In the world of project and portfolio management, reporting is your voice. It communicates progress, risks, value, and direction. Done well, reporting keeps delivery on track, stakeholders aligned, and decision-making sharp. Done poorly, it confuses, disengages, and derails.
For PMOs (Project Management Offices), quality reporting is more than a regular update—it’s a strategic asset. But what exactly does quality reporting look like in practice? How do you balance clarity with depth? Frequency with focus? And how do you evolve your reporting approach as your organisation matures?
This guide will walk through the key ingredients of quality reporting, the pitfalls to avoid, and how to build a reporting practice that grows with your portfolio.
Reporting should never be about ticking boxes. It’s about:
Enabling decisions: Helping leadership understand what’s going well, what needs support, and where trade-offs are required.
Providing visibility: Giving stakeholders a line of sight across projects, risks, resources, and benefits.
Driving alignment: Ensuring everyone is pulling in the same direction based on accurate, timely information.
Think of reporting as a narrative, not just a number dump. Every report should tell a story: “Here’s what’s happening. Here’s why it matters. Here’s what we need to do next.”
A high-quality report has five essential characteristics:
Focus on insights over information. Don’t just describe activity—highlight impact.
What decisions does this report enable?
What’s on track and what isn’t?
What should the audience worry about or celebrate?
A cluttered report is a disengaging report. Use:
Clear structure (e.g. headline summary > key metrics > deep dives)
Tables, charts, and visuals to make data easy to interpret
Consistent styling and templates across projects
Stakeholders often skim. That means:
Keep summaries tight and avoid jargon
Use headings and bullets for readability
Avoid burying key messages in blocks of text
Tailor the depth depending on who’s reading:
Executives: strategic insight, risks, trends
PMO leads: status by stream or programme
Project managers: more operational detail
Reports should match the rhythm of the organisation:
Weekly for active portfolios or at-risk programmes
Monthly for exec reviews or board packs
Align with portfolio governance cycles
Even experienced PMOs fall into traps that reduce the value of reporting. Watch out for:
Listing every KPI without context leaves readers guessing. Instead, interpret the data. What story does it tell?
If every project manager reports differently, it’s impossible to see the big picture. Use a standard format that everyone can follow.
The board doesn't need the same report as a delivery team. Customize views to the decision level required.
Late reporting erodes trust. Make sure the data reflects the current state of delivery. Automate data feeds where possible.
Avoid rose-tinting. Your audience needs the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. Highlight risks early, backed by evidence.
Quality doesn’t happen overnight. But you can build toward it with the following practices:
Capture the key headlines: RAG status, major milestones, top risks, decisions needed.
Graphs and charts make trends easier to digest. Use heatmaps, burn-down charts, and milestone timelines where helpful.
Schedule regular reviews of report content and format. Ask: What’s landing? What’s being ignored?
Ask your audience if reports are meeting their needs. You may find they’re too detailed or not detailed enough.
Go beyond the red/amber/green indicators. Explain why something is off-track and what’s being done about it.
As your organisation matures, so should your reporting. Here’s how it might look at each level:
Reports are ad hoc
Data gathered manually
Insight is limited
Reports follow a template
Dashboards begin to appear
Risks and benefits are included
Reports are timely, standardised, and aligned to governance
Integrated dashboards track delivery, benefits, and risk
Reports drive discussion at portfolio reviews
Data is live and automated
Reports are tailored by stakeholder group
Predictive analytics help surface early warning signs
Imagine you're flying a plane. You need a clear view of your altitude, direction, fuel, and weather conditions. A good status report is like a pilot’s dashboard:
It prioritises the most critical information
It updates in near real-time
It enables the right decisions to keep the flight (project) on track
Would you want a pilot guessing from multiple spreadsheets? Neither do your execs.
A high-quality report doesn’t just inform—it empowers. It creates alignment, surfaces issues, and supports decision-making at all levels of the portfolio.
For PMOs, investing in reporting quality is one of the highest-leverage activities you can undertake. Start with what you have, improve what you can, and grow over time. Because when reporting improves, everything else follows.
Key insights summarised on page one
Visuals used to enhance understanding
Risks and issues clearly flagged
Benefits tracked alongside delivery
Reports tailored to audience
Consistent format across projects
Feedback loop in place for continuous improvement
Looking for a tool to help you simplify, standardise, and scale your reporting? At Kivue, that’s exactly what we do. Find out more about Kivue Perform here.