reports of performance

Performance Reporting: Definition, Types, Process & More

12 min read

Performance reporting is essential for product and project managers to make data-driven decisions.

In this article, we explore:

• What performance reporting is
• Why it is important
• What to include in a performance report
• How to create performance reports
• The best analytics tools for performance reporting

Let’s get right to it!

• Performance reporting is the process of collecting , analyzing, and presenting data on product or project performance.
• It allows teams to identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.
• By pinpointing inefficiencies and delays, performance reports can help you bring the project back on track.
• Performance reports are also a chance to demonstrate your effectiveness and the value that you’re delivering and promote continuous improvement habits across the organization.
• Project status reports offer a snapshot of such project aspects as budget, timeline, and completed tasks.
• Progress reports focus on what has been achieved since the last review and include recommendations for future steps.
• Earned value and variance reports compare the actual project performance against its forecast performance.
• Trends reports focus on the performance of chosen metrics over time.
• Forecasting reports aim to predict how the project will perform in the future and how to proactively address obstacles that may appear.
• Your performance report should include an executive summary and information on KPIs , milestones, cost and schedule performance, resource utilization, and future outlook.
• Start creating the report by identifying your target audience and their needs and expectations.
• Next, identify the relevant metrics to report on and collect data via appropriate methods.
• When you have the data, compile your report in the format most suitable for your audience.
• Choose the most appropriate way to share your report, for example, via email or deliver it in person.
• Regularly reflect on your reports and act on the feedback from stakeholders to make them more thorough and informative.
• PM and analytics tools enable managers to automate data collection and reporting, especially in the SaaS space.
• Userpilot is a product adoption platform with excellent product analytics and customer feedback features. Book the demo to see how it can transform performance reporting in your SaaS!

What is performance reporting?

Performance reporting is the process of gathering, analyzing , and presenting information on product or project performance. The information could include KPIs such as retention or revenue as well as customer feedback and product usage data.

The aim of performance reporting is to assess how well the product is performing against initial predictions and goals and identify areas for improvement.

It helps product teams make better-informed decisions regarding product development, marketing , and other strategic initiatives .

Why is performance reporting important?

Performance reporting is essential for successful project delivery or product development.

Let’s look at some of the key benefits.

Enable data-driven decision-making to improve business performance

Performance reporting helps teams identify areas of improvement and opportunities for growth.

For example, you may use performance reporting to identify the features that deliver the most value to specific user segments as well as those that are underutilized.

You can use the insights to highlight the relevant features to the right users in your marketing resources while optimizing your onboarding to improve the discovery of the least popular features.

Identify areas of inefficiencies and delays

Performance reporting can also help organizations pinpoint the areas where their processes are inefficient and cause delays.

For instance, if a feature is taking longer to develop or a project is running over the budget, performance reporting can help you identify the causes, like inaccurate estimates or inadequate resources.

By addressing such challenges , you can get the initiatives back on track and avoid such issues in the future.

Foster a culture of continuous improvement

Regular performance reporting can also promote a culture of continuous improvement .

When asked to reflect on product performance on a regular basis, team members develop the habit of constantly analyzing their processes, tracking key metrics , and looking for ways to improve them.

However, for this to happen, you need to create a supportive environment without blame games or scapegoating. Otherwise, the performance reports won’t be accurate and people will dread their reviews.

Demonstrate value to management and key stakeholders

Performance reporting is often required by senior leadership and key stakeholders who want to ensure that their money is well-spent.

As such, they’re a great opportunity for product managers to demonstrate your progress and the value that you’re bringing to the organization. This is essential to establish your authority and secure the leadership buy-in for new product initiatives .

Different types of performance reports for project managers

What your performance report looks like depends on its purpose and your role. Let’s look at a few common types of reports that project and product managers may need to deliver.

Project status report

Project status reports provide an overview of where a project stands at a specific point in time.

They give stakeholders a snapshot of key elements like budget, timelines, completed tasks, and upcoming milestones.

Status reports can be used to highlight any issues or risks that may impact the project, making them vital for decision-making and risk management.

Progress report

While status reports emphasize the current state of the project, progress reports focus on what has been achieved during a defined reporting period.

These reports detail the tasks completed, the resources used, and the progress made toward the project’s objectives. They may also provide information about what needs to be done and necessary adjustments to the project plan.

They are usually more detailed and dynamic than status reports and offer an ongoing account of the project’s evolution.

Earned value report

An earned value report is a kind of progress/status report that uses quantitative data to measure the actual project performance against its planned performance.

In short, you start by estimating how much work should be completed at different stages of the project and express it in monetary terms.

For example, if your project is meant to cost $1,000,000 and last 100 days, on day 21 you should have completed $210,000 worth of work.

However, if you’ve only achieved $150,000 worth of total, it means you’re 6 days behind the schedule. And if you’ve achieved $210,000 but it actually costs $260,000, you’re 50k over the budget.

By extrapolating the differences in actual and predicted work data, you can predict how much it will actually cost and how long it will take.

Earned value management techniques are fairly complex so give spreadsheets a miss and use a tool like MS Project instead.

Trend report

Trend reports provide information on the performance of chosen metrics over time.

By analyzing this data, you can identify patterns and trends, pinpoint the key change drivers, and forecast future performance based on historical trends.

For example, a product manager could track data on customer retention and the usage of a feature. By visualizing the data, you can see if the two are correlated. The lack of such a correlation could indicate that the feature has no direct impact on retention.

Forecasting report

The aim of forecasting reports is to predict future performance outcomes.

For example, a forecasting report can take into account past user behavior patterns linked to customer retention to predict future retention data.

With such insights, you can develop proactive strategies to address issues that could negatively affect product or project performance.

Forecasting reports can also help you allocate your resources adequately so that you’re able to deal with challenges that arise effectively and take advantage of new opportunities.

Variance report

Variance reports analyze the differences between actual and planned project performance, just like earned value reports.

By comparing the actual performance metrics to the planned ones, you’re able to identify important variances that require your attention.

For example, if you’re development team is running behind schedule, you may need to assign additional resources to help them complete the work on time.

Elements of effective project performance reports

The exact contents of the reports vary from project to project and organization to organization.

However, there are some common elements that you should include in all of them:

• Executive summary – a brief overview of the project’s current status, highlighting key achievements, challenges , and upcoming milestones for busy stakeholders who may not have the time to review the entire report.
• Project objectives and scope – clearly stating the project’s objectives and scope provides context for the reported performance metrics and helps stakeholders understand the project’s purpose and goals.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – metrics relevant to project goals and objectives, necessary for stakeholders to assess project health and identify areas that may require attention.
• Milestones achieved – highlighting completed milestones and their impact on the project timeline offers a sense of progress and achievement.
• Budget and cost performance – details the project’s financial status, including budget allocation, expenditures, and any variance from the budget, essential for stakeholders to assess the financial health of the project.
• Schedule performance – data on project timelines, deadlines, and any deviations from the original schedule help stakeholders understand if the project is on track.
• Risks and issues – current and potential risks and issues that may impact project delivery necessary to work out effective mitigation strategies and contingency plans.
• Resource utilization – details on how resources are being allocated and utilized, necessary to optimize resource management and identify areas for improvement .
• Future outlook – a forward-looking perspective on upcoming activities, potential challenges, and adjustments to the project plan that helps stakeholders prepare for future developments.

How to create performance reports?

Having covered the why’s and what’s of performance reporting, let’s look at the how.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to the performance reporting process.

1. Determine the target audience for the performance report

Start working on the performance report by identifying your target audience.

This is important for a number of reasons.

First, it allows you to define what particular readers are interested in.

For example, the project sponsors or investors may be interested in the financial performance of the project and whether it still has a strong business case, while the Head of Engineering at your organization may focus on technical and quality parameters.

Second, it allows you to choose the right language and presentation method that will best resonate with your audience. For instance, senior leadership may not be able to use highly technical jargon.

2. Identify goals and key performance indicators

Next, go over the project goals and key performance indicators relevant to the report and your target audience. This will give your performance report the right focus.

Identifying these shouldn’t be difficult – they are normally available in the project plan or charter.

It’s a good idea to review previous performance reports for any changes.

3. Collect data for performance assessment

Once you identify the necessary metrics, collect the data.

This could come from various sources.

For example, when you’re reporting on the performance of a new product you’ve just launched, you could use customer feedback collected via in-app surveys and from customer-facing teams, and back it up with product usage data from an analytics tool.

If you’re building new software, the data could come from the development team updates, and for a construction project, you may choose earned value data.

4. Create the performance report to share the project’s progress

Having collected the data, generate the performance report.

This could be as simple as running a query or creating a custom dashboard in your analytics tool.

However, it’s not uncommon for product or project managers to collate various kinds of data from different sources.

In this case, you could leverage integrations between your tools or a customer data platform like Segment to consolidate the data. With such tools around, there’s really no need to faff around with spreadsheets anymore.

5. Share the performance report and discuss its findings

When the report is ready, you need to share it. How you do it depends on who the report is for and its purpose.

For internal reports, for example, to bring your team members up-to-date, sharing a link to the report link will be perfect enough.

For important stakeholders, you may need to write a more formal report, but if they are only mildly interested in the project, sending it by email will do just fine.

However, if they’re actively engaged in the project, like project sponsors, you may also need to back it up with a formal presentation.

6. Review and improve project performance reporting

Even if you’re a proper performance report ninja, there may still be things to improve.

This could be how you collect or analyze your data, or how you deliver the reports.

To make improvements, have a quick review after each performance report. Write down what went well and what was inadequate. Listen to the stakeholder feedback for ideas.

Some questions to ask at this stage are:

• Is the report actionable ?
• Is the report accurate and reliable?
• Does the report reflect our project goals and objectives?
• Are the right performance indicators being used?
• Is the report visually engaging and easy to understand?
• Is it tailored to your target audience?

If you come up with any ideas for improvement , implement them and see if they make any difference.

What are the best practices for performance reporting?

If you want your performance reports to stand out, here are a few things you could do:

• Focus on key information – highlight the most critical information without overwhelming stakeholders with unnecessary details.
• Be transparent – provide honest and transparent information, even when the news is not positive. This builds trust and allows stakeholders to make informed decisions.
• Provide context – compare the data to benchmarks , targets, and historical performance.
• Suggest solutions and mitigation strategies – when reporting challenges or issues, also present potential solutions and mitigation strategies to demonstrate your proactive problem-solving skills and a commitment to overcoming obstacles.
• Use visualizations – incorporating visual aids such as charts , graphs, and dashboards will make complex information more understandable and memorable.
• Standardize reporting formats – create standardized reporting templates to ensure consistency across different reporting periods to make it easier for stakeholders to compare information over time.
• Use technology – leverage project management tools and analytics software to automate data collection and reporting. Such tools can streamline the reporting process and reduce the risk of errors.

The best tools for creating performance reports

Using the right tools can make creating performance reports considerably easier. More importantly, though, it can make them more valuable to stakeholders.

This is particularly true for SaaS product and project managers because all user interactions with the product happen in the digital space and there’s no other way to track them.

So what are your options?

Here are a few.

Userpilot for collecting and reporting user behavior data

Userpilot is a product growth platform.

It enables product teams to collect customer feedback via in-app surveys and track their in-app behavior with a range of state-of-the-art analytics features, including:

• Advanced user segmentation
• Code-free feature tagging
• (Custom) event tracking
• Heatmaps (for feature usage visualization and analysis)
• Funnel analysis (for tracking user progress along customer journey)
• Retention cohort analysis
• Trends analysis
• Path analytics (coming soon)

Userpilot also offers a number of integrations with leading analytics and CRM tools like Google Analytics, Amplitude , or HubSpot , so you can easily consolidate the report data from various sources.

Finally, Userpilot allows you to build in-app onboarding experiences so that you can improve on the KPIs you’ve identified in your performance reports.

For example, you could trigger tooltips and hotspots to help users discover new features and boost their adoption.

Hotjar for gathering qualitative data

Hotjar is a UX experience analytics tool that allows you to collect granular qualitative data on user interactions with your product.

How granular?

With session recording, you can literally see every single cursor move, scroll, hover, click , and tap that the user makes. Back it up with heatmaps , and you get a comprehensive view of user engagement.

With Hotjar, you can also automate the process of scheduling interviews and usability testing sessions and run in-app surveys.

Databox for visualizing performance data

Databox is a business analytics platform.

It pulls all the data from various sources into one place so you can track performance and discover insights in real time.

Databox allows businesses to connect their cloud services, spreadsheets, databases, and social media accounts to track their KPIs on a single customizable dashboard called Databoard.

It also offers pre-built dashboards, data snapshots, scorecards, alerts, and integrations.

This doesn’t require any coding and comes with a user-friendly interface.

For easy sharing, you can broadcast the dashboards to TVs around your offices and create performance report presentation decks you can send by email or deliver in person.

Effective performance reporting enables product and project teams to keep a pulse on the status of their projects and identify strategies necessary for their smooth delivery.

Book the Userpilot demo to see how it can help you streamline the performance reporting process and make data-driven product decisions!

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Get The Insights!

The fastest way to learn about Product Growth,Management & Trends.

The coolest way to learn about Product Growth, Management & Trends. Delivered fresh to your inbox, weekly.

The fastest way to learn about Product Growth, Management & Trends.

You might also be interested in ...

8 comprehensive customer journey analytics examples.

Aazar Ali Shad

14 Best Behavior Analytics Tools For Tracking User Activity

What are dormant users and how to manage them.

Performance Report: What is it & How to Create it? (Steps Included)

“Hi, there! How are you doing?”

As humans, we can simply answer this question in a few sentences. On the other hand, a business can only answer this in terms of numbers and results.

So anyone who needs to see how a business is doing or rather performing will have to look at something that can provide the overall picture of a company.

Something that will show them both the financial and non-financial performance of a company . Something that they can use to compare the business with its competitors.

What we are trying to say is that they will need to get their hands on a performance report.

A well-written performance report will not only measure the performance of your business but will also pinpoint the areas that require improvement and help in the overall decision-making process.

It’s definitely an important report and your business needs! But do you know how to write a performance report? If you answered ‘no’, then don’t worry, we can help you out.

In this blog post, we will take a look at what performance reports are, why they are important, and how to create the perfect one . Strap in, folks. We’re going for a ride!

What is a Performance Report? (Definition)

A performance report is a document that a company creates to define and measure its overall success. It provides an overview of how the business is performing. To do this, performance reports mainly collects specific work performance data, analyze it, and provide suggestions to help in making decisions.

This report can narrow down and concentrate on the performance of a specific project or an employee or focus on the entire business itself.

Even though performance reports vary from company to company, they all essentially involve the same elements of data and data processes. These include:

• The goals and objectives of a company
• The vision for the next five years
• Key performance indicators (KPI)
• Frequency of KPI measurement
• Source of the data that is used for monitoring purposes

Some examples of performance reports are status reports , progress reports , trend reports, variance reports, forecasting reports, etc.

Simple enough, right? Now, let’s try to understand why performance reports are essential for business management and development!

Read more:  10 Top Performing Business Metrics Your Business Must Know About!

Why Do You Need to Create Performance Reports?

We know that a performance report gives you a clear and accurate picture of the performance of your business. In essence, a performance report is created for the following reasons:

• It records all the items related to the activities that you are doing.
• It identifies whether your business activities will help you grow and achieve your goals.
• It identifies both your strengths and weaknesses.

But this is only a general overview. Let’s go a little deeper to look at the key reasons why companies must create performance reports!

1. Benchmarking

Benchmarking is used in performance reports to set and measure targets.

It compares the performance of your business against other competitor companies and helps you identify areas where you are underperforming and outperforming so that you have an understanding of where you stand in the industry.

Benchmarking eliminates guesswork and provides solutions to specific problems. It provides you with essential data needed to analyze and discover new opportunities. This will help improve your efficiency and productivity while also enhancing customer satisfaction !

Read more:  Performance Improvement Plan (PIP): What is it & How to Create it?

2. Monitors the Workforce

A performance report covers everything, including your employees’ performance .

It helps you define the performance of your workforce and ascertain how well your employees are doing and where improvements can be made.

The report measures the customer satisfaction surrounding your team as well. This not only helps the employees improve their performance, but also helps in the overall expansion of your business!

3. Prepares External Reports

Since businesses are required to comply with reporting regulations and laws, they need to produce other external reports such as annual reports, financial statements, accounts, etc. Performance reports assist in the preparation of these external reports!

4. Enhances Business Performance

A performance report provides you with real-time information about your business . This information can be used to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses so that you can bring in changes and improvements by reshaping the strategies and methods used within your company.

This is a great way to enhance your business performance . With these reports, you can set realistic and achievable targets which help in improving employee morale and will also help increase overall performance and productivity.

5. Improves Communication

With a performance report, you can understand your employees and their performance levels. It also provides customer insights and helps you understand the needs of your consumers. By having a better perception of your employees and customers, you will be able to communicate with them effectively.

This will ensure a smooth flow of information inside the company thus reducing confusion and other workplace conflicts. As a result, there will be improved team energy and morale!

That’s enough for you to create performance reports for your business! And now that you are a little more informed about it, why don’t we go ahead and show you how to create a performance report?

Ready? Let’s dive in!

Read more:  10 Best Reporting Tools and Software for Businesses

How to Create a Performance Report? Follow these steps!

Here are the steps involved in writing a performance report for your business:

Step 1. Keep the Audience in Mind

The first step toward creating an effective performance report is to keep your target audience in mind. Your performance report is mainly written for the senior management, but it is also used by employees as well.

Consider their needs for wanting a performance report before you start drafting it. Ask yourself these questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• What do they want – a general or a specific performance report?
• Is this performance report useful for them?

Step 2. Define Mission and Objectives

Once you are clear about your target audience, then you must lay down what you aim to achieve. Define your organization’s mission and determine your company’s goals and objectives.

For example, if you run a clothing company, then your mission could be to become the largest clothing retailer in your city and your objectives could be to increase sales and revenue.

Doing this will help you evaluate and measure your company’s performance against your missions and objectives and see how well you are doing in terms of achieving or meeting your goals.

Step 3. Start with an Executive Summary

Start your performance report by writing an executive summary that gives an overview of your business’s performance in all aspects of its operations.

It basically acts as a snapshot that contains a brief and concise form of the information that your report will discuss. It provides a synopsis of your company’s growth .

Step 4. Provide the Performance Assessment

Once you write your summary or synopsis, then you move on to the actual assessment of your business. This section breaks down each part of your business by evaluating all the major KPIs and metrics involved in measuring your results.

To show how well you performed you can divide things into 4 categories namely – Strong, Good, Fair, or Weak – which can help you focus on specific areas for improvement.

Here are some other things you can include in this section:

• Financial Status of Company:  Assess the state of cash flow and revenue generation
• Industry Comparisons: Compare KPIs and metrics of competitors to illustrate how well your company is doing in the market.
• Non-Financial Quantitative Data : Examine the percentage of product rejects, volume of sales, number of complaints, etc.
• Non-Financial Qualitative Data : Mention changes in reputation, effectiveness, customer satisfaction, staff morale, etc.

Step 5. Include Visual Elements

Visual elements make your reports more engaging and easy to understand, which is why they are a crucial part of performance reports. By visual elements, we mean including tables, charts, graphs, etc.

In your performance report, you can include a graphical trend analysis section that summarizes your KPIs over a certain period of time, in a graphic form. This will show any trends or patterns that might exist for your company in comparison to other companies.

You can also include a section for detailed statistical tables to present your figures and ratios, and measure them along with other companies in your industry.

Step 6. Proofread

The last and final step in creating any report is to proofread it. The same applies to performance reports.

Look for spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and inconsistencies in punctuations, and check whether your sentences are properly structured. Ensure that the data you have presented is accurate and up-to-date.

That’s pretty much it! Once you complete all these steps, your performance report is ready to go.

Before you go, we’d like to let you in on a little something that can make creating performance reports as easy as a breeze. That’s right! A tool that will help you save a lot of time and effort!

Don’t believe us? Then scroll down right now!

Bit.ai : The Best Tool for Creating All Types of Reports

There are a lot of steps involved in the process. You have to do the research, write the content, and to top all of this, you have to come up with a proper structure, focus on the format, and share information with other people.

Phew! That’s a lot of things to keep track of and we feel that in this age of technology, nobody should be stressing out so much over creating a report.

That’s why we present to you Bit.ai , a cloud-based document collaboration platform that helps you create modern, digital integrated documents effortlessly.

A couple of clicks is all you need to create the perfect performance report on Bit. Not convinced? Then take a look at these features of Bit.ai and decide for yourself!

1. Document Templates

Don’t for a second worry about the structure and format of your performance report when Bit’s extensive template gallery offers you so many responsive templates from which you can choose your favorite!

All you have to do is insert your text in a pre-formatted document and customize it wherever it is required! Just focus on your content and Bit will do the rest!

2. Auto-Formatting

Don’t you just hate it when you have to constantly make sure that everything on your document is aligned and in a uniform format?

Bit solves that problem with its auto-formatting feature, which automatically formats your entire document even if you don’t! From margins to line spacing to fonts and design, everything in your document will be taken care of by Bit. This saves you a lot of time and effort!

3. Supports All Types of Digital Content

Want to make your performance report easy to understand and engaging? Then, Bit is the perfect tool!

It supports over 100+ file formats and lets you seamlessly add rich media elements from the most popular third-party apps (i.e. Google Sheets, Airtable, Tableau, Sharepoint Excel, etc.) so you can add interactive tables, charts, graphs, and lots more to your performance reports. This will make it easy for you to make comparisons and help your readers understand better.

4. Multiple Workspaces

A performance report is the combined effort of multiple people across different departments and it involves compiling multiple data and information.

This is a perfect recipe for chaos to ensue, that’s why Bit is the perfect tool for you. It lets you create infinite workspaces and folders around projects and teams to store all your information in a neat and orderly manner.

This will ensure that the whole process is well organized and makes working on performance reports much more efficient and effective.

5. Real-Time Collaboration

Bit offers a real-time collaboration feature that allows you to invite colleagues from various teams and departments to join you and work together in real-time.

This means that your team members can now make edits, add comments, highlight text, and mention other collaborators all within the same document!

This is extremely useful while proofreading and when you have to work simultaneously on a single document.

All in all, Bit is the ideal tool to keep in hand while writing reports. It just makes everything smoother and easier!

Our team at  bit.ai  has created a few more templates to make your business processes more efficient. Make sure to check them out before you go, y our team might need them!

• Training Manual Template
• Brainstorming Template
• Meeting Minutes Template
• Employee Handbook Template
• Transition Plan Template
• Customer Service Training Manual Template
• Employee Contract Template
• Performance Improvement Plan Template

Understanding your business is not as simple as looking at profits and losses and deciding whether it is successful or not. So many factors contribute to the overall performance of your business.

With a performance report, you’ll always be able to assess your business and make robust decisions.

We hope we have prepared you enough to start writing your own performance reports. And with Bit by your side, you are always a step closer to making amazing reports in just a few minutes!

So stop waiting around and get down to business.

Further reads:

KPI Report: What it is & How to Create a Perfect One?

Weekly Report: What is it & How to Create it? (Steps & Structure)

Annual Report: What is it & How to Create it?

Formal Reports: What are they & How to Create them!

Business Competition: 11 Ways to Stay Ahead in 2022!

Operational Efficiency: Definition, Importance & Ways to Improve it!

Marketing Report: Definition, Types, Benefits & Things to Include!

Technical Report: What is it & How to Write it? (Steps & Structure Included)

Business Report: What is it & How to Write it? (Steps & Format )

Growth Plan: What is it & How to Create One? (Steps Included)

14 Guerrilla Marketing Examples & Ideas You Must Explore!

Related posts

Founders’ agreement: what is it & how to create it, maximizing digital agency success: 4 ways to leverage client portals, what is soft selling & what are the techniques (soft vs hard selling), reputation management: what is it & how to do it, 7 shocking reasons to use vpn at work, 10 writing tools that are essential for a writer.

