PROGRESS REPORT

BY MUGOMBA MOREEN

COMMUNICATION SKILLS CENTRE

DEFINITION

Report writing is an essential skill for professionals in almost every field, accountants,
teachers, graphic designers, information scientists. A report aims to inform, as clearly and
succinctly as possible. It should be easy to read and professional in its presentation.
Exactly what you include in your report and how you present it will vary according to
your discipline and the specific purpose of the report.

A progress report is a document that describes the progress of a particular person or event
over a specific period of time. Progress reports are often used to judge the development
of a project or person doing the task before or between official reviews. Progress reports
are valuable to determine if projects are advancing, if a person is making improvements
on a job or task, or for ensuring that methods created to reach certain goals are having
their desired effects.

The basics of progress reports will include specific information on the project being
reviewed and the time the report covers. It will give an account of the progress that has
been made, reasons for the progress and goals for next period of time, e.g. a six week
progress report on the construction of a house may include the work that has been
completed over those six weeks, problems workers may have encountered because of
whether, if contractors are where they are expected to be, and tasks that should be
accomplished over the next 6 weeks. A report should have at least one sentence or
paragraph as an introduction that describes the purpose of the report.

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Purpose

Progress reports are written to;

 Inform a supervisor, associate or customer about the progress you have made in a
project over a certain period of time. The project can be the design, construction
or repair of something, the study or research of a problem or question, or the
gathering of information on a technical subject. Reassure recipients that you are
making progress, that the project is going smoothly and that it will be complete by
the expected date.
 Provide the recipients with a brief look at some of the findings or some of the
work of the project.
 Give the recipients a chance to evaluate your work on the project and to request
changes.
 Give you a chance to discuss problems in the projects and thus to forewarn
recipients.
 Force you to establish a work schedule so that you will complete the work on
time.
 To provide the foundation for decisions to be made and action taken.

Uses

Progress reports can be used in;

1. Education

In educational settings, progress reports are used as an unofficial measure of a student’s

improvement throughout a quarter or semester between grading periods. They are used to
determine the eligibility of students participating in extracurricular activities. A typical
progress report for a school would list the student’s name, the name of the teacher
making the report, the period the progress report covers, grades and comments. The
comment area can reflect on the student’s progress or lack of progress for that period,

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problems that may have prevented the student from progressing, and what needs to be
done to continue the student’s improvements. The end of the progress report may include
a line for the student’s parent or guardian to sign, acknowledging receipt and review of
the report.

2. Employee advancement

Many businesses use progress reports when employees have specific jobs or tasks that
have important deadlines. These reports give employers a glimpse of how successfully a
project has moved through different stages. The reports include name of the employee
doing the project, name of the project and the time covered. The report would include a
list of goals and if the employee has accomplished them. It would list the problems the
employee encountered in reaching the stated goals and how they were solved. The report
would then close by stating the goals to be reached before the next scheduled progress
report.

3. Grants

Progress reports can be used to track how money is spent for a particular grant. Those
progress reports can be requested by the grant funders to make sure the donated funds are
used for their intended purposes. A grant progress report would include the name of the
project, the project’s director, summary of work completed and a project narrative.
Additional documentation of items purchased, salaries and other expenditures might also
be requested.

4. Research

Progress reports are often used in various researches to determine if methods were used
successfully. This project report would include an executive summary, which states the
main achievements over the period of the progress report, progress in implementation,
description of work and anticipated goals and achievements. A research progress report

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also would document unexpected problems and provide an evaluation of results
compared with expectations for the period.

Contents of progress reports

In the progress report, you explain any or all of the following;

 How much of the work is complete

 What part of the work is currently in progress
 What work remains to be done
 What problems or unexpected things, if any, have arisen
 How the project is going in general

Organisation/format of progress reports

There are three ways in which a report can be organized (Pal and Korlahalli (2005: WC-
9)

1. Letter form
2. Memorandum form
3. Letter-text combination form

1. Letter form

- For brief, informal report, the arrangement followed in business letter is adopted
- Its main parts are heading/title, date, address, salutation, the body, the
complimentary close and signature. It is usually written in the first person, I or we

The body of the letter can be further divided into

 The introduction
 Findings
 Recommendations

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 2.Memorandum form

The formalities of the letter form are done away with. The date is mentioned at the top,
followed by the name of the person to whom the report is addressed, the name of the
writer and the subject of the report. Next follows the actual text and the conclusion. The
text of the report is divided into paragraphs with headings and subheadings.

3 Letter – text combination form

1. Long reports are usually written in the letter text format. A complete report in this
form includes three major parts;

i. Introductory parts
 Letter of transmittal or letter of presentation
 Title page
 Table of contents
 List of illustrations
 Abstract and/or summary

ii. Body of the report

 Introduction
 Discussion or description
 Recommendations

iii. Addenda
 List of references
 Bibliography
 Glossary
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  Appendices
 Index

* It is not essential that a report contains all these parts

Letter of transmittal

- This is a routine letter written to transmit the report from the writer to the reader.

It;

# provides a permanent record of transfer

# shows the date on which the report was submitted

# states the name and position of the writer of the report

# when and by whom the report was authorized

# may invite the reader’s comments and suggestions

Title page

- It gives the title or heading of the report, the person to whom it is submitted, the
date of submission and the name of the writer

Table of contents

For long reports, they are given at the beginning. It facilitates locating particular topics in
the report. It gives the title and page number of each chapter. Headings of the sections of
the chapters are included if space permits.

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List of illustrations

It gives the number, title and page reference of each illustration.

Abstract and/or summary

An abstract is also called a synopsis. An abstract tells in concentrated from what the
report is about. A summary gives the substance of the report.

Introduction

This is the first part of the body of the report. It includes the following;

 Authorization for the report and terms of reference

 Historical and technical background
 Scope of the study
 Definitions of special terms and symbols, if necessary

The report introduction says what the report is about. The background and scope of study
acquiant the reader with the work already done and the new grounds to be covered.

Discussion

This is the main part of the report. It systematically presents the various aspects of the
issue under headings and subheadings. It may include charts, graphs, statistical tables and
even excerpts from other published report.

Conclusions and recommendations

Here the writer draws definite conclusions, then puts forward some concrete suggestions
or recommendations. Recommendations can be put in form of motions or resolutions.

List of reference/Bibliography

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Glossary

It is the list of technical words used in the report and their explanations

Appendices

Statistical data, charts and diagrams that are not incorporated in the main body of the
report in order to keep the main line of argument untangled are put at the end in the form
of appendices.

Index

In case of lengthy reports, an index of the contents of the report may be included

Signature

A report must be dated and signed by the person(s) who has submitted it.

Most progress reports have the following similarities in content;

1. Background on the project itself

2. Discussion of achievements since last reporting
3. Discussion of problems that have arisen
4. Discussion of work that lies ahead

Successful report writing requires;

 Professionalism
 In-depth knowledge
 Concentration
 Exceptional writing skills

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All reports require the following special writing skills;

 The ability to record facts clearly and objectively

 The ability to interpret information and make conclusions
 The ability to present suggestions on ways in which a situation may be improved
(Taylor 2005: 198).

Checklist for compiling progress reports;

 State the facts

 Be objective
 Be clear
 Be concise
 Be consistent

Taylor, S. (2005) Communication for Business: A Practical Approach, Longman:

Pearson.

Pal, R. and Korlahalli, J. S. (2004) Essentials for Business Communication, New Delhi:
Sultan.

Burtness, P. and Hulbert, J. ( ) Effective Business Communication.