If you read this status, please tell me!
What is the real purpose of a weekly status report? Lets talk about two types, the report that goes from lower ranks to upper ranks and the report that is pushed down. The report from upper management to lower ranks is important the keep every one on the same page and focused in the same direction. But the report from the lower ranks to the upper ranks shows that the upper ranks are not truly paying attention to what upon the lower ranks are working.
For example, most times I am required to write and present multiple status reports a week all with basically the same content. One for a meeting with a sub-team, one for a meeting with the whole team and one for upper management. It gets very repetitive and cumbersome to preparing so many reports, when at times it feels like most of the time allocated in the report is time for making the report and no real work gets done. And to rub salt in the wound the people in your sub team get to hear your report out three times! This is a huge waste of time for all involved.
Here are a few tips to be more efficient writing repetitive status reports.
- Always save your report in your email application so that from anywhere you can copy and paste new status for the next person that wants the same information.
- Don’t waste your time if people do not read your reports. Use the suggested method below the ensure that people read them. You don’t want to spend hours a week preparing reports that no one cares about.
- When you can verbally give your status and have someone else (preferably and manager) write it down it there language. This solves two problems, you do not have to write a report and they do not have to copy and paste then edit your status into there report.
- Allocate the same time at the beginning or end of the day to complete your status reports. If you are required to present the report prepare your presentation at the same time every week. Doing this allows you to focus on the status and gives you a personal deal line for getting things done that will need to be marked as done in your report.
- Give the same status every week of “We are making good progress and should be done in 2 weeks from today”. This works well since you always have 2 weeks to get the things done that you still need to get done.
Does your company require you to write a status report every week to tell upper management what you have been doing for the week? if they do does management read them? Likely not! If you are unsure to find out simply replace your status report document with a blank document with only one line that says “If you read this status, please tell me!“. If you do not get a email fired back to you for a few weeks you can be confident that your report is never read.
To Management: If you require your employees to write status reports you shoudl read them every week!
Do you have strange stories about status reports? Did you try one of my methods? Post your stories.