About Bit.ai

Bit.ai is the essential next-gen workplace and document collaboration platform. that helps teams share knowledge by connecting any type of digital content. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, anyone can work visually and collaborate in real-time while creating internal notes, team projects, knowledge bases, client-facing content, and more.

The smartest online Google Docs and Word alternative, Bit.ai is used in over 100 countries by professionals everywhere, from IT teams creating internal documentation and knowledge bases, to sales and marketing teams sharing client materials and client portals.

👉👉Click Here to Check out Bit.ai.

Recent Posts

Top 12 ai assistants of 2024 for maximized potential, how to create wikis for employee onboarding & training, what is support documentation: key insights and types, how to create a smart company wiki | a guide by bit.ai, 9 must-have internal communication software in 2024.

Performance Reporting 101: From Data to Decision

You’ve likely faced the frustration of sifting through endless data points and spreadsheets, trying to make sense of it all.

It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack when you need a clear path to assess performance and make informed choices.

Here, we break down the complex world of performance reporting into simple, actionable steps.

We’ll show you how to track the right metrics, measure what matters, and transform data into insights that drive effective decision-making.

What is performance reporting?

Performance reporting means tracking, measuring, and sharing information about how your business is performing.

This could include financial data, like profits and expenses, or non-financial data, such as customer satisfaction or employee productivity.

The goal is to understand what’s working and what needs improvement. This information lets you make intelligent decisions to help your business thrive.

Think of it as your business’s report card, telling you how you’re doing and where you can get even better!

Understand the importance of performance reporting

The significance of performance reporting in workforce management.

Let’s discuss how performance reporting can be your secret weapon in managing your team. Think of it as your trusty dashboard that gives you a real-time view of how your team is doing.

With performance reporting, you can keep tabs on all the important metrics and KPIs that matter to your company’s success. 

This means you can easily spot trends, identify areas where your team is excelling, and figure out where things might need a little extra attention.

It’s like having a route planner for your team’s performance – it helps you stay on the right track and make smart decisions about where to allocate resources, whether it’s hiring new talent, providing extra training, or just tweaking how things are done.

By keeping a close eye on performance, you can be proactive in addressing issues and making sure your team is firing on all cylinders.

The impact of performance reporting on organizational effectiveness and employee development

Now, let’s zoom out a bit and see how performance reporting isn’t just about managing the team day-to-day; it also has a big-picture impact.

When you have solid performance data at your fingertips, you can ensure your team’s efforts are perfectly in sync with the bigger goals of your organization. This means your company is running more smoothly, and everyone is rowing in the same direction. 

But that’s not all – performance reporting is a game-changer for employee development too. It helps you identify your superstar performers and those who might need a little extra support or training.

By nurturing talent within your team, you’re not only helping individuals grow but also supercharging your organization’s overall success.

So, in a nutshell, performance reporting is like the superhero cape you wear as a supervisor – it helps you steer your team toward success. It ensures everyone on your squad is constantly leveling up.

Key components you should include in performance reporting

1. financial statements.

Think of these as your financial “report card.” They’re like a snapshot of how well the company is doing money-wise. You’ll want to include:

Income statement: This shows the money coming in, the money going out, and whether you’re making a profit or not.

Balance sheet: It’s like a list of everything the company owns and owes.

Cash flow statement: This one’s all about the cash coming in and going out.

These statements can help us figure out how we’re doing financially and if we have room to make changes in HR, like giving raises or improving benefits.

2. KPIs and goals progress report

These are like our performance scorecards. They help us measure how well we’re doing. Include:

A list of KPIs: These are the important things we’re tracking, like employee turnover, productivity, and how happy our customers are.

Progress updates: Let’s show how we’re doing compared to our goals and if things are getting better or worse.

Employee contributions: We should recognize how individual employees are helping us hit those targets.

These reports help us see who’s making a difference and if we’re moving in the right direction.

3. Project management plan and variance analysis

Imagine this as our project roadmap. It’s like a plan for all the HR stuff we’re working on. Include:

Project plans: What projects are we doing, who’s in charge, and when should they be done?

Checking for differences: We’ll see if things are going as planned or if there are any surprises.

Fixing what’s off: If something’s not going as expected, we’ll figure out how to get it back on track.

This helps us make sure our HR projects are on schedule and doing what they’re supposed to do.

4. Budget vs. actual analysis report

This is all about managing our HR expenses wisely. Think of it as balancing your home budget. Include:

Our HR budget: How much money we planned to spend on HR this year, broken down into categories like salaries, benefits, and training.

What we really spent: What we actually spent on HR during the year.

Spotting differences: Where did we spend more or less than we planned, and why?

This helps us keep our HR costs in check and make sure we’re using our money wisely.

5. Employee performance metric

This part is all about checking how well your team is doing and how each member contributes to the company’s goals.

Key performance indicators (KPIs): Think of these as your scorecards – metrics like sales targets, project completions, and customer satisfaction ratings.

Performance reviews: Summarize what managers and peers are saying about each team member. What are they great at, and where can they improve?

Goal achievement: Compare what your team actually achieved against what they were aiming for.

Development plans: Mention any special training or growth plans for each employee.

6. Customer and user metrics

This part helps you see how your team’s work impacts customer happiness and user experiences.

Customer Satisfaction Scores (CSAT): How happy are your customers? Share feedback from surveys or reviews.

Net Promoter Score (NPS): Find out if customers would recommend your company – this shows loyalty.

User Engagement Metrics: How much do people use your product or service? Metrics like active users and feature usage are essential.

Complaints and issue resolution: Keep tabs on how many complaints you receive and how quickly your team resolves them.

7. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting

Being responsible: This part covers your company’s efforts to be a good corporate citizen – think sustainability, community involvement, and ethical practices.

Environmental impact: Share your efforts to reduce waste, energy use, and carbon emissions.

Social responsibility: Tell the story of your community involvement and efforts to promote diversity and inclusion.

Governance and compliance: Highlight how well your company sticks to ethical and legal standards.

Impact Metrics: Share the positive outcomes of your ESG initiatives – how they’ve made a difference.

8. Quality and customer support metrics

Quality matters: Here, we dive into product or service quality and how well your customer support team is doing.

Quality assurance metrics: Talk about any issues with your products or services, like defects or quality problems.

Response and resolution times: How quickly is your customer support team jumping in to help customers, and how fast are they resolving issues?

Customer support satisfaction: Share what customers are saying about their support experiences.

Training and improvement plans: Let us know what you’re doing to make your products/services better and support your customers effectively.

What are the different types of performance reports?

1. progress reports.

Think of progress reports as your regular check-ins with your team. They’re like status updates, showing how things are going with work on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis.

These reports spill the beans on what your team has been up to – completed tasks, project milestones, and any hiccups along the way.

They’re packed with info about how productive your team is and whether they’re steering in the right direction. Expect numbers and narratives, like project timelines, task completion rates, and key performance indicators (KPIs).

2. Trend reports

Trend reports are like your organizational historians. They dig into past performance data to spot trends and changes over time, helping you see the bigger picture.

They’re all about graphs and charts, showing you performance trends visually. You can catch patterns like steady improvement, periods of stagnation, or maybe even a dip.

For instance, you can use trend reports to track sales growth over several years or analyze employee engagement scores season by season.

3. Variance reports

Think of variance reports as the detectives of performance reporting. They compare actual results with what you expected or aimed for to see how things measure up.

You’ll usually find a side-by-side comparison of what you hoped for and what actually happened. It’s like a spotlight on the differences, whether good (you exceeded expectations) or not-so-good (you fell short).

For instance, a budget variance report might tell you that your department spent more than planned, or a sales variance report could show whether you hit your revenue targets.

4. Earned value reports

Earned Value reports are like our project buddies. They help us keep an eye on how our projects are progressing. They do this by comparing what we’ve achieved so far (the “earned value”) to what we planned and what we’ve spent.

These reports give us a clear picture of whether a project is on track. If we’re earning less than what we planned, it’s a red flag for potential cost overruns.

If the schedule performance isn’t matching up, it could mean delays. So, with this info, we can make adjustments and prevent any project hiccups.

5. Forecasting reports

Think of forecasting reports as our crystal balls. They use past performance data and trends to help us peek into the future. We use these reports in various areas, like predicting sales, demand, or even our future workforce needs.

Forecasting reports are our secret weapon for planning ahead. In HR, for instance, they help us estimate how many new hires we might need based on things like turnover rates and where the company is headed. With this insight, we can get ready for recruitment or training well in advance.

Steps you can follow to create a company performance report

1. define the purpose and audience.

Start by figuring out why you’re putting together this performance report. Is it to check how your team’s doing, keep an eye on HR stats, or help make smart decisions about talent management?

Think about who’s going to read this report. Is it the big bosses, your HR crew, or department heads? Make sure the report speaks to their needs and interests.

2. Gather all the required data

Time to gather up all the info you need. That means digging into employee records, HR or performance management software , and maybe even surveys.

Make sure the numbers and facts are accurate and up-to-date, and cover the time period you’re interested in.

3. Prepare a structured report with plenty of visuals and graphs

When it comes to the report itself, organize it nicely. Think about dividing it into sections, like one for checking on how employees are doing, another for HR stats, and so on.

Don’t forget to jazz it up with visuals and graphs . Pictures can make the data easier to understand. Stuff like bar graphs, pie charts, and line graphs are your friends here.

Throw in important numbers and info that match the report’s goal. Be sure to mix in both hard numbers and things that aren’t so easily counted.

4. Provide some context for the reports

Numbers are great, but they don’t always tell the whole story. You’ll want to explain what all those stats mean. Talk about why they’re important and what they’re saying about your team.

If you can, compare your numbers to what’s considered “normal” or how things looked in the past. That helps everyone see what’s changing and where things might be getting better or worse.

And if there’s anything weird going on in the data, like a surprising drop or spike, give your best guess about why that might be happening.

5. Seek feedback before finalizing it

 First, think about who should give their two cents on the report. This usually means getting input from HR colleagues, department heads, and the big bosses.

Next, share the draft of your report with the folks you’ve identified. Give them some time to dive into it, so they can really digest the info.

Be open to what they have to say. Take notes on their suggestions – whether it’s making things clearer or adding extra data they think would help.

6. Proofread and make necessary edits

Once you’ve got everyone’s input, give the whole report a good look-over. Check for any typos, weird sentences, or formatting quirks.

Make sure all the numbers and data in your report are spot on. Nobody wants to be caught with inaccuracies.

Try to keep the report easy to read. If there’s jargon or complicated terms, see if you can simplify them so everyone understands.

7. Distribute the report and prepare to present it

Decide how you’re going to get the report out there – whether it’s via email, a shared drive, or any other method that works for your team.

Don’t forget to tell the folks who should see it that your final report is ready to roll. If there’s a presentation involved, give them a heads-up about that too.

If you’re presenting, get your slides or handouts in order . Practice your talk to make sure you can explain the report’s findings and handle any questions that come your way.

Understand the role of technology in performance reporting

The role of technology in performance reporting.

Okay, let’s break it down in simpler terms. Technology is your trusty sidekick when it comes to creating performance reports. It’s like having a superpower that helps you gather and analyze data way faster and more accurately than doing it all manually.

Think of it this way: Technology can scoop up data from different sources, like time-tracking apps and performance management software , all by itself. No more punching numbers into spreadsheets for hours!

Plus, it keeps everything up-to-date in real-time, so you always have the freshest info on employee performance and HR stuff.

And here’s the cool part: Technology can turn boring data into colorful charts and graphs that are easy to understand.

You can spot trends and issues at a glance. With fancy stuff like artificial intelligence and machine learning, you can even predict what might happen in the future.

Guidance on selecting the right tools for reporting needs

Now, let’s talk about picking the right tools for the job. It’s like choosing the right tools for your reports. First, figure out what data you really need. What’s important for your team’s growth and success?

Then, make sure the tools you pick can handle both what you need now and what you might need as your team grows.

You’ll want software that’s flexible, so you can make your reports look and feel just the way you want them to. Integration is key, too – your tools should be best friends with your other software so data flows smoothly.

Security is a big deal, especially if you’re dealing with private employee info. And last but not least, make sure the software is user-friendly and that there’s good support available.

You want your team to be able to use it without pulling their hair out. So, by thinking about all these things, you can pick the perfect tech tools for creating top-notch performance reports.

Example of a company performance report

We have considered a full-fledged marketing services company here with imaginary but realistic numbers to prepare this sample company performance report.

ABC Marketing Services

Quarter 3, 2023

Executive Summary:

In Quarter 3, 2023, ABC achieved significant milestones and continued to drive growth. Our focus on expanding our client base, enhancing service quality, and optimizing internal processes has yielded positive results.

Financial Performance

• Quarter 3 Revenue: $3,500,00
• Quarter 3 Revenue Growth (QoQ): 12%
• YoY Revenue Growth: 28%

Profitability:

• Gross Profit Margin: 45%
• Operating Margin: 20%
• Net Profit Margin: 15%

Operational Performance

Client Acquisition:

• New Clients Acquired: 20
• Client Retention Rate: 90%

Service Excellence :

• Average Client Satisfaction Score: 4.7/5
• Completed Projects On Time: 95%

Customer Metrics

1. Customer Churn Rate:

• Quarter 3 Churn Rate: 8%
• Efforts to reduce churn include personalized client onboarding and dedicated account managers.

2. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV):

• Quarter 3 CLV: $8,750
• Increasing CLV remains a strategic goal, with ongoing initiatives to upsell and cross-sell services.

1. Environmental Initiatives:

• Reduced office energy consumption by 15% through energy-efficient lighting and equipment.

2. Social Impact:

• Launched a community outreach program, contributing 1% of profits to local charities.

3. Governance Standards:

• Maintained strong governance practices with a transparent decision-making process.

Strategic Initiatives

1. Market Expansion:

• Successfully entered two new markets, increasing our geographic reach and diversifying our client portfolio.

2. Product Enhancement:

• Launched a new suite of digital marketing tools, enhancing our service offerings and providing additional value to clients.

Challenges and Risks

1. Competitive Landscape:

• Increased competition in the digital marketing sector requires us to innovate and differentiate our services continually.

2. Talent Retention:

• The industry’s high demand for skilled marketing professionals challenges retaining top talent.

The Future Plan

1. Growth Strategy:

• Continue our market expansion efforts focusing on emerging markets.

2. Service Innovation:

• Invest in research and development to stay at the forefront of marketing technology and trends.

3. Employee Development:

• Implement training and career development programs to retain and nurture top talent.

ABC’s performance in Quarter 3 demonstrates our commitment to excellence and ability to adapt to a dynamic market. We remain dedicated to providing exceptional marketing solutions and driving sustainable growth.

We invite you to join our upcoming shareholder meeting on October 10, 2023, for a more in-depth discussion of our performance and future plans.

Frequently asked questions

1. What specific metrics should I focus on to assess my team’s performance, and how often should I review them?

The specific metrics depend on your team’s smart goals , but commonly used metrics include sales targets, project completion rates, or customer satisfaction scores. It’s best to review them regularly, typically monthly or quarterly, to track progress and make timely adjustments.

2. Can you guide me on using performance reports to identify and address performance gaps within my team?

Performance reports are valuable tools for pinpointing performance gaps. Analyze the data to identify trends and inconsistencies, and then work closely with team members to provide feedback, offer support, and adapt strategies as necessary.

3. How can I use performance reports to track my progress and growth within the organization?

To monitor your growth, focus on metrics relevant to your role and responsibilities. Regularly reviewing these in performance reports can help you set personal development goals, seek feedback, and identify opportunities for organizational advancement.

4. How can we ensure that performance reporting aligns with our strategic goals and doesn’t become overly bureaucratic?

To align performance reporting with strategic goals, clearly define these objectives. Select performance metrics that reflect these goals, keep reporting concise, and periodically evaluate the relevance and efficiency of your reporting process to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy.

5. What challenges or pitfalls should we watch out for in implementing organizational performance reporting?

Challenges often involve data accuracy, employee resistance to new reporting methods, and data overload. Pay close attention to data quality, involve stakeholders to gain buy-in, and balance providing enough information and avoiding data overload to ensure a successful implementation .

Gaurav Sabharwal

Gaurav is the CEO of JOP (Joy of Performing), an OKR and high-performance enabling platform. With almost two decades of experience in building businesses, he knows what it takes to enable high performance within a team and engage them in the business. He supports organizations globally by becoming their growth partner and helping them build high-performing teams by tackling issues like lack of focus, unclear goals, unaligned teams, lack of funding, no continuous improvement framework, etc. He is a Certified OKR Coach and loves to share helpful resources and address common organizational challenges to help drive team performance. Read More

You may also like

Ultimate guide to objective and key results – okr meaning and examples, 29 okr examples for e-commerce that help drive efficiency, align with company goals using these 18 research okr examples, practice ongoing improvement: how cfrs supercharge your okrs.

Single software for accelerated business growth

Single software for OKR management

Achieve high individual performance with OKRs

Employee Engagement

Meaningful tools to engage your employees

Less hassle, better performance

Perform with OKRs on the go

Consulting Services to best implement OKRs

Implement OKRs with external help

On-demand experts for OKR implementation

Expert guidance for your OKR rollout

How companies drive growth with JOP

Discover your journey with JOP

Business allies and expert OKR Consultants

JOP's Partner Ecosystem

Keep up with OKRs and related resources

The evidence behind high-performing teams

In-depth resources for high performance

Easy best practices for OKRs

Unlock your growth potential with expert takes

Collection of OKR Templates for your business

Explore reviews of top software solutions

Get unique insights from the experts

Explore the best OKR & Performance Management alternatives

Uncover the best OKR software comparisons

Infusing the joy of performing at work

Why was JOP created?

Discover Joy with us

Thank You !

We’ve received your request, and we’ll be in touch soon!

Get started

• Project management
• CRM and Sales
• Work management
• Product development life cycle
• Comparisons
• Construction management
• monday.com updates

The necessity of performance reporting

For the consummate professional on top of their game, information is everything. Making decisions, mitigating losses, reallocating resources — all of it requires quality data, analysis, and reporting on project performance.

While this may seem obvious to some, there’s always room for improvement in the realm of accurate data collection and reporting.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to create efficient and accurate performance reports, help you learn why they’re so important in project management, and explain how to use them to make the right decisions.

We’ll also show you how to create quality performance reports quickly and easily on monday.com. But first, let’s explain the concept of performance reporting.

What is performance reporting?

A performance report is a document illustrating the performance measurements of a project. Through data and analysis, teams establish whether or not they’re achieving their established goals and objectives. Creating performance reports requires the collection of detailed information about project cash flow, resources, and progress. Based on the numbers, management and stakeholders have an accurate high-level overview of the project’s progress, which translates into better decisions and better business performance.

Performance reporting not only helps teams spot and avoid roadblocks — it helps them identify opportunities for improvement.

All stakeholders involved should have access to performance reports. And depending on the depth and duration of the project, producing performance reports frequently may be necessary.

“Performance reporting” is a part of our Project Management Glossary — check out the full list of terms and definitions!

The benefits of performance reporting and why it’s important

Apart from the obvious benefits, performance reporting provides other advantages. Here are a few of the reasons why keeping tabs on project performance is so important:

Improves communication between team members

Performance reports can help project managers and team leads map the strengths and weaknesses in team performance and provide important feedback. This keeps the team’s expectations aligned and focused on collective solutions for the project’s success. When you share performance report results results with your team, communication flows more easily and transparently, and you can define the next steps with more confidence.

Compares your performance with competing companies

Comparing your team’s performance with others in the same industry is a valuable heuristic that can help gauge project success. This practice, known as benchmarking, is necessary to stay competitive. Using the performance reports of other teams as a reference, you can identify your own team’s market position, identify gaps, and replicate or exceed best practices in your business.

Helps to prepare external reports and attracts investment

Other companies are subject to regulations and compliance and are required to provide information to keep projects rolling. Performance reports are excellent documents to help meet these demands.

Performance reporting: what does it look like?

Performance reporting focuses on different objectives depending on the project, team, and business. As a result, reports are produced in a variety of ways; however, most of them tend to explore these common elements:

• Past performance analysis:  This is data that helps measure whether the project’s performance is above or below expectations.
• Work performance:  This metric involves data on costs incurred and the balance of resources available so far in the project. The analysis demonstrates whether work performance is aligned with what was established in the scheduling stage.
• Approved changes:  Keeping track of unexpected changes in project development is an important part of performance reporting. These reports should indicate these changes and why they were implemented.
• Project forecasts:  Performance report forecasts synthesize data on the costs and resources available and compare them to what’s required for project success.
• Project completion:  These reports outline the final steps of project completion, taking into account any corrections, team performance, and the time required to complete the rest of the tasks.
• Risk mapping: Data from a risk management plan provide valuable insights that can help teams identify roadblocks and determine the necessary measures to avoid them.

In addition to these key points, quality performance reports address specific project information, which helps managers and team members complete tasks and activities more effectively. As mentioned, there are many types of performance reports that serve a variety of purposes.

Types of performance reports

With the basics of performance reporting established, let’s break down in more detail the types of performance reports and how to use them.

Status report

A status report is an overview of the project over a specific  period . In this scope, it’s important to provide accurate financial statements regarding costs across this time measurement. Status reports also include milestones reached, any incidents that occurred, and the remaining available resources. These reports help project managers make a  performance measurement , which indicates how well the project is progressing, if teams are hitting deadlines, and if there are any imminent risks. It also includes work performance information from the team. As a highly detailed overview of the project, the status report is one of the most used performance reports.

Trend report

A trend report is an important tool that analyzes the performance of a project. It measures past performance up to the point the report is created. Trend reports can demonstrate whether a project is staying on track and meeting expectations. Trend reports are especially important for lengthy projects, where it’s necessary to evaluate metrics across months, quarters, or even years. This helps the team identify frequent patterns and errors.

Progress report

The progress report is often used to make comparisons and measurements of performance during the various stages of a project. Given its purpose, it’s often applied several times during a project life cycle. The model helps compare the progress made so far with the progress that was expected during project planning. Through schedule, cost, and work performance analysis, the progress report provides a more assertive measure of what’s working in terms of team productivity and what needs to change or be re-evaluated.

Forecasting report

This report focuses on forecasts for milestones at all project stages. In short, it analyzes team performance and establishes goals and objectives stakeholders hope to achieve throughout the project’s life cycle.

For example, if the company’s goal is to increase productivity by 20% during a given period, but the actual number was lower, then the initial forecast was inaccurate. Rather than indicating failure, this helps project managers identify inconsistencies and allocate resources to keep the project on track.

Variance report

A variance report compares the actual performance of the project with  what was estimated in the project plan . It’s typically based on business variables, such as schedule and budget. In practice, it works like this: the estimated cost described in the project plan is compared with what was spent up to the present moment. It also compares the timeline of each stage in the plan with the time frame in which they were actually completed. In comparing the real with the simulated, it’s possible to identify important variations that require a reallocation of resources or a realignment of expectations.

Earned value report

When projects run over budget, a value report can help determine the true impact of the excess costs. With the help of data from status reports, earned value reports calculate the performance index of the project, taking into account the estimated value in the project plan, the actual cost of each phase of the project, and the value gained so far.

As we’ve seen so far, performance reporting is a valuable tool in achieving project success. Accurate performance reporting provides more control at all stages of a project, helping project managers and stakeholders make decisions with confidence.

Luckily for you, there’s no need to pore over numbers for hours or take deep dives into spreadsheets. When you manage your projects on monday.com, every KPI and metric you could possibly imagine is tracked and saved. Better still, with dozens of templates, you can follow your project’s progress in real-time with a few clicks.

