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PMO reporting is probably the most important duty of a PMO. This isn't to claim that other facets of the PMO are not critical, it is the an undeniable fact that reporting is the main communication tool of the PMO. It's the key deliverable that is produced every week or month.

Project Report

If a PMO is supporting a single project. The key report is the project standing report. In any case if there’s a PMO in place or not, a project manager should be making a regular project report to keep stakeholders appraised of progress, standing, key issues, etc.

If a PMO is supporting a number of projects, then it is sensible to outline a common project report that may be utilized by all projects. This may be supported with steering on how the information should be populated, particularly to outline RAG (Red, Amber, Green) standing.

By doing this it makes sure that projects are reporting to the same standard and makes it eminently possible to compare relative performance between projects.

The project report should include:

• Reporting Period (date of report)
• Project name
• Project manger
• Project sponsor
• Overall RAG status
• Financial details (budget, actuals, forecasts)
• Executive summary
• Accomplishments current period
• Planned next period
• Key risks , assumptions, issues, dependencies (drawn from RAID log)
• Milestones

It is actually possible to incorporate other info concerning Resources, Benefits, and so on. Nevertheless the above will supply a sufficient report.

The PMO should review the report submissions and review for quality and accuracy so as to help the project manager improve quality. Remember, the project report isn't just a form filling exercise it's a critical management tool. If you are having problems getting the project managers to finish them correctly, remind them it is a platform to celebrate success with higher management.

Project Dashboards

If the PMO is supporting many projects, it is sensible to present a consolidated view of the project portfolio employing a dashboard. This should ideally be a single page that presents:

• Project name
• Project sponsor
• Project manager
• Executive update (including reason for any project not reporting Green)
• Budget, Actuals, Forecast, Variance
• Current RAG
• Prior RAG

Dashboards are powerful to quickly provide senior managers with an up date for a complete portfolio.

Reporting Calendar

Routines are very helpful to help educate the project managers on what is predicted and when. a smart PMO will make a reporting diary that obviously indicates what reports are required by when. This helps stop each request being viewed as a fire drill.

Follow the steps above and you'll quickly be in a position to put into effect a powerful PMO reporting process. If you need to set up project reporting asap, consider using a project template resource kit.

Simon Wilkinson is the owner of PracticalPMO that provides real world guidance on setting up a PMO. He writes a regular blog with sensible advice on many PMO topics including Project Reporting.