Progress Reporting in a PRINCE2 project
How often progress reporting is done, depends upon how much control is needed on the project. For example:
During the design stage for example, looser control in terms of progress reporting may be needed than during later management stage, if the team is highly experienced then less frequent reporting may be appropriate, whereas for an inexperienced team the Project Manager may wish to increase the frequency of reporting until sufficient confidence has been gained on the capability of the team.
Progress reporting products
Within PRINCE2, the following are the management products that are used for progress reporting:
Checkpoint Report. The Team Manager will produce this to provide the Project Manager with details of progress reporting against the Work Package which will include the frequency of Checkpoint Reports required. The Project Manager will consolidate Checkpoint Reports and use these as part of the progress reporting and assessment when reviewing stage status and leading to the creation of Highlight Reports.
Highlight Report. The Project Manager produces this progress reporting document on how the management of the stage and its progress is going for the Project Board. The Project Board will determine the frequency of Highlight Reports required for their progress reporting requirements, either for the whole project or stage by stage, and document how progress reporting is to occur in the Communication Management Strategy.
The Highlight Report allows members of the Project Board to manage by exception between end stage assessments by providing progress reporting to them. This also includes information on project issues, as they are aware of the time to consider or reject the recommendations in the Issue Report.
If an Exception Plan is requested, the Project Board will conduct an exception assessment, similar to the end stage assessment, to review and approve the Exception Plan. The Project Board may also remove the cause, accept and adjust tolerance, or request more time to consider or reject the recommendations in the Issue Report.
Project-level exceptions. If project tolerances to be exceeded, the Project Board no longer has the authority to manage the project and must escalate this to corporate or programme management for a decision. The Project Board may request the Project Manager to produce an Exception Plan for the project.
Work-Package-level exceptions. Having agreed Work Package tolerances with the Team Manager, the Project Manager will be kept informed of progress through regular Checkpoint Reports. If a Work Package is forecast to exceed its tolerances, the Team Manager should bring this to the attention of the Project Manager by raising an issue. The Project Manager will advise of any corrective actions if required.
Stage-level exceptions. If the stage is forecast to exceed its tolerances, the Project Manager should first produce an Issue Report to capture and analyse the details of the deviation and then provide an Exception Report for the Project Board. Based on information in this report, the Project Board may request that the Project Manager produces an Exception Plan to replace the plan that was forecast to exceed tolerance.
Within the Communication Management Strategy, the Project Board can request copies of the Highlight Report be sent to other interested parties outside the project. They may also issue the Highlight Report (or a summary of it) to corporate or programme management End Stage Report.
End Stage Report. This is produced by the Project Manager towards the end of each management stage, providing the Project Board with the information on the progress to date, the overall project situation and, along with the next Stage Plan, sufficient information to ask for a Project Board decision on what to do next with the project
End Project Report. This is produced by the Project Manager towards the end of the project, during the Closing a Project process, and is used by the Project Board to evaluate the project and authorize closure.
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