How to track performance with monday.com

With basic reporting capabilities, monday.com can help you track and manage budgets, visualize project data with detailed dashboards, and share reports with teams, clients, and partners. For the data-obsessed project managers, monday.com has advanced reporting capabilities provide pivot boards, benchmarking, and performance tracking down to the smallest detail. As a tiny sample of monday.com’s reporting powers, check out this  customizable Status Report Template  and see how much of an impact powerful performance reporting makes on your projects.

Frequently asked questions

If you want to learn a little more about performance reporting, check out these answers to frequently asked questions on the subject.

What is a performance reporting system?

Manually producing accurate performance reports throughout a project’s life cycle often requires expertise in data analysis. Project management software with powerful performance reporting capabilities is an alternative that facilitates the process of collecting data, indicators, and metrics, and helps teams continuously monitor and improve performance.

How can I organize my performance report?

While there are several ways to format a performance report, following these basic steps provides you with a solid template:

• Introduction:  Objectives of the report and who its target audience is
• Development:  Topics and paragraphs with the most important numbers and results
• Analysis:  A section analyzing project performance
• Perspective:  A section indicating the next steps of the project
• Proposal:  A section indicating possible solutions for failures found or improvements of the indices

Keep teams and projects on track with performance reporting

More than exposing numbers and graphs, performance reports are invaluable for project managers seeking quantifiable business insights. It’s not enough to collect data — it’s necessary to read, interpret, and translate it into valuable information. A performance report has served its purpose if it helps a team improve performance, stay within budget, and deliver tasks on time.

Send this article to someone who’d like it.

• Why FineReport

Product Features

Smart Report

Visualizations & Dashboards

Decision-making Platform

Visual Chart

Data Collection

Deployment & Integration

Documentation

Getting Started

Training Videos

Learning Path

Certification

Bahasa Indonesia

Create Reports and BI dashboards in 5 minutes!

Always staying ahead in today’s competitive business landscape requires a deep understanding of your organization’s performance. One invaluable tool for gaining these insights is the performance report.

In this article, we will explore what a performance report entails, emphasize the significance of such reports, delve into different types of performance reports, provide a performance report template, and outline the steps to create an effective performance report.

What is A Performance Report?

The significance of performance reporting, 1. status reports, 2. progress reports, 3. forecasting reports, 4. trend reports, 5. variance reports, 6. earned value reports, 1. marketing performance report, 2. sales performance report, 3. financial performance report, 4. production performance report, how to make a performance report.

A performance report serves as a valuable instrument for businesses, providing a digital compilation of analysis, projections, revenue, and budget to provide an overview of their performance. These reports commonly incorporate graphical elements such as charts, graphs, tables, and statistics, which complement the text-based information and offer visual representation. They serve as a means of comparing business results and performances against a baseline, while also gathering and disseminating project information, conveying project status and progress, and projecting future outcomes to stakeholders and leaders.

Performance reports play a crucial role in business operations as they provide a comprehensive evaluation of the company’s performance across various divisions, enabling a thorough assessment of its overall well-being. By continuously scrutinizing goals and outcomes, a business can adapt and modify its direction. Here are several key rationales highlighting the criticality of utilizing performance reporting in business:

• Establishing benchmarks : Performance reports act as benchmarks by incorporating baseline data, allowing comparisons to determine the effectiveness of new projects, marketing endeavors, budgeting initiatives, and other company-wide efforts.
• Serving as foundational documents : Performance reports serve as the groundwork for other reports and documentation. Complying with industry and governmental regulations often entails sharing public reports concerning a company’s business operations. Internal performance reports serve as a fundamental source for preparing external reports and documents, given that the required data is already collected.
• Monitoring employee performance : Comprehensive performance reports encompass employee performance data, including factors such as sales, revenue generation, and cost-saving endeavors. Comparing employee goals against their achievements facilitates providing guidance, feedback, motivation, and encouragement. It also fosters team cohesion and strengthens the overall workforce.
• Enhancing communication : Performance reports contribute to improved communication within a business by sharing transparent information. Additionally, they facilitate understanding customer and consumer reactions to company strategies, thereby enabling businesses to better engage with their target audience.
• Driving business advancement : Continuously conducting performance reports provides real-time analytics, enabling businesses to gauge their current state and identify opportunities for growth. Such reports prompt teams to reassess their actions, modify strategies, or adjust goals, thus increasing the likelihood of achieving profitability.

Performance Report Types

Various types of performance reports include:

These reports provide the current state of a project at a specific moment, detailing its alignment with the performance measurement baseline. Managers can obtain an up-to-date snapshot of the project’s scope, time, cost, and quality parameters.

This type of report highlights the accomplishments since the last report, offering an overview of the project’s advancements.

These reports predict the future performance and expected status of a project across various parameters. They aid in resource tracking and allocation for optimal utilization.

By comparing the current project performance with past performance within the same time frame (e.g., monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually), trend reports determine whether the project is improving or declining over time.

These reports compare the planned progress with the actual progress made, highlighting any discrepancies or variations.

Using earned value management techniques, these reports integrate project performance measures related to scope, schedule, and cost. The components of earned value reports are often consolidated into status reports.

Performance Report Template

Here are some examples of performance report templates for specific areas of business:

Note: All the Performance Report Template s shown in this article are created by FineReport , a powerful reporting software that has been honorably mentioned by Gartner Magic Quadrant for ABI Platforms. You can download FineReport for free and have a try!

The marketing report includes an overview of the marketing budget allocated to different departments or campaigns. It outlines the planned expenses and actual expenditures, allowing stakeholders to assess the financial performance of marketing activities. By comparing budgeted costs with actual expenses, the report provides insights into the financial efficiency of the marketing efforts.

This marketing performance report helps marketing teams evaluate the success of their strategies and make data-driven decisions for future campaigns.

The Sales Performance Report demonstrate the sales performance of a company, providing insights into the revenue generated across various cities, states, product categories, and daily sales activities. This report plays a crucial role in evaluating the effectiveness of sales strategies, tracking sales performance, and identifying areas for improvement.

Key Components of a Sales Performance Report:

• Sales by City and State
• Product Category Performance
• Daily Revenue Analysis
• Sales Team Performance.

The Financial Performance Report is an assessment of the financial health and performance of a company. It provides insights into the company’s profitability, liquidity, efficiency, and overall financial stability. This report plays a crucial role in evaluating financial performance, identifying trends, and making informed decisions to drive financial growth and sustainability.

Key Components of a Financial Performance Report:

• Return on Assets (ROA)
• Return on Equity (ROE)
• Working Capital Ratio
• Balance Sheet Analysis
• Profitability Analysis
• Financial Ratios:

The Production Performance Report is a comprehensive analysis of the production activities within a company. It focuses on evaluating the quality and efficiency of the production process, tracking key performance indicators, and identifying areas for improvement. This report plays a crucial role in ensuring product quality, optimizing production strategies, and meeting customer expectations.

Key Components of a Production Performance Report:

• Monthly Defect Ratio
• Pass Rate for Each Floor
• Pass Rate for Each Factory
• Defect Rate Trend for the Past 7 Days
• Pass Rate of Each Inspection Item

These performance report templates provide a structured framework for collecting and analyzing data specific to each area of the business. They enable stakeholders to gain valuable insights, make informed decisions, and take action to drive performance improvements. By using these templates consistently, businesses can monitor progress, identify areas for optimization, and achieve their strategic objectives.

After grasping all the basics of a performance report, let’s talk about how to efficiently make a performance report during your everyday working routine. Here is a step-by-step guide.

Creating an effective performance report involves several key steps:

• Define Objectives : Clearly establish the objectives of your performance report. What specific metrics or aspects of performance do you want to assess? Setting clear goals will ensure a focused and meaningful analysis.
• Gather Relevant Data : Collect accurate and relevant data from reliable sources. This may include financial records, sales reports, customer feedback, or any other data that aligns with your performance objectives. Ensure the data is comprehensive and representative of the period or project under evaluation.

During this data integration process, you should ensure that the data is accurate, up-to-date, and organized in a structured manner to facilitate seamless integration into the report.

FineReport , a powerful reporting tool , addresses this issue with the first key feature. FineReport directly connects the dashboard platform to various kinds of databases. FineReport builds a data center with database support, and all data can be centralized into the system, managed through business data packages, and updated in real-time according to the fields in the database.

This means that when you need to create a performance report, you can directly extract the data from the database. Additionally, FineReport can integrate with other systems such as OA or ERP systems, making it easier to find and extract data for report creation at any time.

• Analyze the Data : Apply appropriate analytical techniques to interpret the collected data. Identify trends, patterns, and correlations that provide insights into your business’s performance. Use statistical analysis, data visualization, and comparative analysis to uncover meaningful information.
• Visualize the Data : Present your findings in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand manner. Utilize charts, graphs, tables, and infographics to effectively communicate the key performance indicators (KPIs) and trends identified during the analysis. Visual representations enhance the clarity and impact of your report.

FineReport supports more than 50 chart styles, covering basically all basic and high-level charts on the market, and also has excellent dynamic effects and a powerful interactive experience. Various features can be set according to the needs during use, and can also be self-adjusted and displayed on the mobile terminal and large LED screen.

• Draw Conclusions : Summarize the findings of your analysis and draw relevant conclusions. Identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats uncovered by the data. Provide a comprehensive assessment of the current performance and its alignment with the set objectives.
• Provide Actionable Recommendations : Based on your analysis and conclusions, offer practical recommendations for improving performance. These recommendations should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Consider proposing strategies, process improvements, or resource reallocations that can address the identified performance gaps.
• Communicate Effectively : Ensure your performance report is well-structured and clearly organized. Use concise and jargon-free language to facilitate easy comprehension. Present the report to relevant stakeholders, such as executives, managers, or team members, and engage in constructive discussions to gain valuable feedback and insights.

FineReport allows users to share reports with colleagues, stakeholders, or clients effortlessly. Users can generate shareable links or invite specific individuals to access and view the reports. This feature ensures easy dissemination of information and promotes efficient collaboration across teams.

Also, FineReport offers comprehensive permission management capabilities, enabling administrators to control access levels and restrict user actions within reports. Users can be assigned specific roles and permissions, ensuring data security and maintaining confidentiality. This feature ensures that the right people have the appropriate access to reports, facilitating secure collaboration.

By following these steps, you can create a comprehensive and impactful performance report that provides valuable insights, facilitates informed decision-making, and drives continuous improvement in your business.

In conclusion, performance reports allow organizations to evaluate their performance, track progress, identify areas for improvement, and communicate effectively with stakeholders. By utilizing the comprehensive reporting capabilities of FineReport, businesses can streamline and optimize their performance reporting process.

By using FineReport, organizations can streamline their performance reporting process and unlock the full potential of their data. You can give it a try and download it for free!

Also, feel free to make an appointment for a live demo with our product experts. We will be more clear about your needs and see how FineReport can help you and your organization transform data into value.

Explore Other Resources

Build an Effective Performance Reporting Process with These 8 Tips

Table of contents

Our recent original research revealed a surprising fact: despite all the available reporting tools on the market, more than 50% of companies are still relying on spreadsheets to create performance reports . And about half of the respondents are reporting via presentations or documents that require repetitive, manual work.

In the world of automation, copy-pasting and manually updating tables isn’t and can’t be an effective reporting process for several reasons:

• You spend too much time creating a report than acting on it
• Manual work increases the possibility of human error
• Spreadsheets need to be manually sent to the rest of the team, clients, or managers, which increases the possibility of duplicated or erroneous data
• It’s impossible to scale your operations as you will just need more and more time and effort to complete simple tasks

Already compelled to rethink your reporting process? Now that we’ve got your attention, we’ll share the best reporting practices applied by experts all over the world to help you improve reporting as soon as today.

Let’s dive right in.

What Does a Typical Reporting Process at a Company Look Like?

How to create an effective performance reporting process: 8 best practices.

We polled 33 companies to learn what reporting looks like for them. The respondents come from a variety of sectors:

• 39.39% are agencies or consultants in marketing, digital or media
• 36.36% are B2C services or products and
• 24.24% are B2B services or products

All companies that participated in the survey see their current reporting process is effective: 70% of them even assess it as very effective.

But if you take a closer look at the data and what their reporting practices actually look like, you can see that there’s a lot of redundant work involved, from using spreadsheets and data entry to copying and pasting charts from data analytics tools into presentations.

What many companies aren’t doing is stepping away and taking a look at the whole picture of how reporting fits into their daily, weekly, and monthly activities. Luckily, many survey participants we talked to are aware that automation is the way to go, even if they consider their reporting process to be “good enough” (at least for now).

“We know there is definitely room for improvement, but our current reporting process is giving us the data we need at the moment,” says Craig Anderson of Express Dentist . “We will be optimizing our processes by adding more automation.”

Tim Schroeder of Starting a Blog and his team are also considering introducing automation tools to their reporting process. “We realized that doing everything manually is quite time-consuming, which has resulted in my team making human errors,” explains Schroeder. “This has affected our end results, so we might soon collect data using reporting software . As a result, it can generate real-time insights, which can be leveraged to our advantage.”

As most businesses we surveyed produce up to 20 reports per month, just imagine how much time they’d be saving by replacing just a few manual reporting steps with automated performance reports —like the ones available in Databox.

Some companies are aware that there’s room for improvement in their performance reporting process, but the lack of time or specialized staff might be stopping them from making the necessary changes. However, even if your reporting process are still be a bit “scrappy” because you run a startup, Jeet Mehta of Swift agrees that reliable, quality tools that cater to your company’s needs can be critical for scaling. “We’ll need to adopt better reporting tools as we grow,” confirms Mehta.

Related : How Automated Reporting Saved 16 Agencies Time, Money, and Headaches

We asked over 30 experts to share how they created effective, scalable performance reporting processes. These are the 8 best practices for you to follow.

• Use Automation Software to Generate Reports
• Encourage Creativity in Data Analysis
• Consider Your Target Audience
• Address Key Value Drivers
• Set Concise and Clear Objectives
• Include Industry Benchmarks
• Track Individual Team Member Performance
• Set Aside Time to Review the Reports with Your Team

1. Use Automation Software to Generate Reports

Automation software facilitates report creation and sharing as it eliminates redundant tasks that take up a lot of time: data entry, manual calculations, copy and pasting charts and tables, and more. As calculations are done automatically and the data is pulled directly from the source to your reporting tool, the possibility of human error is also reduced and the accuracy of your report is dramatically increased.

Kate Zhang of Kate Backdrop confirms that her reporting process benefited from introducing automation. “Automation ensures that the data is accurate and up-to-date. Additionally, we have saved time by not having to generate reports manually,” shares Zhang.

Daniel Chen and his team at Airgram have seen positive results after adding automation tools to their reporting process. “The software has helped us streamline the process and make it more efficient,” says Chen and adds that their performance reporting process is now automated from start to finish. “This means that we can create reports much faster and with less effort than before. The quality of our reports has also improved, thanks to the software’s ability to quickly and accurately gather data.”

Related : How to Set Up an Automated Reporting System: Tips, Tools and Best Practices

2. Encourage Creativity in Data Analysis

Different types of reports and data combinations will allow you to consistently track your performance, but also discover new ways to look at the data and come up with innovative approaches to your strategy. That will help you monitor your most relevant KPIs and progress toward your goals, but simultaneously search for angles to help you differentiate yourself from competitors.

“We have a set of reports that were thought through from the beginning and agreed to remain consistent to show the evolution of certain metrics,” says Charles Cridland of YourParkingSpace .

“At the same time, we don’t want to miss out on insights and limit the creativity of the team—so we encourage new ad-hoc angles to look at data. Thus, we achieve the reliability of data, a fresh look at market development, and work satisfaction as reporting doesn’t become boring and monotonous.”

Related : 7 Data Analysis Questions to Improve Your Business Reporting Process

3. Consider Your Target Audience

Performance reports are usually meant for team managers, but sometimes, company shareholders, investors, or even employees will be the ones reading them. Depending on the topic and type of your performance report, before you start compiling it, consider the target audience. Why did they want the report in the first place? What information do you need to convey? How do you represent the data? What takeaways is the audience hoping to get?

According to Candice Moses of Information , this approach is proven to work. “While trying to improve my performance report, I learned to take my target audience into consideration. Before I began writing a performance report, I considered their reasons for requesting one. I asked myself the following questions: What is my intended audience? What do they want: a broad performance report or a particular performance report? Is this performance report of any use to them?”

A critical matter in performance reports for different audiences is the level of understanding they have about the topic you’re reporting on. If the company’s executive managers want to know about your marketing team’s performance, you should take a simple approach and avoid overcomplicating the report with too many detailed metrics. The top management is usually more interested in budgets and revenue, so that’s what you should focus on: report on how efficiently your team is using the budget and the ROI you’re generating.

Related : Reporting Strategy for Multiple Audiences: 6 Tips for Getting Started

4. Set Concise and Clear Objectives

Setting SMART goals or using another technique for planning your objectives will help you define clearly what you want to achieve with your reports. With a specific goal in mind, it will be easier to determine what KPIs to measure, how often to monitor them, and how to present them to your audience. Clear and concise goals will also motivate you and help you understand how your reporting process goals are aligned with high-level company goals and how they contribute to business growth.

Tracking your progress against objectives keeps you on the right track, says James Jason of Notta AI and shares a simple tracking strategy.

“I have found that the best way to create an effective performance reporting process is to establish clear and concise objectives and then track progress against those objectives on a regular basis. Setting up a simple spreadsheet with the objectives in one column and the progress against those objectives in another column is the best way to track progress. This allows me to see at a glance how well we are doing and where we need to improve.”

5. Address Key Value Drivers

Performance measurements allow you to address key value drivers in your business, such as customer experience, employees, financial performance. Compared to KPIs alone, identifying key value drivers can help you prioritize tasks while staying aligned with what really defines success for your company.

For example, if you identify a step in your reporting process as a bottleneck that stops your employees from achieving maximum efficiency, automating that step can move the needle for the reporting process, and your whole organization.

According to Candice Moses, risk management is just as important as strategy execution, so knowing your key value drivers helps you “triage” the issues and opportunities that need to be tackled first.

“In addition to operational outcomes, I also focused on measurements that assess the progress of strategy execution as well as risk management, making sure measures support the investors’ decisions. KPIs focus on certain areas of the business that have possibilities and dangers. Such KPIs should be specific rather than broad. They should direct how certain areas of the firm should be managed rather than attempting to fix every problem and shortage.”

It’s also critical to focus on potential and future value drivers, not just what worked in the past.

“I learned that I had to also focus on emerging performance indicators rather than only trailing performance indicators that focus on previous performance and history,” says Moses.

6. Include Industry Benchmarks

In performance reports, it’s not enough to know where you’re standing compared to your last month’s or year’s performance. It’s also critical to assess your results compared to your competitors.

This data will:

• Allow you to identify areas of improvement
• Understand the trends happening across your industry
• Help you set attainable, but meaningful goals

Alexandra Fennell and her team at Attn: Grace use benchmarks in their performance reports so they can have a clear picture of how successful they are within their industry, beyond revenue and customer satisfaction.

“Benchmarking helps us gauge our performance compared to competitors. We use specific, measurable data points to discover where we thrive and underperform. With this information, we can make targeted improvements that leverage our strengths and set us further apart from the competition,” Fennell explains.

Benchmark Your Reporting Performance Against Other Companies

Business performance monitoring, analysis and reporting is a critical function for any company – it allows internal and external stakeholders to learn and share what’s working (and not working) so that people across an organization understand what drives performance and what adjustments need to be made in order to improve it.  

Databox is currently conducting research on internal reporting, which includes everything from how businesses approach tracking and reporting on their own business performance to which tools they use, how often they report on performance, and much more.

To instantly and anonymously compare your performance to 100s of other companies, complete our survey by clicking on the link below.

7. Track Individual Team Member Performance

To make the most out of your reporting process, don’t track only team performance, but make sure you monitor individual team members’ performance as well.

The goal of tracking performance for each team member isn’t to identify and scold an underperforming employee. Quite the opposite, it’s to identify obstacles and shortcomings and come up with training, ideas, and solutions to help everyone on the team perform at the top of their game and introduce appropriate incentives. A good reporting tool can help here a great deal.

“Here at TeleCRM, the reporting tool helps us to track our team members in the sales department and help those who are lagging behind anywhere. We even track how much total revenue each member brought to the company so that we can give them incentives accordingly based on them reaching their monthly target,” Hardik Masani of TeleCRM shares his strategy.

“Initially, we had a reporting system where we only could see the total calls, total duration, and total sales. But gradually we built it in a way that now we can track multiple things including their First call (helps to track at what time they start working on that day) and the last call(at what time they finish their work). This has helped us tremendously in closing more leads, increasing our sales, and also retaining our customers.”

Related : Sales Metrics Reporting: Track These 16 Sales KPIs and Metrics to Improve the Performance of Your Sales Team

8. Set Aside Time to Review the Reports with Your Team

A monthly team meeting where you’ll review the reports with your co-workers is a great way to conclude your reporting process. Giving your team direct insights into their performance and allowing them to participate in the analysis gives them a chance to actively think about issues that arose and possible ways to fix them, as well as identify successful strategies that boosted their performance.

These team review sessions is exactly what James Jason does at his company.

“I have found that it’s helpful to review the performance reports with my team on a regular basis. This helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that we are all working towards the same objectives. The outcome of these efforts has been an effective performance reporting process that helps us to track our progress, identify areas for improvement and make changes accordingly, and ensure that we all do our best work to contribute to the same goals”, concludes Jason.

Liam Johnson of TheHitchStore agrees that performance report reviews are essential for maintaining efficiency and keeping your team accountable for their work.

“The best way to create an effective performance reporting process is to focus on two things: efficiency and accountability. For efficiency, I like to use a checklist of sorts for each employee’s monthly reports, so that there is no excuse for missing any of the required steps. We have a regular meeting where all employees get a chance to discuss their goals and how they’re going to achieve them. This helps us see what needs improvement and makes sure that no one is left out in the cold when it comes time for the next round of reporting.”

Put Your Reporting on Autopilot with Databox

We know, it’s hard to make a change. Especially when you’ve thought out a process from top to bottom, even if it has a few shortcomings. You’ve already learned how to make the most out of your spreadsheets and got really fast at copying and pasting pie charts.

But what if your process can instantly become more efficient? Take up less time and effort? Without disrupting your workflow?

You might be worried that the transition will take time. But we guarantee it’ll take way less time than your next spreadsheet report that you need to populate manually.

Ease your way into a new, game-changing performance reporting process with Databox .

The only thing you will need to do manually is to recommend the next steps based on your report, which would:

• Be automatically generated at whatever time you want.
• Have dynamic elements that ensure your data is up-to-date.
• Be automatically sent to anyone who needs to see them.
• Export the report if you need it for a meeting or presentation

Ready to tell more compelling stories with your data, boost your team’s performance, and save your time in the process? Sign up for a forever-free plan today !

Get practical strategies that drive consistent growth

12 Tips for Developing a Successful Data Analytics Strategy

What Is Data Reporting and How to Create Data Reports for Your Business

What is kpi reporting kpi report examples, tips, and best practices.

Build your first dashboard in 5 minutes or less

Latest from our blog

• Playmaker Spotlight: Tory Ferrall, Director of Revenue Operations March 27, 2024
• New in Databox: Safeguard Your Data With Advanced Security Settings March 18, 2024
• Metrics & KPIs
• vs. Tableau
• vs. Looker Studio
• vs. Klipfolio
• vs. Power BI
• vs. Whatagraph
• vs. AgencyAnalytics
• Product & Engineering
• Inside Databox
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Talent Resources
• We're Hiring!
• Help Center
• API Documentation

Performance Reports: Definition, Example & Template

Fahad Usmani, PMP

December 27, 2023

Management and project sponsors are always interested in knowing how the work is progressing, and a performance report is a great tool to show them. After reviewing project performance reports, management can see whether the project is going in the right direction or needs course correction.

In project management, reporting performance is key to project success. If you are into project management or interested in growing your career in project management, you must understand performance reports in detail.

