6+ SAMPLE Technical Status Report

What Is a Technical Status Report?

Whether a company is doing some research and development of new products and services for its end-users, or another company embarks on a project, no matter how simple or complex it can be, a technical status report will make things much more transparent to the people concerned. These are business documents that provide frequent updates to management and teams to help them understand the status of projects, challenges, and milestones reached. By distributing this sort of paper on a regular basis, adequate responsibility is practiced, and resources are matched when and where they are required. In the case of technical status reports, these documents provide impartial and fact-based information regarding technological research or initiatives. Because some projects require a lot of engineering or science, they might contain a lot of sophisticated material. Having a technical status report makes the contents much easier to comprehend.

What would be the advantage of opting to write a technical status report? Since there are complicated outcomes and numerous moving components among multiple participants in a project or technical research, checkpoints are essential, and they might take the form of drafting a status report. A technical status report for a project allows project managers or organizations to have a location where all of the project’s data is documented in a compact form that is easily comprehensible by the company’s intended audience, who might include stakeholders. More crucially, technical status reports provide information that is sent to higher management, which is then utilized to make critical choices that will affect the organization in the future.

What’s Inside a Technical Status Report?

Here are the key components that should be taken care of when a technical status report is being developed for a certain project or technical research that the company chooses to undergo:

Cover Page. This typically is the very first key component that a reader/the target audience sees when they are presented with a project’s technical status report. Because the cover page is also the face of the company’s project or technical study, it must include pertinent information such as the title, author’s name, and the name of the institution together with its logo, if available. Take into account that the cover page of a technical status report document should just be simple but eye-catching.Title Page. After the cover page, the next element of a technical status report will be the title page, which can be largely similar to the cover page. In addition to all of the relevant information on the cover page, the title page should tell the reader about the project’s technical state or the technical research being conducted. This page may also specify whether this is the first, second, or final section of the report. This page also includes the name of the research mentor or project supervisor.Abstract. The third key element that should be written in a project’s technical status report would be the project abstract. In its most basic form, an abstract is a summary of the contents of a book or report. This is also known as the executive summary in the case of a technical status report. Because this section of the technical status report provides a succinct and clear summary of the project, it should be written in such a way that a person reading simply the abstract may receive comprehensive knowledge about the project.Preface. A technical status report’s preface is an announcement page on which it is declared that all proper credits have been given to all sources and that no portion of the technical study is plagiarized or any component of the project is done illegally. If a corporation is doing a technical study, this section additionally emphasizes that the findings are the result of the company’s own experimentation and research. The preamble may also clarify where, when, and in what context the project or technological research was carried out.Acknowledgment. This is a brief section of the technical status report which contains an acknowledgment statement of everyone who made the company’s research project possible or everyone that served as an inspiration for the company to embark on said project.Table of Contents. After the acknowledgment section, the table of contents of the technical status report will be written next. The table of contents portion of the report comprises a series of chapters and subchapters, and each chapter and its subchapter is meticulously separated into this area of the report for simple project navigation. If symbols were used in the report, a comparable nomenclature page should be created. Likewise, if graphs and tables are often used in the status report, a separate content page should be built for them. Each of these lists should start on its own page.Introduction. This is the next element that needs to be written down in the technical status report. The presentation of the technical status report marks the commencement of the project or technical study. The context of the status report must be clearly described on this page. The context could include the outlining of the project’s aim, objectives, and questions answered in the report, among other things. An outline of the report is sometimes provided as well. It should be noted that this section of the technical status report should provide answers to the various kinds of inquiries prior to starting the project or research.Scope Control. After the introduction section, this comes next and serves as one of the first components that make up the main body of the report. One of the most common reasons for project stress, no matter how simple or complex the project can be, is scope difficulties. Whatever the cause, project scope control is critical to project success. This procedure entails verifying deliverables and regulating the scope of the project. Validating the project’s deliverables ensures that they satisfy required standards, and regulating the project’s scope ensures that it still satisfies the needs of a specific project.Stakeholder Communication. The next key element that makes up the main body of the report would be the section regarding stakeholder communication. A stakeholder communications plan must be included in this document since one of the goals of the technical status report is to inform stakeholders about how a project is progressing. The stakeholder communications plan, also known as the stakeholder engagement plan, is used to guide stakeholder dialogues. If the status of a stakeholder must vary throughout the project, it creates a situation that necessitates a substantial quantity of project management resources. These stakeholders should be watched and their communications evaluated at frequent project status intervals to ensure they are on track.Quality Control. Every project generates deliverables, which might be either products or services. And the businesses will constantly strive to guarantee that they are of good quality. To achieve so, rigorous quality control methods must be followed. Quality control measures assess if items meet specifications and should be documented and preserved in project records. The technical status report must address any quality control concerns or deviations, as well as what steps were done to rectify out-of-spec circumstances.Resources. Since resources are essential to successfully undertake a project, they should also have a section in a technical status report. When a team takes on a project task, they are given a set quantity of resources. Some activities have a single vital resource, whilst others just contain resources that can be readily replaced or exchanged. In any situation, the technical status report remarks on the availability of resources to provide stakeholders with critical information.Procurement. Typically, projects buy materials, supplies, and equipment from outside sources or hire contractors and vendors. Since they are critical to the successful completion of a project, the technical status report must contain a statement on the procurement status. Tenders acquired, contracts completed, and any other milestones should be noted. Any other significant procurement-related items should also be addressed.Conclusion. Though this serves as an endpoint of the main body of the technical status report, this doesn’t serve as the last component of the entire document. The goal of this portion of the technical status report is to essentially wrap up everything that was discussed during the project. This part should include the findings of each chapter, the goals achieved, and the extent to which the goals were met. The consequences of the findings, as well as the substantial contribution of the technical research/project, should be mentioned in this part.Appendices. This is one of the key elements that will close out the document. The technical status report’s appendices section is used for entire collections of data, extensive mathematical calculations, tables, and illustrations. Take notice that the contents in the appendices must be included in the order in which they were utilized in the project.References. This serves as the last part of the technical status report. This is a critical section of the report. It cites the resources where the information was derived. Figures, statistics, graphs, or word-to-word phrases are examples. When writing the references section, always offer acknowledgment to the sources and provide support to those who have done a technical study on the same topic.

