project management 2

Monthly Status Report to Sponsors

Assume you are the project manager for a software company and your team is in charge of delivering an update to tax preparation software for the next tax season. The project team has ten software developers working together, but located across the country. You have the following information about the project, and need to provide a status to the sponsors. 

• New items you learned this month about the project:
• There is a three day weekend in the coming month.
• Nine of the developers are on track to finish their tasks two weeks early.
• One software developer took the recently announced “early retirement” package, and is leaving in one week. He is confident he will be able to finish his piece of the work before he leaves.
• It is hurricane season in Florida, where three of the developers are located.
• The developer who is retiring is the only person who knows how to get approval for the final product from the IRS.
• The project costs are under budget and there has been no need for overtime.

Write a one page status report (excluding the title page) to the sponsors providing a clear indication of status of the project (suggestion: use green, yellow, or red for status). Students are welcome to copy the boxes below into their assignment. 

The sponsors also like to only know the two most important risks, and what could be done to mitigate the risk if it happens. The conclusion of the status report should include a paragraph that describes any requests for additional resources, if they are necessary. The best status reports use bullets, memos or templates since they provide an at a glance status. If you use a template or memo you can create your own or find one from a respected source that meets the above objectives. If you use a template/memo from another source, you must cite the source in a reference page. In addition, you do not need to use any scholarly sources; however, if a reference is used it must be cited and included on a separate references page. Your paper must be formatted according to APA style guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center