What Are Performance Reports?

Performance reports are project management tools that provide stakeholders with valuable information on the project. This information can include current status, progress reports, and forecasting analysis.

With performance reports, stakeholders can see if the project is progressing as planned or deviates from its baselines , including schedule , cost , scope baseline , etc. The performance report consists of many reports, including visual elements, texts, charts, and graphs.

Definition: Performance reports represent work status and progress to be provided to management for information or to make decisions. Performance reports can be in electronic or physical form.

A performance report is sometimes known as a “work-performance report,” and it can be a part of a business’s monthly, quarterly, or annual report.

Performance reports can be one of five types:

• Status Reports
• Progress Reports
• Trend Reports
• Forecasting Reports
• Variance Reports

#1. Status Reports

Status reports provide the current status of the project. The information in this report can include actual cost spent, completed work, and earned value from the completed work . This report can include issues, risks the project faces, milestones achieved, etc.

#2. Progress Reports

A progress report shows how much you have completed and whether the work is balanced. Stakeholders can see the project schedule and cost performance. Progress reports are generally prepared using earned-value analysis.

These reports compare actual progress with planned progress and provide actual performance to stakeholders.

#3. Trend Reports

This report shows the project’s performance over time. The stakeholders can see if the trend is positive or negative.

You can see the direction the project is heading. This report helps find the recurring issues, and the stakeholders can see how smoothly the project progresses. The trend report shows project performance over time, and you can see if the performance is improving or degrading. A run chart is mostly used to show the trend report.

#4. Forecasting Reports

This report shows the forecasting analysis. Here, stakeholders can see the progress and the future outcome if the project progresses with the same performance. Estimate to complete, estimate at completion, and to complete performance index are a few parameters you can include in this report.

Using this analysis, stakeholders will know if they need to approve a new budget, extend the deadline, etc.

#5. Variance Reports

This report shows the difference between actual and planned progress. It includes schedule variance , cost variance , etc.

Here, you can see the monetary variance between planned and actual progress.

What is the Importance of Work Performance Reports?

Performance reports are a tool for project managers to communicate project status and progress with stakeholders. These reports are vital in project management because stakeholders can see if the project is going in the right direction and decide the future course of action.

Work performance reports record the essence of all project activities and let stakeholders know whether the project will achieve all objectives within the approved budget and schedule. They can also identify the project’s strengths and weaknesses.

Management can review the project status and progress and decide the future course of action.

Project managers use performance reports for the following reasons:

• Monitoring Performance: Management or project sponsors look at project performance. If it is not going as planned, they can take corrective action to bring progress back on track.
• Benchmarking: Management uses benchmarking for competitive purposes . They compare their performance with the best performer in the industry, find gaps, and improve their performance to gain a competitive advantage.
• Communication: Performance reports are good tools for communicating project performance to your stakeholders.
• External Reports: Many regulatory authorities and clients require updates and information. Performance reports help create these external reports.
• Improving Performance: Status reports provide a clear picture of progress, thus allowing stakeholders to make the right decision at the right time and improving performance.
• Transparency: Performance reports provide the correct project status, and stakeholders can see what is happening in the project. Performance reports provide complete transparency and keep all stakeholders on the same page.

Performance reports depend on work performance data and work performance information .

Work performance data is the raw data of the project status. It is the current (“as of now”) status of project parameters (e.g., completed work, spent cost, time elapsed, etc.).

Work performance information is derived from work performance data (e.g., progress status, forecast estimates, etc.).

After preparing the work performance information, you will compare planned performance with actual performance and prepare a performance report for management review. This report can also include a forecast analysis.

Performance reports show stakeholders the project status and performance against various project baselines.

What is Included in Performance Reports?

The content of performance reports includes but is not limited to:

• A percentage of the work completed during the reporting period
• The balance work to be completed
• Costs incurred during the reporting period
• The balance of funds available
• The balance of time available
• Significant risks that have occurred or passed without occurring
• The major remaining identified risks
• Variance analysis (e.g., schedule variance and cost variance )
• Performance indexes (e.g., schedule-performance index and cost-performance index )
• The forecasted funds required to complete the remaining work ( ETC )
• The forecasted time needed to complete the remaining work
• A summary of major approved change requests made during the reporting period

How to Create a Work-Performance Report

You can follow the following steps to create a performance report:

#1. Identify Requirements and Collect Project-Status Data

Find the requirements for your performance reports. You must know what information and data the report should contain. You should know the target audience of the performance reports and their expectations.

To prepare the project performance reports, you must have work performance data, performance measurements, earned value analysis, and forecasting analysis. With these data, you can prepare the project-performance reports.

#2. Select Performance Report Structure

Here, you will define your performance reports’ key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics, report format, and structure.

Every organization has a template for performance reports; sometimes, the project sponsor can suggest a structure for performance reports. You can refer to your communication management plan to learn the stakeholders’ communication requirements and format of performance reports.

#3. Prepare Performance Report

Now, you will prepare the performance report as follows: 

• Collect Work Performance Data: This is the key step. You must collect the project status with precise data (e.g., spent funds, completed tasks, elapsed time, etc.).
• Create Work Performance Information: Create work performance information after collecting work performance data. You can compare planned progress with actual progress. If required, you can conduct a forecast analysis. The forecast report will show future performance with the current trend.
• Create Summary: Afterward, create the executing summary and briefly include the collected and analyzed information so the stakeholders can see a project performance overview.
• Create Final Report: Performance reports should be prepared in the format defined in the communication-management plan. The report can be text-based, table-based, graphical, a combination, or just a summary. The report can include burn-down charts , s-curves , bar charts, histograms, tables, run charts , etc.
• Assessment: This is the final section in which you can discuss deviations and explain future performance issues. This will help you get approval for extra funding or schedule an extension at a later stage if required. Ensure that the report is short and provides to-the-point information. Avoid adding fluff and making it too technical.

#4. Review Report

Before submitting the report to the management or client, ensure team members have reviewed it to find grammatical and factual errors.

Check the facts and data given in the report. All this will improve the quality and integrity of the reports.

Performance Report Examples

Examples of work-performance reports include status reports, progress reports, trend reports, earned-value reports, forecasting reports, variance reports, etc.

Below is a performance report example.

Performance Reports Template

Below is a performance report template

How to Address Challenges When Creating Project Performance Reports

Creating and interpreting project performance reports can be challenging. 

The following are some challenges and ways to address them:

• Incomplete or Inaccurate Data: To avoid this, regularly audit and validate data sources. Implement data-quality checks and ensure that the information entered is accurate and updated.
• Unclear Goals and Metrics: To avoid this, clearly define project goals and related metrics at the outset. Ensure that stakeholders understand these goals and metrics and regularly communicate any changes or updates.
• Poor Stakeholder Communication: Establish a clear communication plan that outlines how and when you will share performance reports with stakeholders. Provide explanations of key metrics and trends to ensure that everyone understands the information presented.
• Unexpected Variability and Uncertainty: To avoid this, use probabilistic forecasting and scenario analysis to account for uncertainties. Communicate the level of confidence or uncertainty associated with different performance metrics.
• Overemphasis on Lagging Indicators: To avoid this, include leading indicators that provide insights into future performance trends. Balance lagging and leading indicators to get a comprehensive view of project performance.
• Misaligned Strategic Objectives: To avoid this, regularly reassess project goals and ensure alignment with the organization’s strategic objectives. Adjust performance metrics accordingly to reflect the organization’s most critical aspects of success.

Tips to Effectively Present Work-Performance Reports to Stakeholders

Effectively presenting project performance reports to stakeholders ensures that the information is understood and appreciated. It contributes to informed decision-making. 

The following are some tips and best practices for presenting project performance reports:

• Know Your Audience: Customize your presentation to your audience’s needs and interests. Top management and clients may be interested in high-level summaries and financial implications, while project team members may require more detailed insights.
• Use Clear, Concise Language: Avoid jargon and technical terms that may be unfamiliar to your audience. Use simple, clear language to convey complex information.
• Focus on Key Metrics: Highlight the most critical key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with project goals and overall organizational objectives. Avoid overwhelming stakeholders with too much data.
• Visualize Data Effectively: Use charts, graphs, and visuals to represent data and trends. Visual aids can make it easier for stakeholders to grasp complex information quickly. Ensure that visuals are clear, labeled, and easy to interpret.
• Provide Context: Help stakeholders understand the context behind the data. Explain any external factors, project-environment changes, or other influences that may have impacted performance.
• Highlight Achievements and Progress: Celebrate successes and achievements to boost morale and demonstrate the project’s positive impact. Showcase progress against initial goals and milestones.
• Address Challenges and Mitigations: Be transparent about challenges or setbacks. Clearly articulate the steps or plan to address these challenges and mitigate risks. This demonstrates proactive management.
• Encourage Questions and Discussion: Foster an environment of open communication by encouraging stakeholders to ask questions and share their perspectives. This can lead to valuable insights and collaborative problem-solving.

Performance reports have an important role in project management. Performance reports organize and summarize the project information and present it to the stakeholders. They clarify the direction the project is going and the expected future performance.

These reports inform stakeholders of project performance and help them make project decisions. Performance reports help get stakeholders to buy in, so the project manager can complete the project with minimal obstruction.

This topic is important from a PMP exam preparation point of view. Please understand it well, as you will see a few questions from this topic on your PMP exam.

I am Mohammad Fahad Usmani, B.E. PMP, PMI-RMP. I have been blogging on project management topics since 2011. To date, thousands of professionals have passed the PMP exam using my resources.

PMP Question Bank

This is the most popular Question Bank for the PMP Exam. To date, it has helped over 10,000 PMP aspirants prepare for the exam. 

PMP Training Program

This is a PMI-approved 35 contact hours training program and it is based on the latest exam content outline applicable in 2024.

Similar Posts

What is Pomodoro Technique? Benefits & Drawbacks

The Pomodoro Technique is a widely recognized time-management method that promotes uninterrupted focus and efficient task completion while allowing for rejuvenating breaks at regular intervals. Its efficacy in aiding the timely completion of work makes it a valuable tool for project management. In today’s blog post, we will explore the Pomodoro Technique, exploring its benefits…

PMP Example Questions (Free & Paid): Updated for 2023

Here, I will provide a few resources for high-quality PMP example questions to help you practice PMP example questions. The resources provided in this post are well-known; I have checked them thoroughly. All are updated and aligned with the latest PMP exam content applicable in 2023. You can review these resources and select a few…

What is Benefits Realization Management?

Benefits realization management (BRM) is a comparatively new concept in project management popularized by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the United States. Since it is a new concept, many organizations do not understand it well and thus have not yet adopted it. As the PMI promotes this concept through the PMBOK Guide, understand that…

How to Improve Project Management Skills?

Project managers help businesses achieve their objectives and allow them to reach their long-term goals. Project managers are in high demand in the organization looking for growth using new product development, improved products, processes or procedures, or marketing. If you want to grow your career as a project manager, you must have certain project-management skills….

Point of Total Assumption in Project Management

Incentives are proven to boost performance and inspire sellers to achieve higher levels of performance. This is why an incentive is included in a fixed-price contract, and this agreement is commonly referred to as a fixed-price incentive fee contract (FPIF). A “point of total assumption” clause is included in an FPIF contract to control costs….

CAPM Certification Training: Online CAPM Certification Exam Training Program

To apply for the CAPM certification exam, you must attend CAPM certification training and earn 23 contact hours. Attending this training in project management is a CAPM eligibility requirement. Until recently, there were no CAPM training programs available, so I used to recommend CAPM aspirants join PMP training to make them eligible to apply for…

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Learn / Guides / Performance reporting guide

Back to guides

6 essential performance reporting types for online businesses

Think back to the times you had to prepare for an important project. You try to consider each variable, account for every challenge, and think of every task—but plans don’t always go to, well, plan. 

Sometimes you have to press pause and figure out how everything has gotten so off course. Or your boss asks for an update (don’t panic). Each time a project goes well, you also need to know how to replicate the magic for future endeavors. 

That’s where performance reports can help. 

Last updated

Reading time.

In good projects and bad, performance reports help you sort through your experiences. This glossary teaches you when to use six different performance reports to analyze and share project progress with your team and stakeholders .

Learn how customers react to your product

Hotjar’s tools reveal key customer insights, so you can add details to performance reports about how they feel about your product, content, design, and UX.

How to measure progress before, during, and after projects with 6 performance reports

Whether ‘project manager’ is your official title or not, anyone who manages a project benefits from performance reporting . Different types of performance reports focus on unique elements and timelines in a project, but they all help you review projects. 

For example, content managers must share whether they’re achieving their goals, like if they hit their quota of new articles or videos per month. Or, designers must understand what makes or breaks a project deadline, like when to send work for stakeholder approval. 

Since performance reports analyze upcoming, current, and past project performance, they offer three main benefits:

You have to choose the right performance report for different scenarios to get the most of the review. For example, your C-suite leaders are more interested in project outcomes than small, technical decisions. 

Here are six types of performance reports to cater to your project goals and stakeholders:

1. Status report

A status report is a document that compares a current project to its future plan. It’s a snapshot in time of the project focusing on achievements. 

Project managers typically prepare status reports for stakeholders—like C-level leadership, investors, or cross-functional teams. 

For example, during a quarterly check-in with company leaders, a content manager shares that their team is 50% through the timeline for a new SEO strategy project and have completed 6/9 guides for the quarter. 

2. Progress report

A progress report is an ongoing study into the development of a project, usually for the team members involved. It focuses on events and tactical details like progress drivers and anticipated roadblocks.  

For example, a content manager shares that they met with the chief marketing officer and got buy-in for a new video initiative the team pitched to educate readers in a new target audience. 

3. Trend report

A trend report is a review of metrics and past events you use to anticipate the future of a project. It acknowledges issues that delay or alter progress compared to your intended budget, schedule, or scope. 

For example, a content manager shares that videos of product reviews performed better than blog posts and increased sign-ups over the last three months, so they’re making the decision to increase recorded output for the next quarter. 

4. Forecast report

A forecast report is a plan that predicts future outcomes or challenges for your project, typically before you start a project. 

Building off previous examples, the content manager adjusts blog post turnaround because a team member is out on parental leave. 

5. Variance report

A variance report is a review of the differences between your intended and actual project outcomes or processes. Project managers use a variance report after a project to account for budget, schedule, scope, or outcome differences.

For example, a content manager and data analyst work together to determine which key performance indicators (KPIs) they didn’t hit and why. After reviewing the project, they realized that some team members had to pull attention away from the project to work on a new directive from the chief marketing officer. 

6. Earned value report

An earned value report (EVR) is a document that combines project progress and impact to gauge how much value your team created at a given time. 

For example, if you’re halfway through building a new content initiative that’ll generate $15,000 in revenue, your earned value is $7,500.

Pick the right performance report to make an impact

There’s a performance report for every project scenario, but you’ll learn the most when you pick the right one for the specific job you need to get done, whether that’s ensuring everyone’s on the same page or getting buy-in for a change you want to make.

Dive deeper into the different performance reporting types to understand which you need and learn how to create them:

🚀 Status report: showcases your team’s impact when leadership conducts a review

📅 Progress report: helps you onboard a new team member with project context and upcoming steps

📈 Trend report: gets you stakeholder buy-in for a project pivot

Performance reporting guide

Previous chapter

Trend report

Next chapter

Performance Reports

Performance reports are an essential tool for businesses to track and analyze their performance in different areas of their operations. These reports provide valuable insights into how a business is performing, ensuring that they can identify areas that need improvement and make data-driven decisions. In this article, we will explore why performance reports are important, what data is typically included, how to create effective reports, and much more. We’ll also touch on some of the common mistakes businesses make in performance reporting and how to avoid them.

Table of Contents

Why Performance Reports are Important for Businesses

Performance reports help businesses track their progress towards their goals, making it easier to identify any issues and pivot when necessary. These reports also provide valuable insights into operational efficiency, marketing effectiveness, and financial performance. By analyzing performance data, businesses can understand their strengths and weaknesses and prioritize actions that will drive growth.

Another important benefit of performance reports is that they can help businesses make informed decisions. By having access to accurate and up-to-date data, businesses can make decisions based on facts rather than assumptions or guesswork. This can lead to better outcomes and more successful strategies.

Furthermore, performance reports can also be used to communicate progress and results to stakeholders, such as investors, employees, and customers. This can help build trust and confidence in the business, as well as provide transparency and accountability.

What Data is Included in Performance Reports?

The data included in performance reports varies depending on the business and the specific area being analyzed. However, some of the key metrics that are often measured include financial performance, customer satisfaction, employee productivity, website traffic, and marketing results. The data can be captured through various reporting mechanisms, such as software dashboards, spreadsheets, and analytics tools. Carefully selecting what data to include and how it is presented is critical in creating effective performance reports.

It is important to note that the data included in performance reports should be relevant to the goals and objectives of the business. For example, if the goal is to increase customer satisfaction, then metrics such as customer feedback scores and response times to customer inquiries should be included. Additionally, it is important to consider the frequency of reporting and who the audience is. Some reports may need to be generated daily, while others may only need to be generated monthly or quarterly. Understanding the needs of the audience and the purpose of the report is essential in creating a successful performance report.

How to Create Effective Performance Reports

To create an effective performance report, businesses should establish clear performance goals, select relevant metrics to measure, and set expectations for performance. They should also ensure that the data is collected consistently and accurately, and that the report is easily accessible and understandable to all stakeholders. The report should also provide actionable insights and recommendations to address any issues or areas of improvement identified through the data analysis.

Another important aspect of creating effective performance reports is to ensure that the report is visually appealing and easy to navigate. This can be achieved by using charts, graphs, and tables to present the data in a clear and concise manner. Additionally, businesses should consider using data visualization tools to help stakeholders better understand the data and identify trends and patterns.

Finally, businesses should regularly review and update their performance reports to ensure that they remain relevant and useful. This may involve revisiting performance goals and metrics, updating data collection processes, or incorporating new data sources. By regularly reviewing and updating their performance reports, businesses can ensure that they are providing stakeholders with the most accurate and actionable information possible.

Key Metrics to Track in Performance Reports

Businesses should track metrics that align with their goals, strategies, and target audience. Some commonly tracked metrics may include revenue growth, cost of goods sold, net income, customer satisfaction ratings, social media engagement, website traffic, and email marketing open rates. The key is to ensure that the metrics selected provide a clear indication of business performance and can support strategic decisions. It’s also essential to keep the report visually clear and concise, and where possible, add engaging visuals such as graphs and infographics to better present the data.

Another important metric to track in performance reports is employee satisfaction. Happy employees are more productive, engaged, and likely to stay with the company long-term. Measuring employee satisfaction can be done through surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one meetings. It’s important to track this metric regularly and address any concerns or issues that arise to maintain a positive work environment and retain top talent.

The Benefits of Regularly Reviewing Performance Reports

Regularly reviewing performance reports can help businesses stay on track towards their goals and make any necessary adjustments. Furthermore, reviewing performance reports regularly enables businesses to keep track of progress, identify trends, and make adjustments as necessary. By consistently reviewing performance reports, businesses ensure they are best positioned for success and have the necessary information at hand to make informed decisions.

In addition, regularly reviewing performance reports can also help businesses identify areas where they may need to invest more resources or make changes to their strategies. For example, if a business notices a decline in sales in a particular region, they can use performance reports to identify the cause and make necessary adjustments to their marketing or sales approach. This proactive approach can help businesses stay ahead of potential challenges and maintain a competitive edge in their industry.

Understanding the Role of Performance Reports in Decision Making

Performance reports provide key information to help guide business decisions, whether they relate to strategic planning or day-to-day operations. By analyzing performance data, businesses can identify opportunities for growth, improve operational efficiency, and track the success of initiatives. This data can also inform product development, marketing, and customer service strategies, providing an objective foundation for decision-making.

How to Analyze and Interpret Performance Report Data

Interpreting performance report data can be challenging, particularly as it often involves large sets of data from various sources. Some of the critical steps involved in effective data analysis include selecting the right metrics, segmenting data, and creating clear visualizations. Segmenting data allows businesses to identify trends, while clear visualizations promote understanding and facilitate communication of the report’s key insights and recommendations.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Performance Reporting

Some common mistakes that businesses make in performance reporting include focusing on irrelevant metrics, failing to establish clear goals, and not analyzing data regularly enough. Businesses should ensure that they have clear objectives when creating performance reports and select metrics that directly relate to these objectives. Regularly reviewing the data is vital in ensuring that the business stays on track and can quickly pivot when necessary based on the report’s data.

The Impact of Technology on Performance Reporting

Advances in technology have transformed performance reporting in recent years. More advanced analytics tools and software have made it easier to gather, analyze, and report on performance data accurately. Automation has also emerged as a key technology impacting performance reporting, enabling businesses to generate reports more quickly and accurately, freeing up time and resources, and improving the decision-making process.

Tips for Presenting Performance Reports to Stakeholders

When presenting performance reports to stakeholders, it’s essential to keep the presentation clear, concise, and visually engaging. Begin with a brief overview of the report’s key insights and conclusions, followed by detailed explanation and visualizations of performance data. Where possible, ensure that the presentation is actionable, outlining recommendations to improve performance and encouraging discussion on potential courses of action to address areas requiring improvement.

Best Practices for Using Performance Reports to Drive Business Growth

To use performance reports effectively to drive business growth, businesses should ensure that they have a clear understanding of the data, and that they are tracking metrics that are relevant to their goals. They should also consistently review the data to identify trends and look for opportunities for improvement. Furthermore, businesses should use performance reports to inform their decision-making process, ensuring that they are continually striving to improve operational efficiency and make data-driven decisions that support business growth.

The Relationship Between Performance Reports and Business Strategy

Performance reports play a critical role in business strategy by providing the data necessary to inform decisions that align with business goals and objectives. By analyzing performance data, businesses can see whether their strategies are delivering desired results, and adjust them as necessary. Performance reports also provide insights into areas of operational inefficiency and underperformance, enabling businesses to take action to address these issues and remain on track towards overall business objectives.

How to Use Historical Data in Performance Reporting

Historical data plays a critical role in performance reporting, providing valuable insights into long-term trends and progress towards business objectives. By analyzing historical data, businesses can identify areas that require improvement, track performance trends over time, and identify new opportunities for growth. When using historical data in performance reporting, businesses should ensure that they are comparing apples to apples by accurately capturing and presenting relevant data that is consistent across different periods of time.

The Role of Benchmarking in Measuring Performance

Benchmarking allows businesses to compare their performance to that of their competitors or other businesses in the same industry. This comparison provides context for the business’s performance and can highlight areas where the business is excelling or underperforming. Benchmarking can also provide insights into best practices and give businesses an idea of areas requiring improvement, making it a valuable tool for measuring performance.

Predictive Analytics and its Importance in Performance Reporting

Predictive analytics uses historical data to identify potential future trends and outcomes, making it a valuable tool for forecasting and decision-making. Predictive analytics can also be incorporated into performance reporting to provide valuable insights into expected outcomes and anticipate potential issues before they arise. By leveraging predictive analytics, businesses can better understand how their performance is expected to change over time, informing their decision-making process and their ability to adapt quickly to changes.

Real-life Examples of Successful Implementation of Performance Reporting

Many businesses have successfully implemented performance reporting to drive growth and improve operational efficiency. For example, Amazon uses detailed performance reports to track customer satisfaction, analyze sales data, and identify trends in customer behavior. Netflix uses performance reporting to track user engagement and make data-driven decisions about content development and marketing strategies. These and many other businesses have used performance reporting to drive growth and make informed decisions to improve their bottom line.

Performance reporting is a critical tool for businesses to track performance and make informed decisions based on data. By establishing clear goals, selecting the right metrics, and consistently analyzing and reporting on performance data, businesses can identify areas that require improvement and make data-driven decisions to drive growth and increase profitability. Additionally, by leveraging historical data and predictive analytics, businesses can better anticipate trends and potential issues, on their path to success.

