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If I'm working with a group of people, I give progress reports to my
superiors on a weekly basis, usually written right after the project team
meeting. I usually break the project meeting into four sections:
1. Stuff that bears directly on the documentation effort.
2. Other developments of note.
3. Schedule, including current milestones and any movement, plus warnings if
things are becoming infeasible.
4. Miscellaneous notes. I often comment on the mood of the team here.
Jubilation, frustration, and tiredness often wash over a team like the tide.
If anything ominous comes up at the meeting I report it in a short email
before I write up the main report.
My own progress report is broken down roughly as follows:
1. Progress since last time.
2. Obstacles to rapid progress, especially if I need assistance in clearing
them away. If I think I can handle things on my own, I report the looming
problem and my intended means of dealing with it.
3. Schedule.
4. Misc. notes.
Harried managers in companies with lots of interdepartmental interaction
love such reports, if it happens that I'm in the middle of the
interdepartmental scrum. This happens in some projects. But if I'm doing a
more typical project (typical for me, that is), I'm working off-site and
interacting with a marketing manager and two or three engineers, so there's
little in the way of drama or crisis. Cc'ing the manager on the flow of
e-mail, draft chapters, and revised chapters to the engineers is almost
enough in itself.
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