Generate a Project Status Report

Produce a periodic status report by analyzing project artifacts, calculating progress metrics, and summarizing accomplishments, blockers, and upcoming work with RAG (Red/Amber/Green) health indicators.

When to Use

End of sprint or reporting period (weekly, biweekly, monthly)
Stakeholder requests for project health update
Before steering committee or governance meetings
When project health indicators change (e.g., new blocker or risk materializes)
Periodic checkpoint against charter milestones

Inputs

Required: Reporting period (start date, end date)
Required: At least one project artifact (BACKLOG.md, SPRINT-PLAN.md, WBS.md, or PROJECT-CHARTER.md)
Optional: Previous status reports (for trend comparison)
Optional: Budget or resource tracking data
Optional: Risk register updates

Procedure

Step 1: Read Existing Artifacts

Scan the project directory for PM artifacts:

PROJECT-CHARTER.md — milestones, success criteria
BACKLOG.md — item counts by status, burn-down data
SPRINT-PLAN.md — sprint goal, committed items, task completion
WBS.md — work package completion percentages
Previous STATUS-REPORT-*.md files — trend data

Read available files. Not all will exist — adapt the report to available data.

Expected: At least one artifact read successfully, key metrics extracted.

On failure: If no artifacts exist, report cannot be generated. Create a charter or backlog first using the draft-project-charter or manage-backlog skills.

Step 2: Calculate Progress Metrics

Compute metrics from available data:

Agile metrics (from BACKLOG.md / SPRINT-PLAN.md):

Velocity: story points completed this sprint
Sprint completion: items done / items committed
Backlog burn-down: total remaining points vs previous period
Cycle time: average days from In Progress to Done

Classic metrics (from WBS.md):

% complete: work packages done / total work packages
Schedule variance: planned milestone dates vs actual
Effort variance: estimated effort vs actual effort consumed

## Metrics
| Metric | Value | Previous | Trend |
|--------|-------|----------|-------|
| Velocity | [N] pts | [N] pts | ↑/↓/→ |
| Sprint Completion | [N]% | [N]% | ↑/↓/→ |
| Backlog Remaining | [N] pts | [N] pts | ↓ (good) |
| Schedule Variance | [+/-N days] | [+/-N days] | |

Expected: 3-5 metrics calculated with previous period comparison.

On failure: If no historical data exists (first report), omit Previous and Trend columns. If data is incomplete, note gaps in report footer with action items to establish tracking.

Step 3: Identify Blockers, Risks, and Issues

List active blockers and risks:

## Blockers & Risks
| ID | Type | Description | Severity | Owner | Status | Action Required |
|----|------|------------|----------|-------|--------|----------------|
| R-001 | Risk | [Description] | High | [Name] | Open | [Action] |
| B-001 | Blocker | [Description] | Critical | [Name] | Active | [Action by date] |
| I-001 | Issue | [Description] | Medium | [Name] | Investigating | [Action] |

Cross-reference against the charter risk register. Flag any new risks not previously identified.

Expected: All active blockers and top risks documented with owners and actions.

On failure: If no blockers exist, explicitly state "No active blockers" — don't leave the section empty. If a blocker lacks an owner, escalate to project manager for assignment.

Step 4: Summarize Accomplishments and Next Period Plan

Write two sections:

## Accomplishments (This Period)
- [Completed item/milestone with evidence]
- [Completed item/milestone with evidence]
- [Completed item/milestone with evidence]

## Planned (Next Period)
- [Planned item/milestone with target]
- [Planned item/milestone with target]
- [Planned item/milestone with target]

Expected: 3-5 accomplishments with concrete evidence, 3-5 planned items for next period.

On failure: If no accomplishments exist, report the reason (blocked, re-planning, team unavailable). If next period plan is unclear, list "Planning session scheduled for [date]" as the primary item.

Step 5: Assign RAG Indicators and Write Report

Assess project health across four dimensions:

Dimension	Green	Amber	Red
Schedule	On track or ahead	1-2 weeks behind	>2 weeks behind or milestone missed
Scope	No uncontrolled changes	Minor scope adjustments	Scope creep affecting deliverables
Budget	Within 5% of plan	5-15% over plan	>15% over plan or untracked
Quality	Tests pass, criteria met	Minor quality issues	Critical defects or acceptance failures

Write the complete report:

# Status Report: [Project Name]
## Report Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
## Reporting Period: [Start] to [End]
## Document ID: SR-[PROJECT]-[YYYY-MM-DD]

### Overall Health
| Dimension | Status | Notes |
|-----------|--------|-------|
| Schedule | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | [One-line explanation] |
| Scope | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | [One-line explanation] |
| Budget | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | [One-line explanation] |
| Quality | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | [One-line explanation] |

### Executive Summary
[2-3 sentences: overall status, key achievement, biggest risk]

### Metrics
[From Step 2]

### Accomplishments
[From Step 4]

### Blockers & Risks
[From Step 3]

### Planned Next Period
[From Step 4]

### Decisions Needed
- [Decision 1 — needed by date, from whom]

---
*Report prepared by: [Name/Agent]*

Save as STATUS-REPORT-[YYYY-MM-DD].md.

Expected: Complete status report saved with RAG indicators, metrics, and narrative.

On failure: If data is insufficient for RAG assessment, use ⚪ (Grey) indicating "insufficient data" and list what data needs to be collected for next report.

Validation

Status report file created with correct date-stamped filename
RAG indicators assigned for all four dimensions with justification
At least 3 metrics calculated from project artifacts
Blockers section present (even if "No active blockers")
Accomplishments listed with evidence
Next period plan included
Executive summary is 2-3 sentences, not a paragraph
Every blocker and risk has an owner and action with deadline

Common Pitfalls

Report without data: Status reports must be evidence-based. Every claim should reference an artifact or metric.
All green, all the time: Persistent green RAG without evidence suggests the report isn't honest. Challenge green assessments.
Blocker without owner: Every blocker needs an owner and an action. Unowned blockers don't get resolved.
Metric without context: "Velocity = 18" means nothing without comparison. Always include previous period or target.
Too long: A status report should be scannable in 2 minutes. Keep it to 1-2 pages.
Missing decisions section: If the project needs stakeholder decisions, make them explicit with deadlines.
Stale data: Using outdated artifacts leads to misleading reports. Verify artifact dates match reporting period.
Missing trend data: First-time reports can't show trends, but subsequent reports must compare to previous periods.

Related Skills

draft-project-charter — charter provides milestones and success criteria for status tracking
manage-backlog — backlog metrics feed the status report
plan-sprint — sprint results provide velocity and completion data
create-work-breakdown-structure — WBS completion drives classic progress metrics
conduct-retrospective — status report data feeds the retrospective

generate-status-report