By humans, for humans - Best rated articles:

Excel report templates: build better reports faster, top 9 power bi dashboard examples, excel waterfall charts: how to create one that doesn't suck, beyond ai - discover our handpicked bi resources.

Explore Zebra BI's expert-selected resources combining technology and insight for practical, in-depth BI strategies.

We’ve been experimenting with AI-generated content, and sometimes it gets carried away. Give us a feedback and help us learn and improve! 🤍

Note: This is an experimental AI-generated article. Your help is welcome. Share your feedback with us and help us improve.

.css-s5s6ko{margin-right:42px;color:#F5F4F3;}@media (max-width: 1120px){.css-s5s6ko{margin-right:12px;}} Join us: Learn how to build a trusted AI strategy to support your company's intelligent transformation, featuring Forrester .css-1ixh9fn{display:inline-block;}@media (max-width: 480px){.css-1ixh9fn{display:block;margin-top:12px;}} .css-1uaoevr-heading-6{font-size:14px;line-height:24px;font-weight:500;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;color:#F5F4F3;}.css-1uaoevr-heading-6:hover{color:#F5F4F3;} .css-ora5nu-heading-6{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;color:#0D0E10;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s;transition:all 0.3s;position:relative;font-size:16px;line-height:28px;padding:0;font-size:14px;line-height:24px;font-weight:500;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;color:#F5F4F3;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover{border-bottom:0;color:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover path{fill:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover div{border-color:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover div:before{border-left-color:#CD4848;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active{border-bottom:0;background-color:#EBE8E8;color:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active path{fill:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active div{border-color:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:active div:before{border-left-color:#0D0E10;}.css-ora5nu-heading-6:hover{color:#F5F4F3;} Register now .css-1k6cidy{width:11px;height:11px;margin-left:8px;}.css-1k6cidy path{fill:currentColor;}

• Inspire & Impact Collection |
• 15 types of employee performance review ...

15 types of employee performance reviews (with templates and examples)

An employee performance review is a meeting between a manager and their employee to discuss how the team member is pacing toward organizational goals. Though simple in design, there are many ways to create a more effective process that brings your reviews to life. See the top 15 performance review templates to measure success and improve your review skills.

Measuring success is a key piece to leading an effective team. After all, you can’t improve until you know what skills you need to build. 

You can measure success in different ways—from peer reviews to self reviews and different performance evaluations in between. To figure out the right review style for your team, we’ve put together 15 employee performance review templates to measure job performance effectively.

What is a performance review?

An employee performance review is an evaluation where managers, peers, or other stakeholders assess a team member’s job performance over time. While the performance review process differs depending on the period you evaluate and who is leading the review, there are a few key pieces to a successful review. 

Your performance review process should include:

Employee strengths: Always include feedback and praise regarding the team member’s strengths, such as effective problem solving and communication skills. This offers insight into what the employee is doing well.

Employee weaknesses: It’s also valuable to discuss any weaknesses or areas of opportunity for the team member. Areas of focus could include the ability to work in a team setting or when and how to share ideas more effectively. This is an opportunity for the team member to gain insight into where they have room to improve.  

Rating system: To determine areas of improvement, your performance review should include a rating scale to gauge each employee’s skill level in pre-set categories. A common example is rating employees based on standards such as: consistently exceeds expectations, often exceeds expectations, consistently meets expectations, needs development. You might use these ratings to evaluate the employee across different categories, like strategic mindset, communication skills, and team collaboration.

Review period: During the performance review process, you will measure an employee’s performance relative to a set period. Each organization does this slightly differently, but common periods include annually, bi-annually, or quarterly. 

Set goals: Clear SMART goals give employees a sense of where they can improve and what they should focus on in the future. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. This helps to clearly define performance expectations for your employees. 

Every performance review will have the above elements, but there are other considerations to keep in mind—such as individual skills—that can’t be easily measured. These skills could include your ability to brainstorm in a team setting or support team members for the good of the organization.

Time-oriented performance review templates

Let’s take a look at the first type of employee performance review templates: time-oriented review periods.

1. Annual performance review

Review frequency : Once a year. 

An annual performance review measures a team member’s accomplishments over a year’s time. Overall performance may focus on core competencies as well as individual goals relative to performance management. 

An annual review is a great way to analyze performance history over the course of a year. Be sure to write the performance review down in a shared space. Documenting work in a central source of truth allows you and your employee to review what they did over the course of the year. This creates transparency around expectations and milestones . 

2. Mid-year performance review

Review frequency : Twice a year. 

A mid-year performance review measures a team member’s accomplishments bi-annually. This is a great option for teams who want to create transparency around performance.

That’s because giving team members an opportunity to see where their performance lands every six months allows them to gauge their performance and implement changes where needed. On the other hand, positive performance also gives team members a sense of what they’re excelling at. 

3. Quarterly performance review

Review frequency : Four times a year. 

Take transparent communication one step further with a quarterly performance review. A quarterly performance review evaluates a team member’s success four times a year, and gives your employee a more consistent opportunity to turn weaknesses into strengths. 

Just as other performance review styles, it’s also important to focus as much time and energy on positives as you do on constructive feedback. Both encourage good performance.

4. Year-end performance review

A year-end performance review measures a team member’s success against the financial success of the company. This review is commonly scheduled alongside the evaluation of long-term company goals and is used frequently for operations and marketing teams. This is because their work is closely aligned with financial revenue goals. 

While each company starts and ends their financial year on different timelines, it’s common for a year-end review to happen around the end of the calendar year.

5. 30-60-90 performance review

Review frequency : Once a month for the first three months of employment.

A 30-60-90 day performance review measures a new team member’s success. Often paired alongside a 30-60-90 day plan , this method reviews the new team member against job expectations after their first, second, and third months in the role. 

This review is a great way to give new team members a baseline of how they're meeting their role expectations. It also creates transparency around areas where they should focus more energy and time perfecting skills. Employee onboarding is tricky, and your team members may need to adjust their expectations, focus areas, and priorities as they learn more about the role. Without doing a 30-60-90 review, a new employee might not get a performance review for their first 6+ months working at a company—so they have very little understanding of how they're performing. 

As a manager, one of the most valuable things you can do for new team members is to provide multiple feedback sessions often to show that you're involved, engaged, and invested in your new team members' growth.

Team-oriented performance review templates

As a manager, you have a unique understanding of how your team member is performing in their role. But you can’t always see everything they’re doing. Employee performance review templates centered around team goals are a great way to gather feedback from other members of the team. Use these in combination with more traditional manager feedback to get a holistic review of an employee’s performance. 

6. Self evaluation review

Review frequency : Annually, bi-annually, or quarterly. 

A self-evaluation is where a team member evaluates their own performance. This gives you a better understanding of how each team member views their skills. It’s important to know that a self evaluation isn’t used to take work off your plate. Instead, it has its own benefits such as giving the team member a chance to communicate their viewpoint. 

Oftentimes you will then provide your employee feedback on the self-evaluation, using a physical or digital form. This creates balance between manager vs. employee viewpoints to ensure both are aligned. This is done during a one-on-one meeting where you’ll both chat about your feedback to perform a holistic performance review. 

7. Peer review

Review frequency : Annually or bi-annually.

Oftentimes, annual or biannual reviews will also have a peer review component. This gives peers an opportunity to answer questions and evaluate their coworkers—most commonly in written form. To use this feedback, collect the peer feedback, your feedback, and any self-review feedback during an annual or biannual review period. 

The main value of a peer review is giving team members an opportunity to see their value and areas of opportunity from other perspectives. Depending on the size of your team and your relationship with the team members, you may not have insight into everything each team member does. Peer reviews are an opportunity for team members to share that perspective with you, so you have a more holistic picture of the employee's performance.

8. Team performance review

A team performance review is where a group of individuals rate the performance of the team as a whole. Hearing multiple opinions from different individuals can help you understand the group’s needs, as well as identify where growth opportunities lie. This type of review is most valuable for managers. 

You can do this by asking each team member to fill out a self-assessment and answer questions about the team and the team’s goals. For example, you might ask:

How well did the team work together as a group?

Name one example of good team collaboration in the last period. 

Name one example where team collaboration was less effective in the last period.

How comfortable are you communicating feedback to your peers? What about your manager? 

What improvements could be made to enable better team collaboration?

Performance review templates

If none of the above performance review templates felt quite right, take a look at general employee performance review templates that work for most situations and teams. 

9. Simple performance review

A simple performance review focuses on performance phrases rather than numbers. This is because it’s crucial to give team members context about how they’re doing. Providing a rating without context can be confusing to team members and hinder their growth. 

A simple performance review helps keep expectations as clear as possible, without confusing the employee. Overall, it’s the best style when looking for a basic yet effective way to communicate performance.  

Center a performance review around goals and use examples to back up data. Without that, it can be challenging for team members to understand exactly how they can improve and meet expectations.

10. Goal setting review

Review frequency : Annually or bi-annually. 

Goals setting reviews focus on a team member's expected objectives. These goals can focus on an employee's professional objectives and how they align with the company's long-term strategy. For example, as a team lead , your goal over the next quarter might be to streamline cross-functional communication. This aligns with the company’s goal to create greater transparency across all departments.

Goal setting reviews should follow the SMART goal acronym to ensure they are specific and measurable enough to evaluate. SMART stands for s pecific, m easurable, a chievable, r ealistic, and t ime-bound. 

11. 360 performance review

A 360 performance review measures an employee’s performance from the perspective of all relevant team members. This includes self-feedback, peer feedback, manager feedback, and employee feedback about the manager if applicable. 

This type of review is particularly useful for managers who want feedback from their direct reports. Use this review template if you want insight from the people you work closely with, regardless of how their role relates to yours.

12. Professional development review

A professional development review measures a team member’s personal goals. This is important when you’re looking to evaluate a team member’s career trajectory. It ensures they’re meeting their role’s needs and developing personal objectives such as growing their leadership skills. 

By connecting job and personal goals, the employee can better understand how their role is supporting their career development. For example, imagine your employee shared that they eventually want to grow in a leadership position. Part of their professional development plan is to identify areas where they can get involved in a more strategic role. During your professional development feedback session, you can review the concrete steps they took towards that goal and outline additional next steps they can work towards.

13. Performance improvement review

Review frequency : Only when an employee is underperforming.  

Before using a performance improvement review, make sure you have an improvement plan in place. It’s important to communicate the expected performance goals ahead of time so the individual has a chance to meet their expectations. Once objectives are clear, you can use a performance improvement review to measure the team member’s success against previously defined expectations.

An improvement review measures your team member’s success based on a previously established performance plan. Use an improvement plan to clearly define expectations on how an employee can work to meet those objectives. Put a performance plan into place when an individual is underperforming based on their job description. 

14. Compensation check-in

A compensation check-in is a review of a team member’s performance to evaluate the merit of a raise. This type of review doesn’t guarantee a promotion, but it can  help create transparency around the expectations associated with an annual raise.

To do this effectively, be sure to provide examples of work where the employee went above and beyond their job description. This will create transparency around performance and promotion trajectory. 

15. Excelling feedback review

Review frequency : Only when an employee is excelling in their role.  

On the opposite end of the spectrum, use an excelling feedback review to measure and detail an individual’s successes. This review template gives the employee additional context about how their excellent work has positively impacted the team or company. This is why it’s commonly used in unison with a compensation check-in.

Taking a moment to acknowledge this performance can help boost employee morale , giving you both a moment to reflect on what went well.

Sample performance review example

Now that you understand the 15 most popular employee review templates, it’s time to craft one of your own. We created a sample performance review to give you an idea of what a general review template might look like. 

Employee name: Daniela Vargas

Review period: Q4

Date of review: January 1

Employee rating: Often exceeds expectations

Strengths: Daniela had an excellent quarter. She excelled in team collaboration by stepping up to help team members brainstorm solutions in order to meet deadlines. It’s clear that Daniela really cares about her work and her teammates and embodies Apollo Enterprises’ core values. 

Opportunity: While Daniela excelled in collaboration, I believe she could improve her thought leadership. There are opportunities for Daniela to learn new skills by attending workshops and keeping up with industry news which she can then bring back to the team. 

Learn one new industry skill a month in Q1. 

Lead two team meetings to share thought leadership by the end of Q2.

While you can use this sample as a starting point for your own effective performance review process, remember to put your own team flare into it. 

How to prepare for a performance appraisal

A performance review is a two-way conversation between an employee and their manager to discuss their strengths, quality of work, and future goals. Preparing for a performance appraisal, whether you're in human resources, a manager, or an employee, creates an evaluation process that helps to fairly evaluate and document employee progress and engagement.

For managers:

Thoroughly review the employee's past performance. Consider using an annual performance review template to assess employee development and any areas needing improvement.

Set clear, achievable long-term and short-term objectives for the next performance review cycle. These should match the company's goals and support both employee progress and organizational growth.

Have an open dialogue to boost employee engagement. Offer clear examples of past performance and provide constructive feedback to guide the conversation.

For employees:

Reflect on your performance. Identify strengths and areas for growth. Use the employee self evaluation form to organize your thoughts and achievements.

Think about your career goals. Set key performance indicators (KPIs) that support these goals, and prepare to discuss them with your manager.

Prepare specific examples of your work to discuss , including achievements, challenges, and the support you need moving forward to improve your performance rating and growth.

Employee performance evaluation follow-up

Both managers and employees should actively engage in follow-up actions after a performance evaluation. This ensures that feedback and action plans are effectively implemented, setting the stage for professional development. Here’s where employee development plans and performance improvement plans turn evaluation insights into actionable growth strategies.

Employee development plan

An employee development plan outlines a roadmap for an employee's professional growth and skill enhancement. Here are a few details to include:

Define specific goals based on appraisal insights to guide employee progress.

Identify essential skills and competencies for career development.

Set clear milestones, metrics, and timelines for achieving professional growth objectives.

Maintain ongoing communication and make necessary adjustments to the development plan as needed.

Employee performance improvement plan

When a performance review form identifies areas for improvement, an employee performance improvement plan specifies those areas and outlines specific, measurable goals for boosting performance.

To ensure accountability, establish realistic metrics and timelines for achieving each goal.

Conduct regular employee progress reviews to monitor advancements and tackle challenges.

Provide continuous support and adjust the plan as needed to ensure the employee's success.

How to give constructive feedback

Before you dive into the structure and style of various performance reviews, you must understand how to give constructive criticism effectively. Constructive criticism focuses on providing helpful feedback supported by specific examples. This gives team members the context they need to understand why they received the feedback they did.

To give effective and detailed feedback , be sure to do the following. 

Notify the employee before you meet

If you don't have a lot of experience giving feedback, it can be tempting to launch into a feedback session and get it over with as soon as possible. But in fact, the opposite is true. The more time you give your team member to prepare to receive the feedback, the more valuable the session will be. That’s because team members who are notified in advance can get into the right mindset to receive feedback openly without becoming defensive or passive. 

Be sure to let the employee know about the feedback session before you sit down for the official conversation. If possible, tell the employee what the feedback will be about. For example, you might say “During our quarterly performance review next week, I’d love for you to walk through your three proudest accomplishments from the last quarter and three things you want to focus on during the next quarter. Then, I’ll share the same thing. Together, we’ll come up with next steps and focus areas for you to dive into in the coming months.” This will give them time to prepare for the meeting and prep any relevant questions on their end.

Communicate in private

It’s easy for constructive feedback to accidentally turn into a negative experience if you share it in a group setting. No matter the type or style of performance review, make sure you’re communicating feedback in a private one-on-one setting. This ensures the employee doesn’t feel targeted in a group setting. 

If the type of performance review style you’re using includes feedback from more than one person—for example, peer reviews—it’s your responsibility as the team manager to aggregate that feedback and present it to your team member in private. Keeping the feedback session between you and your team member gives them a chance to process the feedback on their own time.

Offer actionable feedback

To ensure your feedback is constructive, always pair it with data-backed insights and actionable next steps. Doing so creates transparency around why the employee got a specific review based on their work. Offer specific feedback with details around what's been working well, what they can improve, and how to get there.

For example, imagine your team member has missed some important deadlines. You want to share that feedback with them so they can prioritize hitting their due dates in the coming months. In this example, it's significantly more valuable if you can include specific examples of due dates they missed. That way, you and your team members can refer to specific instances, work to figure out what went wrong, and then come up with concrete action items and processes they can implement in the future.

Document feedback in writing

Be sure to document constructive feedback in writing. You can do this in a feedback system or a tool like Asana . This way, you and the employee can look back on past performance and measure objectives accordingly.

This goes for positive as well as constructive feedback. Oftentimes, we overlook documenting positive feedback since, well, it’s positive. But keeping track of the team member’s major wins is a great way to increase team morale while reducing impostor syndrome and burnout .

Boost collaboration with performance review templates

A performance review is an excellent way to measure a team member’s performance. It offers transparency around expectations and serves as an opportunity to communicate honestly with your team. 

Making the process as transparent as possible is the best way to foster honest feedback and the desire to improve performance. Communication is at the center of an effective review process. 

From giving feedback with context to streamlining collaboration, Asana can help. Improve your communication not only during a performance review but every day with Asana’s team communication software.

Related resources

What is self-management? (7 skills to improve it)

Don’t like giving feedback? These 20 tips are for you

How to delegate effectively: 10 tips for managers

Why you should prioritize employee empowerment

• Contact sales

Start free trial

Project Performance Reporting: Key Performance Reports

Keeping tabs on the performance of your project is an essential part of project management. Tracking project performance gives project managers the data they need to keep the actual effort of the project aligned with the planned effort and deliver the project on time and within its budget.

But what exactly is project performance? We’ll answer that question and then show you how to measure project performance in your project. There are six basic constraints to consider. Then we’ll show the types of project performance reports that can help steer your project and keep stakeholders updated.

What Is Project Performance?

Project performance is the measurement of various project metrics to determine if the project is moving in the right direction. It allows project managers to gauge the actual performance of the project and see if that aligns with the planned performance, such as meeting schedule milestones and costs associated with the project budget.

The overall measurement of project performance metrics will look at the objectives and requirements of scope, cost and schedule or the project management triangle. This is done during the execution phase and the monitoring and controlling phase of the project, two project management phases that overlap.

When a project manager identifies a scope, cost or schedule variance then they have to balance the project management triangle to keep the project on track. For example, if the project is running behind schedule that might require more financial resources or a change in scope to get the project back on schedule.

Being able to view project performance as you execute a project is vital for delivering that project on time and on budget. Project management software can help. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that has real-time dashboards that track project scope, cost and schedule. Our live dashboard automatically collects project metrics in real time and displays them on easy-to-read graphs and charts showing time, cost, progress and much more. Unlike lightweight alternatives, our dashboard doesn’t require a lengthy set up. Just toggle over and it’s ready to go.

How to Measure Project Performance

When measuring project performance, you’re actually tracking specific project metrics. There are many project metrics that you can monitor to measure your project performance The most common project performance metrics are cost, time, scope, quality, risk and resources. You might have noticed that the project management triangle is in there. That’s because it’s three of the main project constraints, but not the only ones. These six metrics are also project constraints as they are areas of the project that can impact performance. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

Cost is the filter by which you see the financial performance of a project. Once you have a budget, be sure to save that information as it’s critical to measuring cost. That’s because you can then use it to compare against what you’re actually spending to ensure that you’re keeping to your budget. Naturally, if the figures are the same, you’re on the right track. If there’s a discrepancy, as in you’re spending more than you should be by this point, you’re going to have to address that to keep to your budget.

Just as you measure cost, you want to measure time. This will help you determine if the project is on schedule. And just as you capture the planned budget, you’ll want to capture the planned schedule. Meeting milestones and deadlines is important. It’s a chance to celebrate with your team, which helps morale and, in turn, productivity. But it also lets you know that you’re keeping to your schedule. Again, if when comparing the planned schedule to the actual schedule the figures aren’t equal, then you could be running behind (or ahead) of schedule. If you’re behind, you’re going to need to make adjustments to get back on track.

Earned value analysis (EVA) is a measurement that’s often used for financial performance and progress based on the variance between the planned and actual cost and schedule of the project. However, it can be used to calculate scope variance as well. This is done by comparing the planned value and the earned value of the project. The planned value is the budgeted cost of the work that should have been completed by that point. The earned value is the budgeted cost of the work that has been done. The scope variance is the difference between the earned value and the planned value. A positive scope variance means you’re ahead of schedule, while a negative one means you’re behind.

To measure quality performance, you’ll want to compare the actual results with the expected results. Then you can identify any gaps or deviations. Remember, there are a lot of factors related to quality performance, such as customer satisfaction, stakeholder feedback and the efficiency of your process. After the fact, you can measure the return rate, complaints by customers, customer loyalty and retention. But you should work hard to maintain quality during production.

Risk is an unexpected event in a project. That event can be negative or positive, but either way needs to be either mitigated or taken advantage of. Therefore, you’ll need to create a risk management plan that identifies risk and plans to address any issues that in fact show up in the project. That’s why it’s so important to measure performance. Risk can appear in any of the categories we’ve outlined. In fact, they’re all risks. The closer you monitor performance, the faster you’ll be able to identify and resolve risk in your project.

Get your free

Risk Management Plan Template

Use this free Risk Management Plan Template for Word to manage your projects better.

Resources are another performance measurement. In project performance, you’ll want to keep an eye on five key performance indicators (KPIs): utilization rate, billable vs. non-billable hours, schedule variance, scheduled vs. actual hours worked and revenue per resource. Utilization rate is the number of hours worked by a resource divided by the number of hours in a given time period. Tracking that and the other four project performance metrics will give you an idea of how your resources are performing and if they’re meeting your project expectations.

Types of Project Performance Reports

Project performance reports are a way to measure the various project metrics in order to see if you’re moving in the right direction. They also act as a communication tool informing stakeholders on the progress of the project, who get a more general report on milestones. Project managers, though, want more detailed reports on resources, costs, etc. There are many project performance reports , the following are some of the most important ones.

Project Status Report

A project status report is a snapshot of the project over a period of time. It shows where the project is compared to various performance measurement baselines. Project managers are able to see the scope, time, cost and quality of the project over a specific time period, which informs them on how to act moving forward.

Budget Report

A budget report captures the project costs over a period of time. It will note what has been spent and what the budget is expected to have been spent at this point in the project. Then the discrepancy between the two is noted so a project manager can tell if the project is running as planned, under or over its budget.

Progress Report

The progress report captures what has been accomplished in terms of tasks since the last report. It can also compare the planned progress against the actual progress to determine if the project is on schedule.

Earned Value Report

The earned value report combines the project performance on scope and schedule to show how they’re tracking in comparison to the plan. This data is often incorporated into the status report.

Variance Report

The variance report compares the plan against the actual progress or cost of the project. This, again, is a great way to know if the project is performing as planned.

How ProjectManager Helps With Project Performance Reporting

ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that has real-time dashboards and reporting tools that measure project performance. Our tool has five project views—Gantt boards, kanban boards, task lists, calendar and sheet views. Each of these project views provides some project performance information, such as percent complete. Data is shared simultaneously across all project views so everyone is able to track their performance regardless of the project view they use.

Use Gantt Charts to Set Up Project Performance Reporting

Our powerful Gantt charts organize your tasks, resources and costs, linking task dependencies, filtering for the critical path and setting a baseline. Once the baseline is set, your project plan is captured and then can be used to compare against your actual progress on the real-time dashboard and our reporting tools. This is done in real time so you’re always looking at live data, which is going to help project managers make more insightful decisions.

Use Customizable Reports To Monitor Project Performance

All the reports listed above can be found in our software’s reporting features. Each report is easy to generate and can be filtered to display only the data you want. That way you can focus on something specific, say that stakeholders will be interested in, or get more detailed information that project managers will require to make informed decisions about the course of the project. There are status reports and even portfolio reports for those managing multiple projects, as well as reports on variance, timesheets, workload and much more. All the reports can also be shared across various formats.

