How to Status Update a Project

Overview

Steps for project managers (PM) to annotate project updates according to project communication plan. 

Definitions

Project Update = Documented update about the current status of the project.  PM's are required to enter updates according to project communication plan. 

Status (Project Life Cycle) = The phases of a project that are necessary for the effective delivery of that project.

• Initiation = Clarify scope/business case, identify stakeholders, and define key success criteria.
• Planning = Planning is where you define all the work to be done and create project schedule/plan that you follow for the remainder of the project.
• Executing = Project team executes the planned work. 
• Closing = Conduct lessons learned meeting to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the project and team, what went wrong or didn’t go so well, and how to improve. 

Health = The health of the project's overall progress towards successful completion including scope, schedule & cost.  

• Green = Low Risk - project is proceeding as planned.
• Yellow = Moderate Risk - project has unmitigated risk identified, still identifying if risk will impact scope, schedule, or budget.  Opportunity to mitigate the risk.
• Red = Significant Risk - unmitigated risk has been identified and has an impact to scope, schedule, and/or budget.  Change Control Request (CCR) required.

Percent Complete = A compilation of project schedule, work complete, and health of project.  Percent complete is applicable to the entire project schedule, not specific phases. 

Instructions

1. Open TDNext in the browser
2. Browse to the Projects tab
3. Select a project name in the left menu -> Manage
4. In the Project Details window, click on the green Update button
5. In the Update window, update the project Status, Health, Percent Complete & Comments
6. Click on Status and select project phase.
7. Click on Health and select health of project.
8. Click on Percent Complete and annotate percent complete 
   • Refer to the TDX project plan for percent complete.
9. Enter updates to the project in the Comment field. Updates will include: 
   • Update - Completed tasks/milestones
   • Issues - Summary of issues impacting project.
   • Next Steps - Planned next steps with a target date.
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10.  For projects managed by the Engineering Department, Comment field will include:
    • "Current Month" Activities - Project impacts, risks mitigated, milestones reached during the current month.
    • "Next Month" Activities - Planned next steps.
    • Project Risks - Any risks or issues worth escalating.
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11. For Strategic Plan Projects, Comment field information will be no more than 2-3 sentences:
    • Update - most recent activity on the project
    • Issues - any issues that might affect whether the project can be successfully completed
    • Next Steps - upcoming actions/plans to complete the project by the due date
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12. For notifications, click on Notification and type in name of individual(s) to be notified.
    • If project health is changed to Red, notify project sponsor.
13. Click on the Save button at the top
14. The latest status will appear at the top of the Project Details window.

More Information 

PMO recommends the following steps when updating a project: 

1. Review and update Plan Tasks
2. Review and update Risks
3. Review and update Issues
4. Enter a new Update (summarize what’s been done & what’s next)