How to Create a Technical Status Report

Here are the steps that should be followed when creating an effective technical status report document:

1. Choose an Approach

This is the first step to be done when creating this report document. When creating one, there are various approaches that can be followed. The approach that can be selected will entirely depend on the style that fits best on the writer. The top-down strategy and the evolutionary delivery technique are the two options. In a top-down approach, the entire report is arranged top-down, from title to sub-sections to conclusion, and each material will have its own chapter. This enhances time management and simplifies the thought process. In an evolutionary approach, the author writes and decides as the work goes in an evolutionary delivery strategy. This broadens his/her cognitive scope. When a new idea or inspiration hits, some components can even be added or modified.

2. Create the Structure of the Document

After selecting which approach can be one, it’s time to create the key components that should be included in the document, which are discussed in the section above. Some of the key elements of this section include the abstract, the introduction section, and the quality control section. The abstract section serves as the summary of the entire report and should be written in such a way that a person reading simply the abstract may receive comprehensive knowledge about the project. The introduction section marks the commencement of the project or technical study and should provide the context of the status report. The quality control section addresses any quality control concerns or deviations, as well as what steps were done to rectify out-of-spec circumstances.

3. Polish the Writing Style

After creating a rough draft of the entire document’s structures, it’s time to polish them in this step. What needs to be done here is to smoothen out the writing style of the document. Keep in mind when refining the writing style of the technical status report that informal words or slang terms must be removed, that a third-person tone is used consistently throughout the document, that abbreviations should be kept to a minimum, and that any long texts must be broken down into simpler paragraphs to keep the readers interested, that passive voice should not be present, and that proper page numbering methods should be observed.

4. Proofread the Report

After refining the writing style that is used in the entire document, it’s time to proofread the report, which is a very important step. This also serves as the last one. Proofreading the report is crucial since it allows the work to be seen from the perspective of the reader, and any minor errors made when typing could well be remedied. Check everything from the content to the layout and writing style employed while proofreading the full report. After proofreading the entire document, it may now be submitted.

FAQs

What is one benefit of project reporting?

A significant benefit that can be had when status reporting is done effectively is that it keeps track of the health of a project. Tracking the health of a project is critical since the worst thing for a project is when the end is achieved only for the team to learn that they were off track the entire time. Progress reports are an excellent method to monitor the status of a project without requiring too much manual labor. Because these reports combine high-level summaries with key goals, everyone is aware of the project’s status. If the project gets off course, the team may rapidly and proactively correct it so that they can still meet the project deadline on time and on budget.

How is this report effectively shared?

Once the process of writing the technical status report is complete, it’s time to share it. The best practices to follow in order to do so efficiently include the option to schedule a report for dissemination and having the system automatically send an email to the target audience with an HTML, PDF, or Excel file attached. The report may also be stored and exported to certain file formats, as well as integrated into a dashboard.

When is a monthly technical status report suitable?

A monthly status report is really only helpful and appropriate for really long-term undertakings. Otherwise, a more frequent data collection strategy is preferable. When the project is spread out over a long length of time, however, monthly progress updates are recommended. The contents of this report are often the same as those of daily and weekly status updates.

No matter how simple or complicated the project or technical research can be, providing a respective technical status report is a very advisable practice since it encourages transparency not only among the team members of the project but also among the company’s stakeholders. These reports may be done through informal verbal updates or full-on project presentations. In this article, there are sample templates available regarding this document should you require further understanding or need a reference when you have to make one.