Of course, project performance reporting only shines a light on the project. The project manager must use this clear view to steer the project to a successful completion. Our software has task management, resource management and risk management tools to help do this. Plus, there’s automated workflow, with task approvals to ensure quality and much more.

ProjectManager is online project management software that gives teams the tools they need to collaborate. They can share files, comment at the task level and much more. Project managers are given tools to plan, manage and track work in real time to keep the project running smoothly. Join teams at companies as diverse as Avis, Nestle and Siemens who are using our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

Deliver your projects on time and under budget

Start planning your projects.

A Guide To The Top 14 Types Of Reports With Examples Of When To Use Them

Table of Contents

1) What Is The Report Definition?

2) Top 14 Types Of Reports

3) What Does A Report Look Like?

4) What To Look For In A Reporting Tool

Businesses have been producing reports forever. No matter what role or industry you work in, chances are that you have been faced with the task of generating a tedious report to show your progress or performance.

While reporting has been a common practice for many decades, the business world keeps evolving, and with more competitive industries, the need to generate fast and accurate reports becomes critical. This presents a problem for many modern organizations today, as building reports can take from hours to days. In fact, a survey about management reports performed by Deloitte says that 50% of managers are unsatisfied with the speed of delivery and the quality of the reports they receive. 

With this issue in mind, several BI tools have been developed to assist businesses in generating interactive reports with just a few clicks, enhancing the way companies make critical decisions and service insights from their most valuable data.

But, with so many types of reports used daily, how can you know when to use them effectively? How can you push yourself ahead of the pack with the power of information? Here, we will explore the 14 most common types of reports in business and provide some examples of when to use them to your brand-boosting advantage. In addition, we will see how online dashboards have overthrown the static nature of classic reports and given way to a much faster, more interactive way of working with data.

Let’s get started with a brief report definition.

What Is The Report Definition?

A report is a document that presents relevant business information in an organized and understandable format. Each report is aimed at a specific audience and business purpose, and it summarizes the development of different activities based on goals and objectives.  

That said, there are various types of reports that can be used for different purposes. Whether you want to track the progress of your strategies or stay compliant with financial laws, there is a different report for each task. To help you identify when to use them, we will cover the top 14 most common report formats used for businesses today. 

What Are The Different Types Of Reports?

1. Informational Reports 

The first in our list of reporting types is informational reports. As their name suggests, this report type aims to give factual insights about a specific topic. This can include performance reports, expense reports, and justification reports, among others. A differentiating characteristic of these reports is their objectivity; they are only meant to inform but not propose solutions or hypotheses. Common informational reports examples are for performance tracking, such as annual, monthly, or weekly reports . 

2. Analytical Reports 

This report type contains a mix of useful information to facilitate the decision-making process through a mix of qualitative and quantitative insights as well as real-time and historical insights. Unlike informational reports that purely inform users about a topic, this report type also aims to provide recommendations about the next steps and help with problem-solving. With this information in hand, businesses can build strategies based on analytical evidence and not simple intuition. With the use of the right BI reporting tool , businesses can generate various types of analytical reports that include accurate forecasts via predictive analytics technologies. Let's look at it with an analytical report example.

**click to enlarge**

The example above is the perfect representation of how analytical reports can boost a business’s performance. By getting detailed information such as sales opportunities, a probability rate, as well as an accurate pipeline value forecast based on historical data, sales teams can prepare their strategies in advance, tackle any inefficiencies, and make informed decisions for increased efficiency. 

3. Operational Reports 

These reports track every pertinent detail of the company's operational tasks, such as its production processes. They are typically short-term reports as they aim to paint a picture of the present. Businesses use this type of report to spot any issues and define their solutions or to identify improvement opportunities to optimize their operational efficiency. Operational reports are commonly used in manufacturing, logistics, and retail as they help keep track of inventory, production, and costs, among others. 

4. Product Reports

As its name suggests, this report type is used to monitor several aspects related to product development. Businesses often use them to track which of their products or subscriptions are selling the most within a given time period, calculate inventories, or see what kind of product the client values the most. Another common use case of these reports is to research the implementation of new products or develop existing ones. Let’s see it in more detail with a visual example. 

The image above is a product report that shows valuable insights regarding usage intention, purchase intention, willingness to pay, and more. In this case, the report is based on the answers from a survey that aimed to understand how the target customer would receive a new product. Getting this level of insights through this report type is very useful for businesses as it allows them to make smart investments when it comes to new products as well as set realistic pricing based on their client’s willingness to pay. 

5. Industry Reports 

Next in our list of the most common kinds of reports, we have industry-specific reports. Typically, these reports provide an overview of a particular industry, market, or sector with definitions, key trends, leading companies, and industry size, among others. They are particularly useful for businesses that want to enter a specific industry and want to learn how competitive it is or for companies who are looking to set performance benchmarks based on average industry values. 

6. Department Reports

These reports are specific to each department or business function. They serve as a communication tool between managers and team members who must stay connected and work together for common goals. Whether it is the sales department, customer service, logistics, or finances, this specific report type helps track and optimize strategies on a deeper level. Let’s look at it with an example of a team performance report . 

The image above is a department report created with an online data analysis tool , and it tracks the performance of a support team. This insightful report displays relevant metrics such as the top-performing agents, net promoter score, and first contact resolution rate, among others. Having this information in hand not only helps each team member to keep track of their individual progress but also allows managers to understand who needs more training and who is performing at their best. 

7. Progress Reports

From the brunch of informational reports, progress reports provide critical information about the status of a project. These reports can be produced on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis by employees or managers to track performance and fine-tune tasks for the better development of the project. Progress reports are often used as visual materials to support meetings and discussions. A good example is a KPI scorecard . 

8. Internal Reports

A type of report that encompasses many others on this list, internal reports refer to any type of report that is used internally in a business. They convey information between team members and departments to keep communication flowing regarding goals and business objectives. 

As mentioned above, internal reports are useful communication tools to keep every relevant person in the organization informed and engaged. This healthcare report aims to do just that. By providing insights into the performance of different departments and areas of a hospital, such as in and outpatients, average waiting times, treatment costs, and more, healthcare managers can allocate resources and plan the schedule accurately, as well as monitor any changes or issues in real-time. 

9. External Reports

Although most of the reports types listed here are used for internal purposes, not all reporting is meant to be used behind closed doors. External reports are created to share information with external stakeholders such as clients or investors for budget or progress accountability, as well as to governmental bodies to stay compliant with the law requirements.

The image above is the perfect example of an external client report from an IT project. This insightful report provides a visual overview of every relevant aspect of the project's development. From deadlines, budget usage, completion stage, and task breakdown, clients can be fully informed and involved in the project. 

10. Vertical & Lateral Reports 

Next, in our rundown of types of reports, we have vertical and lateral reports. This reporting type refers to the direction in which a report travels. A vertical report is meant to go upward or downward the hierarchy, for example, a management report. A lateral report assists in organization and communication between groups that are at the same level of the hierarchy, such as the financial and marketing departments.

11. Research Reports

Without a doubt, one of the most vital reporting types for any modern business is centered on research. Being able to collect, collate, and drill down into insights based on key pockets of your customer base or industry will give you the tools to drive innovation while meeting your audience’s needs head-on.

The image above is a market research analytics report example for customer demographics. It serves up a balanced blend of metrics that will empower you to boost engagement as well as retention rates. Here, you can drill down into your audience’s behaviors, interests, gender, educational levels, and tech adoption life cycles with a simple glance.

What’s particularly striking about this dashboard is the fact that you can explore key trends in brand innovation with ease, gaining a working insight into how your audience perceives your business. This invaluable type of report will help you get under the skin of your consumers, driving growth and loyalty in the process.

12. Strategic Reports

Strategy is a vital component of every business, big or small. Strategic analytics tools are perhaps the broadest and most universal of all the different types of business reports imaginable.

These particular tools exist to help you understand, meet, and exceed your most pressing organizational goals consistently by serving up top-level metrics on a variety of initiatives or functions.

By working with strategic-style tools, you will:

• Improve internal motivation and engagement
• Refine your plans and strategies for the best possible return on investment (ROI)
• Enhance internal communication and optimize the way your various departments run
• Create more room for innovation and creative thinking

13. Project Reports

Projects are key to keeping a business moving in the right direction while keeping innovation and evolution at the forefront of every plan, communication, or campaign. But without the right management tools, a potentially groundbreaking project can become a resource-sapping disaster.

A project management report serves as a summary of a particular project's status and its various components. It's a visual tool that you can share with partners, colleagues, clients, and stakeholders to showcase your project's progress at multiple stages. Let’s look at our example and dig a little deeper.

To ensure consistent success across the board, the kinds of reports you must work with are based on project management. 

Our example is a project management dashboard equipped with a melting pot of metrics designed to improve the decision-making process while keeping every facet of your company’s most important initiatives under control. Here, you can spot pivotal trends based on costs, task statuses, margins, costs, and overall project revenue. With this cohesive visual information at your fingertips, not only can you ensure the smooth end-to-end running of any key project, but you can also drive increased operational efficiency as you move through every significant milestone.

14. Statutory Reports

It may not seem exciting or glamorous, but keeping your business's statutory affairs in order is vital to your ongoing commercial health and success.

When it comes to submitting such vital financial and non-financial information to official bodies, one small error can result in serious repercussions. As such, working with statutory types of report formats is a water-tight way of keeping track of your affairs and records while significantly reducing the risk of human error.

Armed with interactive insights and dynamic visuals, you will keep your records clean and compliant while gaining the ability to nip any potential errors or issues in the bud.

What Does A Report Look Like?

Now that we’ve covered the most relevant types of reports, we will answer the question: what does a report look like? 

As mentioned at the beginning of this insightful guide, static reporting is a thing of the past. With the rise of modern technologies like self-service BI tools , the use of interactive reports in the shape of business dashboards has become more and more popular among companies.

Unlike static reports that take time to be generated and are difficult to understand, modern reporting tools are intuitive. Their visual nature makes them easy to understand for any type of user, and they provide businesses with a central view of their most important performance indicators for an improved decision-making process. Here, we will cover 20 useful dashboard examples from different industries, functions, and platforms to put the value of dashboard reporting into perspective. 

1. Financial Report

Keeping finances in check is critical for success. This financial report offers an overview of the most important financial metrics that a business needs to monitor its economic activities and answer vital questions to ensure healthy finances. 

With insights about liquidity, invoicing, budgeting, and general financial stability, managers can extract long and short-term conclusions to reduce inefficiencies, make accurate forecasts about future performance, and keep the overall financial efficiency of the business flowing. For instance, getting a detailed calculation of the business's working capital can allow you to understand how liquid your company is. If it's higher than expected, it means you have the potential to invest and grow—definitely, one of the most valuable types of finance reports.

2. Marketing Report 

Our following example is a marketing report that ensures a healthy return on investment from your marketing efforts. This type of report offers a detailed overview of campaign performance over the last 12 weeks. Having access to this information enables you to maximize the value of your promotional actions, keeping your audience engaged by providing a targeted experience. 

For instance, you can implement different campaign formats as a test and then compare which one is most successful for your business. This is possible thanks to the monitoring of important marketing metrics such as the click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), cost per acquisition (CPA), and more. 

The visual nature of this report makes it easy to understand important insights at a glance. For example, the four gauge charts at the top show the total spending from all campaigns and how much of the total budget of each campaign has been used. In just seconds, you can see if you are on target to meet your marketing budgets for every single campaign. 

3. Sales Report

An intuitive sales dashboard like the one above is the perfect analytical tool to monitor and optimize sales performance. Armed with powerful high-level metrics, this report type is especially interesting for managers, executives, and sales VPs as it provides relevant information to ensure strategic and operational success. 

The value of this sales report lies in the fact that it offers a complete and comprehensive overview of relevant insights needed to make smart sales decisions. For instance, at the top of an analysis tool, you get important metrics such as the number of sales, revenue, profit, and costs, all compared to a set target and to the previous time period. The use of historical data is fundamental when building successful sales strategies as they provide a picture of what could happen in the future. Being able to filter the key metrics all in one screen is a key benefit of modern reporting. 

4. HR Report 

Our next example of a report is about human resources analytics . The HR department needs to track various KPIs for employee performance and effectiveness. But overall, they have to ensure that employees are happy and working in a healthy environment since an unhappy workforce can significantly damage an organization. This is all possible with the help of this intuitive dashboard. 

Providing a comprehensive mix of metrics, this employee-centric report drills down into every major element needed to ensure successful workforce management. For example, the top portion of the dashboard covers absenteeism in 3 different ways: yearly average, absenteeism rate with a target of 3.8%, and absenteeism over the last five years. Tracking absenteeism rates in detail is helpful as it can tell you if your employees are skipping work days. If the rate is over the expected target, then you have to dig deeper into the reasons and find sustainable solutions. 

On the other hand, the second part of the dashboard covers the overall labor effectiveness (OLE). This can be tracked based on specific criteria that HR predefined, and it helps them understand if workers are achieving their targets or if they need extra training or help. 

5. Management Report

Managers must monitor big amounts of information to ensure that the business is running smoothly. One of them being investor relationships. This management dashboard focuses on high-level metrics that shareholders need to look at before investing, such as the return on assets, return on equity, debt-equity ratio, and share price, among others. 

By getting an overview of these important metrics, investors can easily extract the needed information to make an informed decision regarding an investment in your business. For instance, the return on assets measures how efficiently are the company's assets being used to generate profit. With this information, investors can understand how effectively your company deploys available resources compared to others in the market. Another great indicator is the share price; the higher the increase in your share price, the more money your shareholders are making from their investment. 

6. IT Report 

Just like all the other departments and sections covered in this list, the IT department is one that can especially benefit from these types of reports. With so many technical issues to solve, the need for a visual tool to help IT specialists stay on track with their workload becomes critical. 

As seen in the image above, this IT dashboard offers detailed information about different system indicators. For starters, we get a visual overview of the status of each server, followed by a detailed graph displaying the uptime & downtime of each week. This is complemented by the most common downtown issues and some ticket management information. Getting this level of insight helps your IT staff to know what is happening and when it is happening and find proper solutions to prevent these issues from repeating themselves. Keeping constant track of these metrics will ensure robust system performance. 

7. Procurement Report

The following example of a report was built with intuitive procurement analytics software , and it gives a general view of various metrics that the procurement department needs to work with regularly. 

With the possibility to filter, drill down, and interact with KPIs, this intuitive procurement dashboard offers key information to ensure a healthy supplier relationship. With metrics such as compliance rate, the number of suppliers, or the purchase order cycle time, the procurement team can classify the different suppliers, define the relationship each of them has with the company, and optimize processes to ensure it stays profitable.

8. Customer Service Report

Following our list of examples of reports is one from the support area. Armed with powerful customer service KPIs , this dashboard is a useful tool to monitor performance, spot trends, identify strengths and weaknesses, and improve the overall effectiveness of the customer support department. 

Covering aspects such as revenue and costs from customer support as well as customer satisfaction, this complete analysis tool is the perfect tool for managers who have to keep an eye on every little detail from a performance and operational perspective. For example, by monitoring your customer service costs and comparing them to the revenue, you can understand if you are investing the right amount into your support processes. This can be directly related to your agent’s average time to solve issues; the longer it takes to solve a support ticket, the more money it will cost and the less revenue it will bring. If you see that your agents are taking too long to solve an issue, you can think of some training instances to help them reduce this number. 

9. Market Research Report 

This list of report types examples would not be complete without a market research report . Market research agencies deal with a large amount of information coming from surveys and other research sources. Taking all this into account, the need for reports that can be filtered for deeper interaction becomes more necessary for this industry than any other. 

The image above is a brand analytics dashboard that displays the survey results about how the public perceives a brand. This savvy tool contains different charts that make it easy to understand the information visually. For instance, the map chart with the different colors lets you quickly understand in which regions each age range is located. The charts can be filtered further to see the detailed answers from each group for a deeper analysis. 

10. Social Media Report 

Last but not least, we have a social media report .  This scorecard format dashboard monitors the performance of 4 main social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, and it serves as a perfect visual overview to track the performance of different social media efforts and achievements. 

Tracking relevant metrics such as followers, impressions, clicks, engagement rates, and conversions, this report type serves as a perfect progress report to show to managers or clients who need to see the status of their social channels. Each metric is shown in its actual value and compared to a set target. The colors green and red from the fourth column let you quickly understand if a metric is over or under its expected target. 

11. Logistics Report

Logistics are the cornerstone of an operationally fluent and progressive business. If you deal with large quantities of goods and tangible items, in particular, maintaining a solid logistical strategy is vital to ensuring you maintain your brand reputation while keeping things flowing in the right direction.

A prime example of the types of data reporting tool designed to improve logistical management, our warehouse KPI dashboard is equipped with metrics required to maintain strategic movement while eliminating any unnecessary costs or redundant processes. Here, you can dig into your shipping success rates across regions while accessing warehouse costs and perfect order rates in real-time. If you spot any potential inefficiencies, you can track them here and take the correct course of action to refine your strategy. This is an essential tool for any business with a busy or scaling warehouse.

12. Manufacturing Report

Next, in our essential types of business reports examples, we’re looking at tools made to improve your business’s various manufacturing processes.

Our clean and concise production tool is a sight to behold and serves up key manufacturing KPIs that improve the decision-making process regarding costs, volume, and machinery.

Here, you can hone in on historical patterns and trends while connecting with priceless real-time insights that will not only help you make the right calls concerning your manufacturing process at the moment but will also help you formulate predictive strategies that will ultimately save money, boost productivity, and result in top-quality products across the board.

13. Retail Report

As a retailer with so many channels to consider and so many important choices to make, working with the right metrics and visuals is absolutely essential. Fortunately, we live in an age where there are different types of reporting designed for this very reason.

Our sales and order example, generated with retail analytics software , is a dream come true for retailers as it offers the visual insights needed to understand your product range in greater detail while keeping a firm grip on your order volumes, perfect order rates, and reasons for returns.

Gaining access to these invaluable insights in one visually presentable space will allow you to track increases or decreases in orders over a set timeframe (and understand whether you’re doing the right things to drive engagement) while plowing your promotional resources into the products that are likely to offer the best returns.

Plus, by gaining an accurate overview of why people are returning your products, you can omit problem items or processes from your retail strategy, improving your brand reputation as well as revenue in the process.

14. Digital Media Report

The content and communications you publish are critical to your ongoing success, regardless of your sector, niche, or specialty. Without putting out communications that speak directly to the right segments of your audience at the right times in their journey, your brand will swiftly fade into the background.

To ensure your brand remains inspiring, engaging, and thought-leading across channels, working with media types of a business report is essential. You must ensure your communications cut through the noise and scream ‘quality’ from start to finish—no ifs, no buts, no exceptions.

Our content quality control tool is designed with a logical hierarchy that will tell you if your content sparks readership, if the language you’re using is inclusive and conversational, and how much engagement-specific communications earn. You can also check your most engaged articles with a quick glance to understand what your users value most. Armed with this information, you can keep creating content that your audience loves and ultimately drives true value to the business.

15. Energy Report

In the age of sustainability and in the face of international fuel hikes, managing the energy your business uses effectively is paramount. Here, there is little room for excess or error, and as such, working with the right metrics is the only way to ensure successful energy regulation.

If your company has a big HQ or multiple sites that require power, our energy management analytics tool will help you take the stress out of managing your resources. One of the most striking features of this dashboard is the fact that it empowers you to compare your company’s energy usage against those from other sectors and set an accurate benchmark.

Here, you can also get a digestible breakdown of your various production costs regarding energy consumption and the main sources you use to keep your organization running. Regularly consulting these metrics will not only help you save colossal chunks of your budget, but it will also give you the intelligence to become more sustainable as an organization. This, in turn, is good for the planet and your brand reputation—a real win-win-win.

16. FMCG Report

The fast-moving consuming goods (FMCG) industry can highly benefit from a powerful report containing real-time insights. This is because the products handled in this sector which are often food and beverages, don’t last very long. Therefore, having a live overview of all the latest developments can help decision-makers optimize the supply chain to ensure everything runs smoothly and no major issues happen. 

Our report format example above aims to do just that by providing an overview of critical performance indicators, such as the percentage of products sold within freshness date, the out-of-stock rate, on-time in full deliveries, inventory turnover, and more.  What makes this template so valuable is the fact that it provides a range of periods to get a more recent view of events but also a longer yearly view to extract deeper insights. 

The FMCG dashboard also offers an overview of the main KPIs to help users understand if they are on the right track to meet their goals. There, we can observe that the OTIF is far from its target of 90%. Therefore, it should be looked at in more detail to optimize it and prevent it from affecting the entire supply chain. 

17. Google Analytics Report

Regardless of the industry you are in, if you have a website then you probably require a  Google Analytics report. This powerful tool helps you understand how your audience interacts with your website while helping you reach more people through the Google search engine. The issue is that the reports the tool provides are more or less basic and don’t give you the dynamic and agile view you need to stay on top of your data and competitors. 

For that reason, at datapine, we generated a range of Google Analytics dashboards that take your experience one step further by allowing you to explore your most important KPIs in real-time. That way, you’ll be able to spot any potential issues or opportunities to improve as soon as they occur, allowing you to act on them on the spot. 

Among some of the most valuable metrics you can find in this sample are the sessions and their daily, weekly, and monthly development, the average session duration, the bounce rate by channel and by top 5 countries, among others.

18. YouTube Report

So far, we’ve covered examples for various industries and sectors. Now, we will dive a bit deeper into some templates related to popular platforms businesses use in their daily operations. With the rise in video-related content, we could not leave YouTube outside of the list. This popular platform hides some valuable insights that can help you improve your content for your current audience but also reach new audiences that can be interested in your products or services. 

This highly visual and dynamic sample offers an interactive view of relevant KPIs to help you understand every aspect of your video performance. The template can be filtered for different videos to help you understand how each type of content performs. For instance, you get an overview of engagement metrics, such as likes, dislikes, comments, and shares, that way, you can understand how your audience interacts with your content.

Additionally, you also get more detailed charts about the number of views, the average watch time per day, and audience retention. These indicators can help you understand if something needs to be changed. For instance, audience retention goes down a lot after one minute and a half. Therefore you either need to make sure you are making the rest of the video a bit more interesting or offering your product or service or any other relevant information in the first minute.

19. LinkedIn Report

Another very important platform that companies use, no matter their size or industry, is LinkedIn. This platform is the place where companies develop and showcase their corporate image, network with other companies, and tell their clients and audience about the different initiatives they are developing to grow and be better. Some organizations also use LinkedIn to showcase their charity or sustainability initiatives. 

The truth is LinkedIn has become an increasingly relevant platform, and just like we discussed with YouTube, organizations need to analyze data to ensure their strategies are on the right path to success. 

The template above offers a 360-degree view of a company page's performance. With metrics such as the followers gained, engagement rate, impressions vs unique impressions, CTR, and more. Decision-makers can dive deeper into the performance of their content and understand what their audience enjoys the most. For instance, by looking at the CTR of the last 5 company updates, you can start to get a sense of what topics and content format your audience on the platforms interact with the most. That way, you’ll avoid wasting time and resources producing content without interaction.

20. Healthcare Report

Moving on from platform-related examples, we have one last monthly report template from a very relevant sector, the healthcare industry. For decades now, hospitals and healthcare professionals have benefited from data to develop new treatments and analyze unknown diseases. But, data can also help to ensure daily patient care is of top quality. 

Our sample above is a healthcare dashboard report that tracks patient satisfaction stats for a clinic named Saint Martins Clinic. The template provides insights into various aspects of patient care that can affect their satisfaction levels to help spot any weak areas. 

Just by looking at the report in a bit more detail, we can already see that the average waiting time for arrival to a bed and time to see a doctor are on the higher side. This is something that needs to be looked into immediately, as waiting times are the most important success factors for patients. Additionally, we can see those lab test turnarounds are also above target. This is another aspect that should be optimized to prevent satisfaction levels from going down.

