Writing at Work: Status Reports

Whether you’re an engineer, a scientist, or an administrative assistant, eventually you are going to need to write a Status Report.  Think of your Status Report as a few minutes of time with your boss.  When you write, do it well and to get it done as quickly as possible.   Here are a few hints on how to do it.  Modify this example to meet your specific needs.  If it goes into two pages, take another look and see if you’ve given too much information.  After all, your boss can find you if he wants more information.  Brief Status Reports are good.

Are you having trouble getting started?

If you are having trouble getting started, take a piece of scrap paper and write down what you want to accomplish:

• Task? Write a Status Report for your boss.
• Motivation? Your boss is going to be on your case until you get it done.
• Why the Due Date?  Your boss wants your status report because his boss wants a status report from him.  If he doesn’t get it done, HIS boss will be on HIS case.
• Why are you going to do it? Because your boss will be on your case until it’s done.  You don’t want your Status Report to be the topic of your next performance review – unless it’s praise, of course.
• Why do you put it off?  Because you don’t really know what to write. 
• Why keep your Status Reports?  You can use previous Status Reports to update what’s happening.  Did you finish a task?  Solve a problem?  Your last Status Report will remind you of what needs to be reported.  Status reports can provide information for your performance review.

What to write

What’s in a Status Report?  Well, they usually go like this: 

• Weekly successes
• Weekly problems
• Meetings, conferences, etc. attended
• Maybe a few things about productivity. 

Weekly Successes 

Have you finished any of your assignments?  Say so.  A short comment on how it went is OK, but be very short about it.  Your boss knows where to find you if he has questions.

Weekly Problems

List the problems that come to mind, noting whether this is something you can take care of, have taken care of, or need help taking care of.  If you think your boss cares, expand on the problem - especially if you handled it brilliantly.  List only those problems that need to be reported. 

•  Problems you can take care of.  Don’t put anything here unless you need the boss’s approval to go ahead with it.  Hopefully you will take care of these things.  It’s your job.
• Problems you have taken care of.  List the solution to any problems you mentioned in previous reports.  If you had significant help from others and you wish to mention it, this is the spot.  If it’s your job do solve these problems, just list them as being done.
• Problems you need help on.  Give careful thought to how you phrase this.  Do you need more people, more time, more money, or some backing from the boss?  Don’t just say you need help.  Offer a solution if you have one. 

 Meetings and Conferences Attended

This is optional, but if you have a regular meeting you attend, give a quick breakdown on what was discussed and what was decided.   If you go to a lot of meetings, divide this section into three parts:  Meetings you will attend in the future, meetings you would like to attend in the future and meetings attended.  Discuss each in a separate paragraph or list them out if there isn’t a lot to say. Use lists carefully.  You don’t want to waste your boss’s time, but you don’t want him to think you didn’t do anything.  You can write a little about what was accomplished in the meeting.  If it was a real time-waster, you might recommend that you skip that meeting and give the reasons.  Don’t just say it was a time waster, say why it was a waste of your time or if you think it would be better for someone else to go.      

Anything Else 

Are you a team leader?  What’s going well?  This is where you can give your boss some confidence that you are doing well.  List special accomplishments and things that are out of the ordinary.  This is not a place to tell your boss how wonderful you are, but if you finished the Anderson Project on time and on budget and the customer expressed more than normal satisfaction, say so.  This is where you tell your boss that work is going well. Hopefully he’ll find a little something to put in his status report. 

Say it quickly 

So there you have it - a basic status report.  Good luck.  Remember, the boss has a number of these reports to read weekly and his own to write.  Just get to the point.  Tell your boss everything he needs to know and nothing more.  He knows where you sit and can ask for details if he needs them. 

Good luck.  A status report shouldn’t take a lot of time.  Remember, if your boss asks you for a status report, it isn’t optional.  What the boss wants, the boss gets.

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Status Reports, Work, Writing