Delivery Status Reporting
Objective¶
Provide stakeholders with accurate and continuous information about the current health and progress of the delivery of a solution and enable continuous feedback.
Delivery Status Reporting¶
Delivery Status Reporting is a procedure in which the delivery team reports to stakeholders on the current progress of the delivery of a solution, enabling continuous feedback, support and guidance. Delivery status reporting can be executed either synchronously or asynchronously.
Delivery Status Reporting should aim to ensure continuous communication and alignment among stakeholders, and therefore should typically occur at specific times and/or when specific triggers are met.
Delivery Status Reports¶
Delivery Status Reports are an artefact(s) produced and maintained by the delivery team and should be clear, visible and easily accessible by any colleague and/or stakeholder. It provides a point in time report on the current health and progress of the delivery of a solution, and should be routinely updated and shared with stakeholders as and when deemed necessary by the delivery team and/or when requested by stakeholders
Warning
Delivery status reports must accurately and promptly convey key delivery information to stakeholders and colleagues. Efforts should be made to maintain their accuracy at all times, but sometimes this isn't possible. To mitigate against this, ensure reports clearly indicate when they were last updated.
Responsibilities¶
| Owner | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Delivery Owner | The Delivery Owner is accountable for ensuring that delivery status reporting occurs at appropriate times and delivery status reports are produced and effectively communicated with colleagues and stakeholders |
| Delivery Team | The whole Delivery team is collectively responsible for conducting delivery status reporting events, producing delivery status reports and ensuring these reports are current, accessible and effectively communicated with colleagues and stakeholders |
| Product Lead | Responsible for participating in any delivery status reporting events where necessary, producing delivery status reports by sharing relevant product insights |
| Engineering Owner | Responsible for participating in any delivery status reporting events where necessary, producing delivery status reports by sharing relevant engineering insights |
| Design Owner | Responsible for participating in any delivery status reporting events where necessary, producing delivery status reports by sharing relevant UX/UI insights |
Triggers¶
Delivery status reports must remain a consistently accurate and current reflection of delivery solution status, to ensure colleagues and/or stakeholders accessing the reports are receiving and acting upon valid information. The team responsible for the delivery solution will need to determine and document when delivery status reports should be produced and/or updated and when delivery status reporting events should occur
This could typically be for the following reasons:
- At completion of deliverables
- After any change that impacts the current delivery plan and/or delivery timelines
- At scheduled milestones and/or regular reporting cadence as agreed by the delivery team and stakeholders
- Emergencies or critical issues that could impact project delivery
- At any key decision points defined by the delivery team and/or stakeholders
Communication Plan¶
The team responsible for a problem will need to determine and document how delivery status reporting will be conducted and therefore how delivery status reports will be communicated with colleagues and stakeholders, ensuring expectations are clear and guidance available to support effective engagement.
Note
Consider your audience when conducting delivery status reporting. Tailor your approach to suit each stakeholder's level of understanding and involvement. This ensures effective engagement with all parties involved.
Considerations & Toolkit¶
Consider collaborating with stakeholders early to define, agree and document clear expectations and guidance for delivery status reporting events and delivery status reports, and mechanisms for continuously monitoring and reviewing their effectiveness throughout the full problem lifecycle.
Consider your audience, delivery status reporting will typically need to adapt to suit the varying requirements of stakeholders engaged in the project. A Responsibility Matrix must record and track specific details on stakeholder engagement requirements.
Teams can use any approach they wish to perform delivery status reporting and produce delivery status reports.
Toolkit