If you feel inspired by this list and want to see some of the best uses for business reports, then we recommend you take a look at our dashboard examples library, where you will find over 80+ templates from different industries, functions, and platforms for extra inspiration! 

What You Should Look For In A Reporting Tool

As you learned from our extensive list of examples, different types of reports are widely used across industries and sectors. Now, you might wonder, how do I get my hands on one of these reports? The answer is a professional online reporting tool. With the right software in hand, you can generate stunning reports to extract the maximum potential out of your data and boost business growth in the process. 

But, with so many options in the market, how do make sure you choose the best tool for your needs? Below we cover some of the most relevant features and capabilities you should look for to make the most out of the process. 

• Pre-made reporting templates

To ensure successful operations, a business will most likely need to use many types of reports for its internal and external strategies. Manually generating these reports can become a time-consuming task that burdens the business. That is why professional reporting software should offer pre-made reporting templates. At datapine, we offer an extensive template library that allows users to generate reports in a matter of seconds—allowing them to use their time on actually analyzing the information and extracting powerful insights from it. 

• Multiple visualization options

If you look for report templates on Google you might run into multiple posts about written ones. This is not a surprise, as written reports have been the norm for decades. That being said, a modern approach to reporting has developed in the past years where visuals have taken over text. The value of visuals lies in the fact that they make the information easier to understand, especially for users who have no technical knowledge. But most importantly, they make the information easier to explore by telling a compelling story. For that reason, the tool you choose to invest in should provide you with multiple visualization options to have the flexibility to tell your data story in the most successful way possible. 

• Customization 

While pre-made templates are fundamental to generating agile reports, being able to customize them to meet your needs is also of utmost importance. At datapine, we offer our users the possibility to customize their reports to fit their most important KPIs, as well as their logo, business colors, and font. This is an especially valuable feature for external reports that must be shown to clients or other relevant stakeholders, giving your reports a more professional look. Customization can also help from an internal perspective to provide employees who are uncomfortable with data with a familiar environment to work in. 

• Real-time insights 

In the fast-paced world we live in today, having static reports is not enough. Businesses need to have real-time access to the latest developments in their data to spot any issues or opportunities as soon as they occur and act on them to ensure their resources are spent smartly and their strategies are running as expected. Doing so will allow for agile and efficient decision-making, giving the company a huge competitive advantage. 

• Sharing capabilities 

Communication and collaboration are the basis of a successful reporting process. Today, team members and departments need to be connected to ensure everyone is on the right path to achieve general company goals. That is why the tool you invest in should offer flexible sharing capabilities to ensure every user can access the reports. For instance, at datapine, we offer our users the possibility to share reports through automated emails or password-protected URLs with viewing or editing rights depending on what data the specific user can see and manipulate. A great way to keep everyone connected and boost collaboration. 

Types Of Reporting For Every Business & Purpose 

As we’ve seen throughout our journey, different report formats are used by businesses for diverse purposes in their everyday activities. Whether you’re talking about types of reports in research, types of reports in management, or anything in between, these dynamic tools will get you where you need to be (and beyond).

In this post, we covered the top 14 most common ones and explored key examples of how different report types are changing the way businesses are leveraging their most critical insights for internal efficiency and, ultimately, external success.

With modern tools and solutions, reporting doesn’t have to be a tedious task. Anyone in your organization can rely on data for their decision-making process without needing technical skills. Rather, you want to keep your team connected or show progress to investors or clients. There is a report type for the job. To keep your mind fresh, here are the top 14 types of data reports covered in this post: 

• Informational reports 
• Analytical reports 
• Operational reports  
• Product reports 
• Industry reports 
• Department reports 
• Progress reports 
• Internal reports 
• External reports 
• Vertical and lateral reports 
• Strategic reports
• Research reports
• Project reports
• Statutory reports

Now, over to you. Are you ready? If you want to start building your own types of reports and get ahead of the pack today, then you should try our BI reporting software for 14 days for free ! 

For enquiries call:

+1-469-442-0620

• Project Management

What is Performance Reporting? Types, Tools & Steps to Create

Home Blog Project Management What is Performance Reporting? Types, Tools & Steps to Create

Performance Reporting in project management and updating the team on project performance is a critical communication requirement for project stakeholders to keep them informed of progress and resources employed to achieve project objectives. When reporting performance, one must make sure to provide the information and amount of detail that the project stakeholders demand.

Performance reports are mainly read by project managers to solve the performance issues in a project.  In this article, we will learn how to develop effective and precise performance reports, why they are vital in project management, as well as the numerous types and tools available to help you make the best decisions. Go for training in Project Management and learn to lead project teams to success.

What is Performance Reporting?  

A performance report is a written report that depicts a project's performance measurements. Teams determine whether or not they are meeting their defined goals and objectives by using data and analysis. To create performance reports, complete information regarding project cash flow, resources, including progress must be gathered. Management and stakeholders get an accurate high-level picture of the project's development based on the data, which translates into smarter decisions and greater business performance.

Open and robust lines of communication are critical components of successful initiatives.   Communication is important for anyone, like a consummate professional at the highest level of their abilities. Making choices, reducing losses, reallocating resources all need accurate data, analysis, and reports on project performance. You need an overall view of your Work Performance Information (WPI) for a successful project.

What is Performance Reporting in Project Management?

Performance reporting serves as a way to assess how well a firm is functioning and whether its goals and objectives are being met.

To accomplish it, you collect and evaluate data from specific tasks. When you've completed your study, you may offer recommendations to enhance decision-making in your business processes. There are several performance reporting objectives. A performance report, for example, might focus on a single project or team member, yet it may also cover the entire firm.

Following data items are commonly included in performance reports:

• Business objectives and goals
• Five-year plan
• Important performance indicators (KPI)
• The frequency with which KPIs are measured.
• Data source being monitored.

Why is Performance Reporting Important?  

A performance report provides you with a clear and accurate image of your company's success. A performance report is generated primarily for the reasons listed:

• It keeps track of everything connected to your current activity.
• It determines if your business operations will aid in your growth and achievement of your objectives.
• It highlights your strengths as well as your limitations.

Let us delve a little further to examine the primary reasons why businesses must develop performance reports. Alongside, you can opt for PMP certification preparation course to ace your PMP exam in the very first go and get to your dream position.

1. Benchmarking

In performance reports, benchmarking is used to create and measure goals. It compares your company's performance to that of competitors and assists you in identifying areas where you are failing and outperforming so you can understand where your company stands in the industry.

Benchmarking reduces guessing and delivers concrete solutions to problems. It gives you the information you need to examine and identify new opportunities. This will increase your efficiency and production while also increasing client happiness!

2. Observes the Workforce

To produce quality and high yielding Vermicompost for all farmers. It assists you in defining your workforce's performance and determining how well your staff is performing and where improvements may indeed be made.

The study also assesses client satisfaction in relation to your team. This not only helps employees enhance their performance, but it also aids in the general growth of your company!

3. Creating External Reports

Businesses must create various external reports in order to comply with reporting standards and legislation, including annual reports, financial statements, and so on. Performance reporting in Project Management helps to prepare these types of external reports.

4. Improves Business Performance

A performance report gives you real-time data regarding your business. This data may be utilized to discover strengths as well as weaknesses, allowing you to make changes and improvements by redesigning your company's strategy and processes.

This is an excellent strategy to improve your company's performance. Using these reports, you can create reasonable and attainable goals that will improve staff morale while also increasing overall performance and productivity.

5. Enhances Communication

A performance report may help you understand your personnel and their levels of performance. It also delivers customer insights and assists you in understanding your customers' wants. You will be able to communicate with your staff and customers more successfully if you have a better image of them.

This will guarantee that information flows smoothly inside the organization, eliminating miscommunication and other workplace problems. As a consequence, team energy and morale will increase.

Performance Report Types  

Employ a performance evaluation to evaluate the actual project to the plan. You may do this for a variety of data points. The following are the six most typical forms of performance reports:

• Project Status Report:  It encapsulates the project's state at a certain point of its life cycle. A status report provides a snapshot of the project's current scope, timing, cost, and quality.
• Progress Report: Records what has been done in the project since the last progress report.
• Forecasting Report: Estimates what is predicted to happen inside a project, including future performance and the project's current condition. This is utilized to make better use of resources.
• Trend Report: It compares the project's performance to the same time in the prior report. This can be done on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or yearly basis.
• Variance Report: It graphs the disparity between a project's actual and anticipated progress.
• Earned Value report: Using earned value administration methodologies, integrates scope, schedule, and cost performance. This report is frequently included in the status report for the project.

Elements of Performance Reporting Process  

Depending on the project, team, and business, performance reporting addresses various objectives. As just a result, reports are created in a variety of formats; nonetheless, the majority of them focus on the following common elements:

• Analysis of Previous Performances: This information is used to determine if the project's performance is more than or below expectations.
• Summary of Changes: This measure includes information on project expenses and the balance of available resources thus far. The study shows if work performance is in line with what was agreed upon at the scheduling stage.
• The Next Steps: Keeping track of unanticipated alterations to project development is a critical component of performance reporting. These reports should detail the adjustments and explain why they were made.
• Project Estimation: Performance report projections synthesize data on the expenses and resources available then compare them towards what is necessary for project success.
• Information for stakeholders: Data gathered from risk mapping reports give significant insights that can assist teams in identifying barriers and determining the appropriate mitigation strategies.
• Work Performance Information & Measurement: These reports comprise the project's last phases, taking into consideration any adjustments, team performance, and the time necessary to finish the remaining tasks.

What Goes into Performance Reporting?

The following are the instruments inside:

1. Project Management Plan

The Project Management Plan contains data on project baselines. The project deviations provided in performance reports are compared to the project performance baseline. The process improvement baseline usually includes the project's scope, schedule, and cost criteria, but it may also contain technical and quality parameters.

2. Work Performance Information (WPI)  

This is the data gathered from project activities and then analyzed to produce performance outcomes such as:

• Status of deliverables
• Schedule progress

3. Work Performance Measurement

Work Performance Information is utilized in Project Management to develop project activity metrics that compare actual progress to the expected progress. These metrics are as follows:

• Performance of the planned versus actual timetable
• Performance of planned against actual costs.
• Technical performance as planned vs actual

4. Budget Performance reports

Budget forecasts give information on the finances needed to accomplish the remaining project work, and total fund projections for project completion.

5. Organizational Process Assets

Organizational Process Assets utilized in Project performance reporting include, but are not limited to -

• Templates for Reports.
• Rules and procedures defining the measuring indicators that will be employed.
• Variance restrictions established by the organization.

How to Create a Performance Report in Project Management?

These are the steps to creating a Project Performance Report for your company:

Step 1. Keep the Audience in Mind

The first step in designing a good performance report is to consider your target audience. Your performance report is created primarily for top management, though it is also utilized by employees. When you begin writing a performance report, consider their reasons for requesting one. Consider the following questions:

• Who is your target demographic?
• What do they prefer: a general performance report or a specific performance report?
• Will they find this performance report useful?

Step 2. Define Mission and Objectives

Once you've determined your target audience, you must define your goals. Describe your organization's mission and goals and objectives. For example, if you own a clothes store, your purpose may be to become the greatest clothing retailer in your city, and your objectives could be to grow sales and income.

This will allow you to review and measure your company's performance against its missions and objectives, allowing you to see how well you are doing something in terms of accomplishing or reaching your objectives.

Step 3. Start with an Executive Summary

Begin your performance reporting in project management with an executive summary that provides an overview of your company's success in all areas of operation.

It essentially serves as a snapshot, containing a quick and simple summary of the facts that your report will cover. It summarizes your company's development.

Step 4. Provide the Performance Assessment

Following the completion of your summary or synopsis, you will proceed to the real evaluation of your organization. This section deconstructs your business by analyzing all of the important KPIs and metrics involved in gauging your outcomes.

To demonstrate how well you performed, classify everything into four categories: Strong, Good, Fair, or Weak, which can assist with concentrating on particular areas for development.

Here are some other items you may include in this section:

• Company's Financial Situation: Examine the current situation of cash flow and revenue generation.
• Comparisons of Industries: Compare rivals' KPIs and indicators to demonstrate how well your firm is performing in the market.
• Non-financial quantitative data: Look at the proportion of product rejections, sales volume, number of complaints, and so forth.
• Non-financial qualitative data include mentions of changes in reputation, efficacy, customer happiness, worker morale, and so on.

Step 5. Include Visual Elements

Graphic features make business reports more interesting and understandable, and that's why they are an important component of performance reports. Tables, charts, graphs, and other visual components are examples of visual elements.

You may include a visual trend analysis part in your performance evaluation that highlights your KPIs in a graphical format over a certain time period. This will reveal any patterns or trends that your firm may have in contrast to other businesses.

You can additionally include a section for extensive statistics tables where you can exhibit your statistics and ratios and compare them to other firms in your field.

Best Tools for Creating Performance Reports  

Have a look at three of the best tools for creating successful and eye-catching reports.

Asana provides performance report in project management that also allows you to write project reports. It includes the Universal Reporting feature, which allows you to examine your work from any imaginable viewpoint. As a consequence, you may make data-driven decisions to improve the performance of your team.

This application serves as a one-stop shop for monitoring an organization's progress towards its primary goals. With its chart template library and other powerful capabilities, it streamlines the whole reporting process.

This application provides real-time views and actionable information for all projects, regardless of how many projects a firm maintains at the same time. The charts assist you better diagnose and comprehend the difficulties as well as their causes. As a result, you may take the necessary steps to correct them.

2. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a free reporting tool for project management. This platform allows you to produce precise reports about team performance, sales statistics, customer engagement, and a variety of additional services. To create a report, select one of its reporting templates and adjust the fields.

It helps you save time by automating the entire reporting process. Schedule the report using your desired criteria, and the tool will automatically deliver the report at the time you choose. You may also view an individual's performance graph by requesting a daily report. It is very simple to share reports generated by this application. With a single click, you may share the report inside or export the data to Excel for external distribution.

3. Monday.com

Do you want to wow everyone with a fantastic project progress report? Try Monday.com, a reports tool that allows you to create both basic and comprehensive reports based on your needs. A Search Anything bar is available in the reporting tool. It enables you to locate any data, even in a long and complicated report.

You may analyze your process using its dashboard's Chart Views. You may also use it to gather data from several boards and consolidate it in one location for improved decision-making. Stacked charts may also be used to illustrate data. For sophisticated reporting, you may leverage tools such as Pivot Board, Performance Analytics View, textual sentiment recognition, and cumulative data addition.

Tableau is a well-known reporting programme that also provides insights into corporate analytics. This worldwide respected application effectively visualizes data, allowing you to comprehend the pattern and forecast future results. The platform is an excellent option for obtaining easily accessible metrics and reports.

It is not only user-friendly, but it also protects your mission-critical corporate data. Use this tool to tailor the analytics to the needs of your team. These customized reports assist you in making decisions.

Some notable features of this application include drag-and-drop, AI-powered statistical modelling, scalable cloud-based analytics, and so on.

eazyBI allows you to create reports for data analysis without requiring a lengthy setup. You can simply create tables, graphs, and dashboards for custom fit reports with this drag-and-drop report builder.

Finding detailed insight becomes much easier when you have all of your data in front of you. This tool, in addition to fundamental analysis, provides multi-dimensional business data analysis. You may use it to do sophisticated computations, either by utilizing a provided calculation or by creating your own.

This application provides a variety of interactive data visualization chart formats, including line charts, pie charts, bar charts, graph charts, mixed charts, gauge charts, Gantt charts, and unique timeline charts. The report may be shared confidentially, exported in Excel or CSV format, or embedded to publish.

Using Project Managers to Improve Performance Reporting

For managing and understanding the trends and providing solutions someone is required to take responsibility and this is where Project Managers keep their game ahead. You can go for PRINCE2 training and certification to gain industry-agnostic project management skills.

A Project Manager is in charge of a project's planning, procurement, execution, and completion. The project manager oversees the whole project, and everything involved, which includes the project scope, project team management, and project resources. Hence, on boarding one is a good decision to improvise Performance reporting.

Knowing your business is more than just looking at earnings and losses and evaluating whether or not it is successful. So many elements influence your company's overall performance. A performance report will always allow you to examine your company and arrive at sound judgments. We hope we have adequately equipped you to begin generating your own performance reports. Don’t forget to go for KnowledgeHut's Project Management basics training and get trained by industry experts in live, interactive sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The key characteristics apply to both forecast and actual performance reports. Performance data must be relevant, trustworthy, intelligible, timely, comparative, and verifiable in order to be clear and meaningful.

A performance report is an item of paper created by a corporation to define and assess its overall success. It gives an overview of how the company is doing. To do this, performance reports primarily collect particular job performance data, evaluate it, and make recommendations to aid in decision making.

Performance reporting enables professionals to have a better understanding of a project's progress and identify areas for development, all while retaining stakeholders engaged with the project's plan.

Kevin D.Davis

Kevin D. Davis is a seasoned and results-driven Program/Project Management Professional with a Master's Certificate in Advanced Project Management. With expertise in leading multi-million dollar projects, strategic planning, and sales operations, Kevin excels in maximizing solutions and building business cases. He possesses a deep understanding of methodologies such as PMBOK, Lean Six Sigma, and TQM to achieve business/technology alignment. With over 100 instructional training sessions and extensive experience as a PMP Exam Prep Instructor at KnowledgeHut, Kevin has a proven track record in project management training and consulting. His expertise has helped in driving successful project outcomes and fostering organizational growth.

Avail your free 1:1 mentorship session.

Something went wrong

Upcoming Project Management Batches & Dates

Intel confirms Microsoft's Copilot AI will soon run locally on PCs, next-gen AI PCs require 40 TOPS of NPU performance

Let the TOPS wars begin.

We've previously reported on industry rumors that Microsoft's Copilot AI service will soon run locally on PCs instead of in the cloud and that Microsoft would impose a requirement for 40 TOPS of performance on the Neural Processing Unit (NPU), but we had been unable to get an on-the-record verification of those rumors. That changed today at Intel's AI Summit in Taipei , where Intel executives, in a question-and-answer session with Tom's Hardware , said that Copilot elements will soon run locally on PCs. Company representatives also mentioned a 40 TOPS requirement for NPUs on next-gen AI PCs.

Microsoft has been largely silent about its plans for AI PCs and even allowed Intel to officially announce Microsoft's new definition of an AI PC . Microsoft’s and Intel’s new co-developed definition states that an AI PC will have an NPU, CPU, GPU, Microsoft’s Copilot, and a  physical Copilot key  directly on the keyboard. 

PCs meeting those requirements are already shipping, but that is just the first wave of the AI PC initiative. Intel divulged future AI PC requirements in response to my questions about potential memory criteria. 

"But to your point, there's going to be a continuum or an evolution, where then we're going to go to the next-gen AI PC with a 40 TOPS requirement in the NPU," said Todd Lewellen, the Vice President of Intel's Client Computing Group. "We have our next-gen product that's coming that will be in that category." 

"[..]And as we go to that next gen, it's just going to enable us to run more things locally, just like they will run Copilot with more elements of Copilot running locally on the client. That may not mean that everything in Copilot is running local, but you'll get a lot of key capabilities that will show up running on the NPU."

Currently, Copilot computation occurs in the cloud, but executing the workload locally will provide latency, performance, and privacy benefits. Notably, Intel's shipping Meteor Lake NPU offers up to 10  TOPS for the NPU, while AMD's competing Ryzen Hawk Point platform has an NPU with 16 TOPS, both of which fall shy of the 40 TOPS requirement. Qualcomm will have its oft-delayed X Elite chips with 45 TOPS of performance in the market later this year. 

Lewellen explained that Microsoft is focused on the customer experience with the new platforms. As such, Microsoft insists that Copilot runs on the NPU instead of the GPU to minimize the impact on battery life. 

Stay on the Cutting Edge

Join the experts who read Tom's Hardware for the inside track on enthusiast PC tech news — and have for over 25 years. We'll send breaking news and in-depth reviews of CPUs, GPUs, AI, maker hardware and more straight to your inbox.

"We had a lot of discussions over the course of the last year[with Microsoft], and we asked, 'Why can't we just run it on the GPU?' They said they want to make sure that the GPU and the CPU are freed up to do all this other work. But also, we want to make sure it's a great battery life experience. If we started running Copilot and some of those workloads on the GPU, suddenly you're going to see a huge hit on the battery life side," Lewellen explained. 

While AMD holds a slight lead in NPU TOPS performance, and Qualcomm claims a much bigger advantage in its not-yet-shipped chips, Intel says its roadmap includes next-gen processors to address every segment of the AI market.

"We have our product roadmap and plan on where we're at in mobile with premium and mainstream, but then you also go down into entry. And so we have plans around entry. From a desktop standpoint, we have plans on the desktop side, what we would say [is an] AI PC. And then there's also the next-gen AI PC, the 40 TOPS requirements; we have all of our different steps in our roadmap on how we cover all the different segments."

Intel's Lunar Lake processors will come to market later this year with three times more AI performance on both the GPU and the NPU than the existing Meteor Lake chips. Intel is already sampling those chips to its partners in preparation for a launch later in the year. Those chips will face off with Qualcomm's X Elite and AMD's next-gen processors. 

In the meantime, Intel is working to expand the number of AI features available on its silicon. As we covered in depth earlier today , the company plans to support 300 new AI-enabled features on its Meteor Lake processors this year. 

Many of those features will be optimized specifically for Intel's silicon. The company told me that roughly 65% of the developers it engages with use Intel's OpenVino, which means those applications are optimized specifically for Intel's NPU. The remainder of the developers use a 'mix of splits' between ONNX, DirectML, and WebNN, and Intel says it is happy to work with developers using any framework. 

However, the work with OpenVino could provide Intel with a nice runway of Intel-specific AI features as it heads into the Lunar Lake generation. Those are the types of advantages the company is obviously looking to enable through its AI PC Accelerator Program. The company says it has seen plenty of enthusiasm from the developer community, particularly in light of Intel's stated goal of selling 100 million AI PCs by 2025, which represents a big market opportunity for new AI software.

However, Microsoft's Copilot will run on NPUs from all vendors through DirectML, and having more TOPS will undoubtedly result in higher performance. That means we can expect a TOPS war to unfold, both in silicon and in marketing, over the coming years. 

Update 3/27/2024 6:50am PT: corrected Intel Meteor Lake and Ryzen Hawk Point NPU TOPS specifications. 

Paul Alcorn is the Managing Editor: News and Emerging Tech for Tom's Hardware US. He also writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage, and enterprise hardware.

AMD 170W Granite Ridge Zen 5 CPUs and 128W Strix Point APUs revealed in shipping manifest — 16-core 'Fire Range' mobile CPUs also coming

AMD says the UCIe universal chiplet interface will create a whole ecosystem — custom multi-chiplet designs are the future

Best Budget 3D Printers 2024: High-Quality Output on the Cheap

• hotaru251 tbh I am not looking forward to "ai" being requirement for future pc's. (let alone its highly likely just going to make data farming for them easier and a lot harder for users to disable) They should of been optional features via addon cards if anything. Let those who want them have them but not push em onto everyone. Reply

hotaru251 said: tbh I am not looking forward to "ai" being requirement for future pc's. (let alone its highly likely just going to make data farming for them easier and a lot harder for users to disable) They should of been optional features via addon cards if anything. Let those who want them have them but not push em onto everyone.

• josmat I'm already planning my migration to Linux... Definitely not interested in having AI in my computer, since I'm perfectly satisfied with my own intelligence to do the things I want to do with my computer. Reply

josmat said: I'm already planning my migration to Linux... Definitely not interested in having AI in my computer, since I'm perfectly satisfied with my own intelligence to do the things I want to do with my computer.

