time, etc.).
  • Create Work Performance Information: Create work performance information after collecting work performance data. You can compare planned progress with actual progress. If required, you can conduct a forecast analysis. The forecast report will show future performance with the current trend.
  • Create Summary: Afterward, create the executing summary and briefly include the collected and analyzed information so the stakeholders can see a project performance overview.
  • Create Final Report: Performance reports should be prepared in the format defined in the communication-management plan. The report can be text-based, table-based, graphical, a combination, or just a summary. The report can include burn-down charts, s-curves, bar charts, histograms, tables, run charts, etc.
  • Assessment: This is the final section in which you can discuss deviations and explain future performance issues. This will help you get approval for extra funding or schedule an extension at a later stage if required. Ensure that the report is short and provides to-the-point information. Avoid adding fluff and making it too technical.

#4. Review Report

Before submitting the report to the management or client, ensure team members have reviewed it to find grammatical and factual errors.

Check the facts and data given in the report. All this will improve the quality and integrity of the reports.

Performance Report Examples

Examples of work-performance reports include status reports, progress reports, trend reports, earned-value reports, forecasting reports, variance reports, etc.

Below is a performance report example.

performance report

Performance Reports Template

Below is a performance report template

performance report template

How to Address Challenges When Creating Project Performance Reports

Creating and interpreting project performance reports can be challenging. 

The following are some challenges and ways to address them:

  • Incomplete or Inaccurate Data: To avoid this, regularly audit and validate data sources. Implement data-quality checks and ensure that the information entered is accurate and updated.
  • Unclear Goals and Metrics: To avoid this, clearly define project goals and related metrics at the outset. Ensure that stakeholders understand these goals and metrics and regularly communicate any changes or updates.
  • Poor Stakeholder Communication: Establish a clear communication plan that outlines how and when you will share performance reports with stakeholders. Provide explanations of key metrics and trends to ensure that everyone understands the information presented.
  • Unexpected Variability and Uncertainty: To avoid this, use probabilistic forecasting and scenario analysis to account for uncertainties. Communicate the level of confidence or uncertainty associated with different performance metrics.
  • Overemphasis on Lagging Indicators: To avoid this, include leading indicators that provide insights into future performance trends. Balance lagging and leading indicators to get a comprehensive view of project performance.
  • Misaligned Strategic Objectives: To avoid this, regularly reassess project goals and ensure alignment with the organization’s strategic objectives. Adjust performance metrics accordingly to reflect the organization’s most critical aspects of success.

Tips to Effectively Present Work-Performance Reports to Stakeholders

Effectively presenting project performance reports to stakeholders ensures that the information is understood and appreciated. It contributes to informed decision-making. 

The following are some tips and best practices for presenting project performance reports:

  • Know Your Audience: Customize your presentation to your audience’s needs and interests. Top management and clients may be interested in high-level summaries and financial implications, while project team members may require more detailed insights.
  • Use Clear, Concise Language: Avoid jargon and technical terms that may be unfamiliar to your audience. Use simple, clear language to convey complex information.
  • Focus on Key Metrics: Highlight the most critical key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with project goals and overall organizational objectives. Avoid overwhelming stakeholders with too much data.
  • Visualize Data Effectively: Use charts, graphs, and visuals to represent data and trends. Visual aids can make it easier for stakeholders to grasp complex information quickly. Ensure that visuals are clear, labeled, and easy to interpret.
  • Provide Context: Help stakeholders understand the context behind the data. Explain any external factors, project-environment changes, or other influences that may have impacted performance.
  • Highlight Achievements and Progress: Celebrate successes and achievements to boost morale and demonstrate the project’s positive impact. Showcase progress against initial goals and milestones.
  • Address Challenges and Mitigations: Be transparent about challenges or setbacks. Clearly articulate the steps or plan to address these challenges and mitigate risks. This demonstrates proactive management.
  • Encourage Questions and Discussion: Foster an environment of open communication by encouraging stakeholders to ask questions and share their perspectives. This can lead to valuable insights and collaborative problem-solving.

Summary

Performance reports have an important role in project management. Performance reports organize and summarize the project information and present it to the stakeholders. They clarify the direction the project is going and the expected future performance.

These reports inform stakeholders of project performance and help them make project decisions. Performance reports help get stakeholders to buy in, so the project manager can complete the project with minimal obstruction.

This topic is important from a PMP exam preparation point of view. Please understand it well, as you will see a few questions from this topic on your PMP exam.

Fahad Usmani, PMP

I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.