• Giroro Clippy ran locally, everybody hated it. Cortana ran locally, everybody hated it. .... Microsoft really needs to get rid of whoever has been pushing this same stupid idea for the last 30 years. Also, doesn't it take, like, "all the RAM you have" to run a LLM locally? Reply
• dimar I think copilot key is stupid. Reply
• jasonf2 The magic of local integration and processing is more about cost of operation than anything else. As long as cloud services are necessary for copilot to operate Microsoft isn't just making license revenue but having to stand the dime for the cloud resources (servers, electricity and infrastructure) which is substantial. Once the PC itself localizes the software the end user is then paying for the hardware and electricity and Microsoft is back in the infinitely scalable software licensing model. The necessary cloud infrastructure for OpenAI's current models to work today still makes profitability questionable. When they can pass the cost of operation back to the end user Copilot becomes a money making machine via licensing. That is if anyone is really paying for it. As mentioned by others uptake of Microsoft's prior virtual assistants has been mediocre at best. Corporate uptake, which is where the real licensing money for business software is, will be interesting with the potential privacy issues of a possible rouge AI having access to all of your corporate data and the ability to actually do stuff with it. Current models don't exactly have a stellar track record with "hallucinations" of grandeur and world domination. With that much being said as well I don't really know how great I feel about full OS integration on my home computer. Reply
• DavidLejdar In regard to mentioned concerns about data farming, I don't think that Microsoft will necessarily push it much. Companies like Alphabet or Meta, they seem to rely a lot on B2C (business to customer) revenue. Meanwhile, Microsoft had e.g. in 2022 only 12% from Windows, 8% from gaming, and 6% from search advertising. While 23% of revenue came from office products and services, and 34% came from server products and cloud services. In other words, Microsoft is very busy with B2B. Like, servers of a number of companies, they run on Windows, Office is heavily used in many an office, with licensing for it, and so on. And for Microsoft, there is way more to be gained by being like: "And how may we help you further?", than by being like: "We want all that data, even though at least in Europe, we are not really allowed to have it if there is not a specific consent to use of that data." - and at least here in Europe, many a company lawyer would not likely agree to any licensing agreement, which would make the company liable if they were to give Microsoft i.e. personal data of the company's customer (without consent thereto by these customers). And in that context, when a lot of the "new Office suit" can be run within a local network, or even on a laptop itself, then that actually helps to limit the data spread, when the user is going to use some of the new features anyhow. (Disclaimer: The company I work at, it has some collaboration with Microsoft going. So, that may make me biased, perhaps. But, just meant to point out, that Microsoft has a bit more going on, than to be interested in some: "We are going to sell an analysis of your most watched cat pictures to an advertiser, who then will have the ads AI-tailored to sell you whatever with a pic of cat.") Reply
• View All 34 Comments

Most Popular

By Anton Shilov March 29, 2024

By Mark Tyson March 29, 2024

By Aaron Klotz March 29, 2024

By Christopher Harper March 29, 2024

By Avram Piltch March 28, 2024

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read our privacy policy

SEARCH HISTORY

• Media Center

Huawei Releases 2023 Annual Report: Performance in Line with Forecast

[Shenzhen, China, March 29, 2024] Huawei released its 2023 Annual Report today. The company reports that its performance was in line with forecast, having generated CNY704.2 billion in revenue and CNY87 billion in net profits. Throughout the past year, Huawei's ICT infrastructure business remained solid, and its consumer business met expectations. Both its cloud computing and digital power businesses grew steadily, and its intelligent automotive solution business began large-scale delivery.

Huawei values research and innovation. In 2023, the company invested CNY164.7 billion back into R&D, which accounted for 23.4% of its annual revenue. Altogether, the company's R&D investment over the past decade amounts to CNY1.11 trillion.

"The company's performance in 2023 was in line with forecast," said Ken Hu, Huawei's Rotating Chairman. "We've been through a lot over the past few years. But through one challenge after another, we've managed to grow. The trust and support of our customers, partners, and friends around the world is what helped us keep going, keep surviving, and keep growing."

2023 revenue by business: The ICT infrastructure business generated CNY362 billion, up 2.3% YoY. The consumer business recorded CNY251.5 billion, up 17.3% YoY. The cloud computing business brought in CNY55.3 billion, up 21.9% YoY. The digital power business earned CNY52.6 billion, up 3.5% YoY. The intelligent automotive solution business generated CNY4.7 billion, up 128.1% YoY.

Moving forward, Huawei will keep investing in technology and open innovation to advance technology and help different industries modernize. Committed to succeeding through quality, the company will work hard to make quality one of its core competitive strengths. In its engagement with 9.5 million developers and 46,000 ecosystem partners around the world, Huawei strongly advocates for open collaboration and helping others succeed. With this approach, the company will continue to focus on developing core ICT technologies, as well as building up platform capabilities for complex hardware and sophisticated software systems, which are then opened up to partners to promote shared success.

"A new journey awaits us in 2024," Hu concluded. "We will create greater value for our customers and society by driving open innovation, building thriving ecosystems, and succeeding through quality. Here I'd like to thank those who have joined us – and will join us – along the way. Together, let's make something extraordinary. Let's build a fully connected, intelligent world."

All financial statements in the 2023 Annual Report were independently audited by KPMG, an international Big Four accounting firm. To download the 2023 Annual Report, please visit https://www.huawei.com/en/annual-report/2023

Note: The 2023 closing exchange rate is US$1.00 = CNY 7.0808

Huawei and Quality Tech S.R.L enter into Licensing Deal

Huawei Launches Six Partner Alliances at Asia Pacific Partners Conference 2023

Huawei Announces 2023 Q1 Business Results

Online Services

Consumer Products

Huawei Cloud

Sales: +852-800-931-122

Carrier Network

• OCC releases Q4 report on first-lien mortgage performance

On March 19, the OCC released a report on the performance of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system during the fourth quarter of 2023. According to the report, 97.2 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the end of the quarter, which is a slight improvement from the fourth quarter of 2022, but also a minor decline from the third quarter of 2023. The report also shows

• a rise in the percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages compared to the previous quarter (1.2 percent in the fourth quarter compared to 1.1 percent in the third quarter), but this percentage has trended down since the fourth quarter of 2021 (when it was 2.3 percent);
• a decline in new foreclosures, with 8,320 new foreclosures in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 8,965 new foreclosures the previous quarter and a high of 19,524 new foreclosures in the first quarter of 2022;
• finalization of 7,382 loan modifications, which was less than the 7,436 modifications completed in the prior quarter. Eighty-seven percent of the modifications were “combination modifications,” which are modifications that incorporate more than one type of modification action to improve the loan’s affordability, such as an interest rate reduction and a loan term extension.

First-lien mortgages account for 22.2 percent of the total outstanding residential mortgage debt in the country, representing approximately 11.7 million loans with a combined principal balance of $2.9 trillion. 

Latest Posts

• CFPB, federal and state agencies to enhance tech capabilities
• CFPB wins approval to move credit card late fee case to Washington, D.C.
• CFPB warns remittance transfer providers against falsely advertising the costs and speed of transfers
• Agencies extend applicability date of certain provisions of their Community Reinvestment Act final rule

See more »

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

Refine your interests »

Written by:

Published In:

Orrick, herrington & sutcliffe llp on:.

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

McKinsey is offering some staff 9 months of pay and career-coaching services to leave the firm: report

• McKinsey is offering some managers money and career-coaching services to leave, The Times reported.
• Managers could spend up to nine months searching for a job while being on payroll, the report said.
• Staffers would also have access to McKinsey's resources and career-coaching services.

The management-consulting giant McKinsey is dangling career-coaching services and nine months' worth of pay to staffers keen on leaving the firm, the British newspaper The Times reported on Saturday.

The Times reported that managers for McKinsey's UK offices could spend up to nine months searching for a job instead of working on client projects.

Besides continuing to receive their salary, managers would have access to McKinsey's resources and career-coaching services, per The Times. But staffers would still have to leave McKinsey even if their job hunt proved unsuccessful.

Related stories

The offer has been extended to managers working at McKinsey's US offices, though the pay duration could be different, The Times said, citing people familiar with the situation.

A spokesperson for McKinsey did not confirm the specifics of The Times' reporting but told the outlet that the company's mission was to help staffers "grow into leaders, whether they stay at McKinsey or continue their careers elsewhere."

"These actions are part of our ongoing effort to ensure our performance management and development approach is as effective as possible, and to do so in a caring and supportive way," the spokesperson continued.

This wouldn't be the first time McKinsey has tried to trim its head count amid a slowdown in the consulting industry . The consulting giant last year said it would cut about 1,400 jobs, or about 3% of its staff, per Bloomberg .

In February, Bloomberg reported that McKinsey had given 3,000 employees poor performance ratings . The report said employees who received such ratings had about three months to improve their performance or they'd be "counseled to leave" McKinsey.

Bloomberg also reported last week that McKinsey told some senior employees they had only about 2 1/2 years to be promoted — amping up the pressure on staff to move up or out.

Representatives for McKinsey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Watch: Nearly 50,000 tech workers have been laid off — but there's a hack to avoid layoffs

• Main content

First Drive Review: 2024 Fisker Ocean

The Fisker Ocean is an electric SUV from a new car company. With great performance and surprising quality, it’s a software update away from being a better EV.

John M. Vincent | U.S. News & World Report

First Impressions: 2024 Fisker Ocean

The 2024 Fisker Ocean is the first model to emerge from the all-new automaker. Designed by industry veteran Henrik Fisker, the all-electric crossover SUV offers thrilling performance and a sculpted, athletic design that puts other EV makers to shame.

Advertisement

It’s known in the industry as a software-defined vehicle, where its computer systems and software are centric to its capabilities and driving experience. Those capabilities and the driving experience can be improved over time with over-the-air vehicle software updates. That’s a good thing for the Fisker Ocean because the basics, build quality and car’s structure are good, but its current software could be much better.

I recently tested a limited-production Fisker Ocean One, which is equivalent to a Fisker Ocean Extreme you could buy today for about $71,248 with options. The Ocean has a base price of $38,999. That’s cheaper than a Tesla Model Y , Genesis GV60 or Kia EV6 . In fact, it’s currently one of the most affordable EVs you can buy.

Pros and Cons

The Austrian-made Fisker Ocean is built on good foundations but needs to get through some growing pains before it becomes the competitive EV SUV it can be.

• Thrilling performance from two-motor models
• Elegant exterior design
• Interior crafted from durable-feeling, sustainable materials
• Excellent build quality from a startup automaker
• Innovative features such as doggie windows, a fold-out “taco tray” and a rotating infotainment touch screen
• Currently lacks basic features a car at this price should have
• Touch screen responds slowly
• Buggy, unstable smartphone connectivity
• No Apple CarPlay or Android Auto support
• Nobody knows the car company exists

How Much Does the 2024 Fisker Ocean Cost?

The Ocean has a base price of $38,999 for a single-motor front-wheel-drive 2024 Fisker Ocean Sport model. Topping the lineup is the dual-motor all-wheel-drive Fisker Ocean Extreme at $61,499. Depending on your location, delivery fees can range from $800 to $2,300.

• Fisker Ocean Sport: $38,999
• Fisker Ocean Ultra: $52,999
• Fisker Ocean Extreme: $61,499

The limited edition Fisker Ocean One is no longer available.

How Does it Look?

Henrik Fisker, the entrepreneur behind the car company, earned his stripes as a designer with several automakers, including BMW and Aston Martin. His mark is evident in the look of the Fisker Ocean, which I think is one of the best-looking EVs to date.

To me, the Ocean has hints of the BMW iX but with smoother lines and no gaping grille. I find the Ocean’s low-slung athletic stance and slim cabin greenhouse a much more compelling look than a Tesla Model Y, which looks to me like an appliance next to the Fisker. Black wheel arch and lower body cladding give the crossover a hint of a rugged look, though its ground clearance would prevent any serious off-road adventures.

Fisker’s designers created several interesting options for its large wheels, including the SlipStream rims fitted to my test car. They featured non-structural inserts made of recycled carbon fiber to improve their aerodynamic performance.

How Does it Perform?

Electric vehicles typically have quicker acceleration than similar gas-powered cars, and the Fisker Ocean is no exception. Even in its mildest “Earth” mode, the Ocean sends ample power to the front wheels. Switch up to “Fun” mode, and you get the full benefit of all-wheel drive and what I found to be its best wet-weather grip.

The serious performance lives in “Hyper” mode. The Ocean propels itself from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. While some other EVs are quicker, the Ocean gets to speed plenty fast, though my acceleration sometimes started with a hard mechanical jolt I haven’t experienced in other EVs. After a second or so of G-forces pushing you back in your seat, the crossover’s speed continues to build in near silence.

On the other hand, the Ocean’s steering feels artificial, and its regenerative braking isn’t as smooth as most rivals.

Range and Charging

The Ocean is available with two different types of battery packs. The base Sport model carries a lithium-ion “Touring Range” battery pack that Fisker estimates will give you 231 miles of range on a single charge.

Ocean Ultra models are EPA-estimated to provide 350 miles of range. They employ a “Hyper Range” nickel manganese cobalt battery pack. The Ocean Extreme uses the same pack as the Ultra but squeezes an EPA-estimated 360 miles out of it on a single charge.

Depending on the model, the new electric crossover will take between about 7.5 (Sport) and 12 (Ultra and Extreme) hours to charge from 0% to 100% using a 240-volt Level 2 charging station. The Sport will take as little as 31 minutes to charge from 10% to 80% on an appropriate DC fast charging station, while the Ultra and Extreme are expected to do the same in about 35 minutes.

How Is the New Interior Design and Passenger Space?

Fisker claims that the Ocean will be the most sustainable SUV on earth. Nowhere is that commitment more visible than in the vehicle’s interior, which is upholstered and detailed with non-animal materials, including carpets made from recycled pop bottles and seats finished in Alcantara, Ultrasuede and FeelTek.

The Ocean’s front row is spacious and includes innovative features such as a “Taco Tray” that folds out of the smallish center console to form an airline-like table you can use while charging the car. Another table slides out of the passenger side of the dash.

Back-seat space isn’t as generous, but it’s adequate, and the middle seat is usable since there’s no driveline hump down the center of the cabin. With the car’s available “Limo” mode, rear-seat passengers gain a touch screen to adjust temperature, audio settings and seat recline.

There’s Even More Interior Innovation

Large glass roofs are nothing new, but Fisker takes things further with an available OpenSky roof with a massive glass front panel that retracts and creates the largest sunroof opening I’ve seen from a glass panel. If that’s not enough, the top-trim Extreme model installs a solar array on top of the OpenSky glass to make the SolarSky roof, which can generate a bit of electricity to send to the EV’s battery pack.

Unlike most SUVs, the rear hatch features a power window, and there are a pair of small power “Doggie Windows” adjacent to the cargo area. Press one button on the ceiling or key fob, and all the EV’s windows open, and its sunroof retracts to put the car in its open-air “California Mode.”

Interior Technology

The Ocean’s interior tech is centered around its 17-inch central touch screen. Thankfully, the Fisker includes a digital instrument cluster and mechanical switches for critical climate, audio and lighting controls.

I do feel the car’s current software needs considerable work. The system’s laggy response means you’re never sure you pressed the right spot. Key features such as voice response, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay aren’t included, though Amazon Alexa integration is promised with a future software update. You can connect your smartphone using Bluetooth, but in my experience, the connection was unstable and riddled with bugs.

Three audio systems are offered, with the top trim’s ELS Studio 3D 15-speaker setup worthy of the price of admission. The hushed cabin of an EV will highlight any audio system’s weakness, but Fisker’s system is impressive. However, the lack of speed-sensitive volume control had me reaching to lower the volume every time I slowed.

How Much Cargo Can it Haul?

Open the Ocean’s powered hatch, and you’ll find 16.8 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats. Fold the split rear seats forward, and you’ll have 32.4 cubic feet of room to store your stuff. There’s also an oddly shaped but generous cargo space under the SUV’s rear load floor.

Fisker offers a multipanel rear floor that can be installed vertically to compartmentalize the cargo area so things can’t roll around. The EV also features storage bins under the front seats and in the front of the center console. There is no glove box, and the Ocean doesn’t come with a space-consuming spare tire.

Towing Capacity

According to Fisker, a properly equipped Ocean can tow up to 4,012 pounds. For comparison, the BMW iX can tow up to 5,500 pounds, while the Kia EV6 can only tow 2,300 pounds.

What About the Fisker Ocean's Party Tricks?

It’s a thing with today’s crop of new electric cars. They have to have some “party tricks” you’ll show all of your friends and may or may not ever use again. In addition to the Ocean’s taco tray, doggie windows and California mode, the Ocean offers even more.

When you’re driving, the EV’s central touch screen runs in a vertical position. When you’re parked to charge or just rest, the display can power-rotate to a wide-screen horizontal “Hollywood” mode that allows you to stream movies and other content.

Fisker decided to put functions into the touch-screen system that shouldn’t be there, including the power tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. You inexplicably have to use the touch screen to adjust the angle and opening of the dashboard vents instead of just reaching up and moving them to where you want them to be.

Driver-Assistance and Safety Technology

The Fisker Ocean currently comes with a relatively basic array of electronic driver-assistance and safety technologies for its price point. While it offers some innovative technology, such as excellent surround-vision camera views, it’s disappointing that common functions, including adaptive cruise control and automatic high-beam headlights, won’t be activated until a future software update comes along.

When the company’s software catches up with the car’s hardware, its potential for safety and driver-assistance tech success will be excellent. Fisker has outfitted the Ocean with digital radar sensors, which are higher-resolution and quicker-performing than the types of imagers used by most other automakers.

General Motors |

The 2024 Fisker Ocean vs. The Competition

Like everyone in the electric SUV space, the Fisker Ocean is chasing the Tesla Model Y for sales. The Model Y has more recognition in the marketplace and more mature technology. Still, the Fisker offers more innovative tech, a far better design and build quality that I think is miles ahead of the Tesla.

The Fisker trounces its rivals when it comes to range, easily besting the Model Y, BMW iX, Genesis Electrified GV70 and Cadillac Lyriq . While the top-trim Ocean model can get pricey when you pile on the options, the base model is priced below $40,000, making it one of the cheaper EVs you can buy.

More on the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq

• See 2024 Cadillac Lyriq Photos  »
• Find the best price on the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq  »
• Read the 2024 Cadillac Lyriq Full Review  »
• See Luxury Electric SUV Rankings  »

Why Is the 2024 Fisker Ocean Important?

Electric vehicle manufacturers, including legacy automakers and startups such as Fisker, are struggling to develop technology, vehicles, manufacturing processes and sales methods simultaneously. The world’s auto industry is undergoing a revolution unseen since its origins.

Fisker is employing a different strategy than most. Instead of trying to develop its own manufacturing processes, the Fisker Ocean is built by Austria’s Magna Steyr. It’s the same contract automaker that builds vehicles as varied as the BMW Z4 , Toyota GR Supra and Mercedes-Benz G-Class .

At the same time, Fisker is trying to set the industry’s pace when it comes to sustainability. Not only does the Ocean use a significant amount of recycled materials, but it’s also built in a carbon-neutral plant powered by 100% renewable energy.

• Type: Two-row electric SUV
• Seating Capacity: Five
• Trim Levels: Sport, Ultra, Extreme 
• Standard Powertrain: Single-motor/front-wheel drive
• Optional Powertrain: Dual-motor/all-wheel drive
• Horsepower: 282-468 (564 with Boost)
• Torque: 257-514 pound-feet (272-543 pound-feet with Boost)
• Estimated Range/Sport: 231 miles (EPA-estimated)
• Estimated Range/Ultra: 350 miles (EPA-estimated)
• Estimated Range/Extreme: 360 miles (EPA-estimated)
• Overall Length: 187.95 inches
• Wheelbase: 115 inches
• Maximum Towing Capacity: 4,012 pounds when properly equipped

Browse Cars

Recommended Articles

Reliable Used Cars Under $10K

Warren Clarke and George Kennedy March 29, 2024

2024 Rivian R1S Alternatives

Warren Clarke March 29, 2024

Best 4x4 SUVs

George Kennedy March 29, 2024

Most Reliable Used SUVs

George Kennedy March 28, 2024

BMW X5 vs. BMW iX: Head to Head

Porsche Macan vs. Porsche Cayenne

• CBSSports.com
• Fanatics Sportsbook
• CBS Sports Home
• NCAA Tournament
• W. Tournament
• Champions League
• Motor Sports
• High School
• Horse Racing 

Men's Brackets

Women's Brackets

Fantasy Baseball

Fantasy football, football pick'em, college pick'em, fantasy basketball, fantasy hockey, franchise games, 24/7 sports news network.

• CBS Sports Golazo Network
• March Madness Live
• PGA Tour on CBS
• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Europa League
• Italian Serie A
• Watch CBS Sports Network
• TV Shows & Listings

The Early Edge

A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast

With the First Pick

NFL Draft is coming up!

• Podcasts Home
• Eye On College Basketball
• The First Cut Golf
• NFL Pick Six
• Cover 3 College Football
• Fantasy Football Today
• Morning Kombat
• My Teams Organize / See All Teams Help Account Settings Log Out

NFL 2023 performance-based pay: Brock Purdy, DaRon Bland nearly double their salary with incentive system

As late-round picks who emerged as stars, purdy and bland earned over $750,000 in additional payments.

The NFL on Monday announced its performance-based pay distribution for the 2023 season, and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland were among the top 25 earners. 

The performance-based pay program uses a fund "created and used as a supplemental form of player compensation based on a comparison of playing time to salary," according to the league release. The distribution is computed by using a player index, which the NFL notes uses a player's "PBP Playtime" (defined as the player's regular season total plays played on offense, defense, and special teams, divided by the number of plays payed by the player with the most total combined plays on that team) divided by his "PBP Compensation" (defined as regular season full salary, prorated portion of signing bonus, earned incentives). 

Purdy, a seventh-round pick in 2022, started 16 of 17 games and played 93% of San Francisco's offensive snaps. At just $870,000, he was the league's lowest-paid starting quarterback. His take-home of $739,765 ranked 24th in the league in performance-based pay, and nearly doubled his pay. Purdy finished fourth in MVP voting and sixth in Offensive Player of the Year voting after throwing for 4,280 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just 11 interceptions while helping lead the 49ers to the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Bland similarly drew just $870,000 in base salary last year, and his distribution of $759,759 (20th) nearly doubled his pay as well. A 2022 fifth-round pick, Bland began the season as Dallas' slot corner but moved outside when Trevon Diggs tore his ACL. He played all 17 games, making 15 starts and playing 90% of defensive snaps. He eventually set an NFL record with five pick-sixes among his league-leading nine interceptions, and he finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting while being named both a Pro Bowler and First Team All-Pro.

Former Ravens guard John Simpson , who signed with the Jets  earlier this offseason, checked in first in performance-based pay, collecting $974,613 after he played 99% of Baltimore's offensive snaps.

The rest of the top 25 in performance-based pay is as follows: 

Our Latest NFL Stories

2024 NFL mock draft with only small-college prospects

Emory hunt • 11 min read.

Lawrence 'light years' ahead in this part of his game

Jeff kerr • 1 min read.

Mock Draft: Ex-NFL GM and Super Bowl champ pick Round 1

Kyle stackpole • 1 min read.

Peterson wants warning if he plays this new position

With the First Pick newsletter is back: What to know

Chris trapasso • 5 min read.

Ravens welcome Jackson weighing in on draft prospects

Shanna mccarriston • 2 min read, share video.

Purdy, Bland among top 25 in NFL performance-based pay

Regrading every 1st-round QB pick of last 15 years

Mock: Ex-GM and SB champ pick Round 1

Five notable players who could be dealt

Ranking challengers to Chiefs three-peat

Prisco mock: QBs fly off the board

Inside what teams do in weeks leading up to draft

Report: Rashee Rice suspect in six vehicle crash

Why Chiefs OL decided to sign with Commanders

Jayden Daniels addresses concerns about elbow